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VCCGIS: An Application of Geographic Information System
in Urban Planning ‘

CHIH-HUI WANG

A PLAN B PAPER

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partail fullfillment of the requirements
MASTER IN URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING
Urban and Regional Planning Program
1994

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

List of figures and tables 111
Chapter 1. Introduction 1
Chapter 2. What is GIS? 4
Definition 4
Data Linkage 5
Establishing a GIS 8
Benefits of GIS 9
Chapter 3. GIS Applications in Urban Planning 10
Land Use 10
Socio - Economic 11
Transportation 14
Chapter 4. Valley Court Community Comprehensive Plan 16
Transportation 18
Land Use 18
Housing 19
Neighborhood Preservation 20
Business 20
Crime 21
Chapter 5. Objectives and Goals 22
Transportation 22
Land Use 25
Housing 26
Neighborhood Preservation 27
Business 28
Crime 28

 

Chapter 6. The Process of Establishing VCCGIS
VCCGIS Components and Structure
Creating the Database

Chapter 7. Analysis and Presentation

 

 

 

 

 

Transportation

 

Land Use

 

Housing

Neighborhood Preservation

 

 

Business

 

Crime

 

Chapter 8. Conclusion

[I

30

42

42

51

55
55

List of Figures and Tables

Figures:
Figure 2 - 1: The real world consists of many geographies. ................................. 4
Figure 2 - 2: Population densities of America by state. ................................ 7
Figure 4 - 1: Valley Court Community. ............................................................. 17
Figure 6 - 1: The structure of VCCGIS. ............................................................ 32
Figure 6 - 2: The flow of VCCGIS Database. ................................................... 34
Figure 6 - 3: The shifi of two coordinates. ........................................................ 37
Figure 6 -4: The scale of two coordinates. ........................................................ 37
Figure 6 - 5: The rotation of two coordinates. ................................................... 38
Figure 7-1 : The Greater Lansing Area and Average Daily Traffic Volumes. ....... 43
Figure 7-2: The parking status distribution ..................................................... 43
Figure 7-3: The bus routes and stops of CATA. ............................................. 45
Figure 7-4: Land Use Map ............................................................................ 45
Figure 7-5: Zoning Map ........................................................................... 47
Figure 7-6: The 1992 Assessed Value of each lot. ......................................... 47
Figure 7 - 7: Mean Value of Owner Occupied Housing Units by Block ........... 49
Figure 7 - 8: Total number of Housing units by Block .................................. 49
Figure 7 - 9: Mean Contract Rent by Block 50
Figure 7 - 10: Total population by Block .................................................. 50
Figure 7 -- 11: Historic Districts and Land Marks .......................................... 52
Figure 7-12: A land mark and its picture ...................................................... 52
Figure 7- 13: Housing structural Quality ...................................................... 53
Figure 7-14: The distribution of street Lighting. ............................................. 53

III

Tables:

Table 5 -l : Average daily traffic volumes of Valley Court Community. .......... 23
Table 5 - 2: CATA bus routes. ................................................................... 24
Table 6 -l: The spatial, attribute and image data of each objective. .................. 35
Table 6- 2: A sample of attribute. ................................................................. 39

IV

Chapter 1
Introduction

About two decades ago, some geographers conceived a system for storing and
organizing spatial information in a computer. In the past 10 years, this growing
technology has come to be known as "Geographic Information System" (GIS). In
addition, many advancements in the technology have lead to the growth of applications.

The development of both computer technology and mathematical tools for spatial
analysis have made many things possible, among them are the abilities to store, to retrive,
singly or in combination, and to display data about all aspects of the earth's surface. As
well as being able to handle existing data, GIS can easily handle fictional data and the
results of simulation models, permitting scenarios of possible past or future situations to
be modeled and explored. These abilities have created a revolution in the mapping
sciences and in the uses in the practical day-to-day inventory, understanding, and
management of our environment. (ESRI, 1990)

Today, computerized spatial information systems are used in many branches of .
pure and applied science, in business and commerce, and in local, national and
international governmental agencies. The applications range from the completely
utilitarion, such as mapping the networks for telephones, electricity, and sewers, to the
esoteric and futuristic, such as modeling the possible filture effects of climatic change.

