This file explains the main applications of Geographical Information Systems.

1. APPLICATION OF GIS IN
URBAN PLANNING
BY
MELI WESLEY KIPTOO

2. INTRODUCTION
GIS technology is very crucial in analyzing urban growth and its direction of
expansion, and to find suitable sites for further urban development. In order to
identify the sites suitable for the urban growth, certain factors have to be considered
which are accessibility of land, topography of the land, utility of the land and supply
of water. GIS is very significant in assessment of these factors and has been used not
only in urban planning but across a variety of professions. Below are applications of
GIS in urban planning.

3. Resource Inventory
Geographical information, when integrated with remote sensing, can save time in
collecting land use and environmental information. Remote sensing images are
becoming an important source of spatial information for urban areas. They can help
to detect land use and land use changes for whole urban areas. In particular,
stereoscopic pairs of digital aerial photographs can be used to derive 3-dimensional
CAD models of buildings of dynamic visualization of a city, or for direct import into a
GIS database.

4. Analysis of Existing Situations
GIS can help to store, manipulate, and to analyze physical, social and economic data
of a city. Planners can then use the spatial query and mapping functions of GIS to
analyze the existing situations in the city. Through map overlay analysis, GIS can help
to identify areas of conflict of land development with the environment by overlaying
existing land development on land suitability maps. Areas of environmental sensitivity
can be identified using remote sensing and other environmental information. This
data and analysis can be then used to make important decisions that affects the
current and future planning of an urban area.

5. Modeling and Projection
A key function of planning is the projection of future population and economic
growth. GIS can be used for prediction and projection. Spatial modeling of spatial
distributions makes it possible to estimate the widest range of impacts for existing
trends of population, and of economic and environmental change. For example, a
range of environmental scenarios can be investigated through the projection of
future demand of land resources from a population and economic activities,
modeling of spatial distribution of such demand, and using GIS map overlay analysis
to identify areas of conflict. Using socioeconomic and environmental data stored in
GIS, environmental planning models have been developed to identify areas of
environmental concern and development conflict.

6. Development of Planning Options
Land suitability maps are very useful in the development of planning options. They
can be used to identify the solution for space for future development. The association
of spatial optimization models with GIS together can help to formulate and develop
planning options which try to maximize or minimize some objective functions. The
stimulation of different scenarios of development with GIS can help in developing
planning options.

7. Selection of Planning Options
The selection of a planning option is increasingly a political process, but planners can
provide technical support in terms of input to the process in order to help the
community in making their collective choices. The integration of spatial and non-
spatial models with GIS can help to evaluate different planning scenarios. The use of
GIS with multi-criteria decision analysis can provide the technical inputs in the
selection of planning options. The data provided by GIS and the subsequent analysis
done can be used to inform the decisions of the political class to ensure that the
planning is designed and implemented in the right way at the very first instance.

8. Plan Implementation
GIS can be used in the implementation of urban plans by carrying out environmental
impact assessment of proposed projects to evaluate and minimize the impact of
development on the environment. Following such work, remedial measures can be
recommended to alleviate the impacts. Environmental impact assessment are usually
a detailed process that requires that requires accurate estimations of data and impact
analysis. GIS will come in handy in ensuring the same is achieved.

9. Conclusion
In summary, GIS is therefore crucial in sustenance and development of urban areas
which promote industrial as well as economic growth. The recent integration of GIS
and remote sensing an idea which is growing rapidly has allowed rapid update of GIS
data layers, integration of field survey data, rapid assessment of land-use and land
cover change, and community growth all of which has lead to better assessment of
the urban infrastructure and better data for urban planning purposes.

10. References
 Lillesand, Thomas M., 1994. Remote sensing and image interpretation.
 Aronoff, Stanley, 2005. Remote sensing for GIS managers.
 Bernhardsen, Tor, 2002. Geographic information systems: an introduction.
 1993. Geographic information systems: principles and applications.
 Chang, Kang-Tsung, 2008. Introduction to geographic information systems.
 Demers, Michael N., 2009.Fundamentals of geographic information systems.