More and more organizations now spend large amounts of money on GIS and on
geographic databases. Predictions suggest billions of dollars will be spent on these items
over the next decade. There are two reasons which caused GIS to become so popular and
important. First, the costs of computer hardware needed for the task are dropping rapidly
and are affordable to an increasingly wider audience, like PC version GIS software.
Secondly, geography and the data describing it is part of our everyday world; almost
every decision we make is influenced or dictated by some fact of geography. The fact that

information is a resource to our economy just as people, money, and equipment are

resources for manufacturing goods, has led many large organizations to manage their
information better. That is, many organizations have began to realize that they have
invested an enormous amount of money in the data that is stored in their computers and
have implemented new standards, policies, and procedures to help control the costs
associated with computerized information systems. By improving both efficiency and
effectiveness, computer processing technology added value to the information that was
computerized. This value was associated not only with the efficiency of the workers but
also with the effectiveness of their efforts and of the efforts of the managers and policy-
makers of the organization. (Jeffrey Star, 1990)

Since the cost of computer hardware and software have been sharply reduced in
recent years, it has become easier for a local government or planning agency to create a
GIS in analyzing spatial data This report, as well as introduction to . GIS and its
applications in urban planning, includes a case study of Valley Court Community
Geographic Information System (V CCGIS) to describe a GIS application in local
government.

The Valley Court community is a small community in East Lansing Michigan.
The social, economic and geographic changes in this community area, have bad negative
impacts on the area. The main problem is this area is technically transitional area
between the downtown and it's surrounding western neighborhoods. Therefore, the users
of the commercial district stumble upon a "dead end" feeling of shops, and the residents
or homeowners are neighbored by a parking lot. In the meanwhile, the residents also
complain couple problems like rental properties need to be cleaned up, Valley Court Park
needs to be maintained better than it is now, more lighting is needed, speeding by
motorists should be reviewed on the side streets of East Lansing and the high vacancy
rate of the rental housing. The goals and objectives are to reverse them and make them
positive. So in this area, we need to create some particular maps to help us analyze the

problems we encounter we conflicts happened in this area. If we can create a database

including traffic, housing, p0pulation, historic districts, etc., it will be easy to figure out
and solve the problems in this area. This is the great merit of GIS to assist planners for
dealing with the problems of urban planning.

Before creating a GIS, first of all, we have to design the goals and objectives for
the system. According to the mater plan of Valley Court Community, ten specified and
quantitative objectives were designed for VCCGIS. The next step is to select the
hardware and software for the system, since GISs are strongly depend on computer
facilities. Basically VCCGIS is based on the popular software and hardware, like micro
computers (IBM compatible), MS-Windows, MS-Excell, ARC/Info, etc. By this way, we
need not to spend more expense in purchasing new facilities and software. On the other
side, planners can be familiar with the system shortly without long-term learning.

Data collection is the other important issue. We must decide what kinds data we
need and what kinds format of the data for the analyses. Analysis is the main function of a
GIS since it can handle many data and display by varied ways which people almost can
not do it by hand. But there is no GIS can create every information and makes the _
analysis, planners have to link their knowledge and the functions of GIS to do the final
decisions. VCCGIS illustrates varied analyses and presentation for dealing with the
problems in Valley Court Community.

The VCCGIS can provide all GIS functions like data input, edit, analyze and
presentation by a few computer facilities. It shows that it is feasible to build a
professional GIS with limited cost. In addition, this case study demenstration to that GIS

is not a heavy burden or hard job and can easily be successful.

Chapter 2
What is GIS?
Definition

The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) has grown quickly in the 19805
in business, rmiversities and governments. They use GIS for many diverse applications.
However, many people are still rmclear on what exactly GIS is. There are many
definitions of GIS. A general one is ”An organized collection of computer hardware,
software, geographic data, and personal designed to efficiently capture, store, update,
manipulate, analyze, and display all forms of geographically referenced information". In
figure 2-1 shows the real meaning of GIS:

 

     

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Figure 2-1. : The real world consists of many geographies which can be
represented as a number of related data layers.

Data Linkage

A lot of computer programs, such as spreadsheets (e.g. excel, lotus), statistics
programs (e.g., SPSS, SYSTATIC) or computer designing packages (e.g., AutoCAD) can
handle simple geographic or spatial data. These packages are similar to GIS or they could
be called parts of GIS. Why? According to the functions of GIS, it can capture, store,
update, manipulate, analyze and display all forms of geographically referenced
information. Like Excel or SPSS, they can store, update and analyze the attribute data, but
they can not link those data to the spatial data. On the contrary, AutoCAD can capture,
store, display the geographical data, but it can not link this data to the attribute data. So
we know, a key point of the difference between GIS and those package is "data linkage".

A GIS typically links different data sets. For example, if we want to know the
population density in each state, we should have a file containing the population in each
state and a file containing the area. Then, we have to combine or link the two data files.

Once this is accomplished , we divide the population data by the area to get the density.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State Population State Area
California 29279015 California 158706.]
Colorado 3272460 Colorado 1040909
Florida 12774603 Florida 58663.7
Iowa 2766658 Iowa 56275.3 -
Illinois 1 1325247 Illinois 56345.1
Indiana 5498725 Indiana 361 85.4
Kansas 2467845 Kansas 82277.3

' Kentucky 3665220 Kentucky 40409.5
Maryland 4732934 Maryland 10460.1
Michigan 9179661 ‘ Michigan 58527.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State Population Area Density
California 29279015 158706.] 184.49
Colorado 3272460 1040909 3 l .44
Florida 12774603 58663.7 217.76
Iowa 2766658 56275.3 49.16
Illinois 11325247 56345.1 201.00
Indiana 5498725 36185.4 151.96
Kansas 2467845 82277.3 29.99
Kentucky 3665220 40409.5 90.7
Maryland 4732934 10460.1 452.48
Michigan 9179661 58527.2 156.84

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Besides the attribute data linkage, we also have to link attribute data and spatial
data. Spatial data is the information about the location, shape, and relationships among
geographic features, which is stored as coordinates and topology. In the example of
population density, if we want to display the population density by shading method in
each state. We have to link the attribute data and spatial data. First, we have to classify
the population density data into several groups. Each group has its own shading pattern.
Then put the shading pattern into each state according to their attribute data. This
procedure is called spatial and attribute data linkage. In figure 2-2, we divide the
population densities into five classifications. It is clearly useful to figure out the

distribution of population density in America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STATES by Density
I 217.76t98367.45 (11)
I 109.52to 217.76 (10)
I seam 109.52 (10)
m 29.13» 59.25 (10)
E] 0.92» 29.13 (10)

 

 

 

Figure 2-2 : Population Densities of America by state

 

Establishing a GIS

Generally, a GIS project can be organized into a series of logical steps, each of
which builds upon the previous one. Many GIS will follow a similar sequence.
Step 1. Build the database

This is the most critical and often the most time - consuming part of the project.
The completeness and accuracy of the database determines the quality of the analysis and
final producs.

( 1) Design the database - determine the study area boundaries, what coordinate

system will be used, which data layers are needed, what features are in each layer,

what attributes are nwded for each feature type, and how the attributes are to be

coded and organized.

(2) Automate the data: Get the spatial data into the database, make the spatial data

usable and get the attribute data into the database.

(3) Manage the database - putting the spatial data into real world coordinates,

jointing adjacent coverage, and maintaining the database.
Step _2. Analyze the data

This is the most important part of GIS and it is the true value of GIS. Analytical
tasks which are otherwise extremely time-consuming or even impossible if done
manually, can be performed very efficiently using a GIS. The GIS can be used in
conjunction with specified knowledge of the project objectives and the database you have
developed.
Step 3. Present the results of the analysis

A GIS offers many options for creating customized maps and reports. The final
products should relate directly to the objectives of the project and the intended audience,
both of which are determined at the beginning of the project. The presentation should
consist of both the analysis of graphic and tabular data. It will help in the decision-making
process. (Worrall Les, 1990)

Benefits of GIS
A number of benefits are generally attributed to a GIS. They include:

1. Improved productivity in providing public information.

2. Improved efficiency in updating maps.

3. The ability to track and monitor growth and development over time.

4. Improved ability to aggregate data for specific subareas.

5. The ability to perform displays of different types of professional analyses that

are too cumbersome or time consuming using manual methods.

6. Improved policy formulation.

Most GISs tend to be focused on automating routine tasks and monitoring growth
trends. While these activities are usefirl, the real payoffs from such systems come from
their ability to enhance analysis and to support more creative policy formulation.

The benefits associated with some of these applications are more easily quantified
than other applications. For example, automating routine map updating. But it is difficult p
to know the value of improvements in analysis and policy formulation. At least we can

not use cost-benefit to analyze the values since they are hard to quantify. (Boyce, 1989)

Chapter 3
GIS Applications in Urban Planning

To an urban planner, we know that "one plot is worth 1000 pages of printout".
Since many planning decisions relate to geographically dispersed phenomenon, local
governments or planning agencies have had a long interest in the development and
implementation of a GIS. They have created and maintained maps for essential functions
such as defining parcel boundaries, tax assessment, and identifying and maintaining the
public rights of way. The amount of data created and collected, have greatly added to
policy makers' information requirements. Today, the demands of GIS are greater and
wider than before because GIS had been really applied in every field of urban planning. In
this chapter, three main urban GIS applications including land use, socio-economic and
transportation are described separately.

Land Use

In urban planning, we usually need to create a lot of maps related to property lines,
land use and zoning etc. A deed contains a description of a parcel of land that accurately .
and precisely locates the parcel. Land surveyors utilize these descriptions to prepare land
subdivision plats, assessor's plats, cemetery plats and certified survey maps. These
graphic representations of the legal property descriptions are used by local government
for a number of purposes, including the assessment of pr0perties for taxing their owners.

To local government, an important problem is how to record these huge number of
maps and data. The more serious problem is that we have to change or update the maps
and data frequently.

Changes to maps occur when:

1. A new subdivision is created in preparation for new development.

2. A new survey of an existing subdivision is conducted to change lot boundaries

or correct errors in a previous survey.

3. A change is made in the size or location of the public right-of-way.

10

4. A street or alley is vacated.

5. A street name is changed.

6. Property outside the jurisdiction is annexed.

7. Errors of any kind are detected and corrected.

Only GIS can solve these problems since we can alter and redraw these maps in
computer. Ifthe data is too huge or complex, sometimes it is not only time consuming but
also impossible to do by hand.

Land use maps usually record how the land in a jurisdiction is used by the
citizens: whether it is residential, commercial, industrial, public, open space, etc. Besides
land uses maps, the local governments have to record and maintain plat maps and quarter-
section maps. Generally, the Local Planning Department of the agency creates and
maintains these maps. Usually the descriptions of the three maps, much of the map
information recorded on them is redundant (street names, parcel boundaries, right-of-
way). Since they are maintained in three separate functional units, this redundant
information must also be maintained redundantly by the separate units. Thus, one change .
can cause three separate update actions to take place. Depending upon their own local
needs, local governments maintain many more map series than these three, causing an
even greater degree of redundant map updating.

A geographic information system eliminates most of this redundancy by storing all
map information in one data base where only one change need be made .to common data.
The change is then reflected on all maps containing that information. (William E.
Huxhold, 1991)

Social-Economic - TIGER

In order to realize the activities of people, the US. Bureau of the Census created
the Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing system (TIGER). The
TIGER system consists of the TIGER database, plus the data specifications, computer

11

programs, and other materials required to prepare, maintain and use the database. The
TIGER database contains digital data for all 1990 census map features (e.g., roads,
railroads, and rivers); census geographic units (e.g., tracts and blocks); political units
(e.g., cities and townships); feature names; and 1980 and 1990 census geographic area
codes for the entire United States.

These development of the Census Bureau's TIGER system coincides with the
emergence of low-cost and easy-to-use geographic information systems (6188) that are
becoming increasingly important for city and regional planning in the United States.
Together, the TIGER national geographically referenced database and these powerful GIS
tools provide the means to conduct a variety of planning and management tasks that were
impossible or extremely difficult to do until recently.

In TIGER, it provides a thematic mapping function. Thematic or 'fchoroplethic"
maps use a system of colors, shades of gray, or hatching to display the regions shown on a
map. For example, a thematic map can use lighter and darker shades of gray to display the
median family income for different census tracts in a city. Tracts may be displayed in.
white to indicate median family income below $10,000; light gray can be used for tracts
with median family incomes between $10,000 and $15,000, and so on. Other variables
that can be displayed in a thematic map include the area's total population, minority
population, education levels, or any other variable that is available for different subareas
of a city or region.

Attractive and informative thematic maps can now be prepared easily and quickly
with, a number of low-cost microcomputer-based mapping packages. TIGER/Line data
can be incorporated into one of these packages to provide the boundaries for census
reporting areas(e.g., tracts and blocks) and political jurisdictions (e.g., cities and MCDs)
that are to be mapped. The area boundaries can be associated with the attribute values to
be mapped by relating the code in the TIGER/Line file to a corresponding code in an
attribute data file. For example, data fi'om the Census Bureau's summary tape files for

12

census tracts can easily be related to the corresponding tract boundaries generated fi-om
the TIGER/Line files by using the tract number that is included in both files.

The TIGER data can also be used with population information from the decenial
census to help locate new public facilities, such as schools and police and fire stations.
The location of such facilities is dependent largely on distance standards (e. g., a
community may establish a standard that there must be a fire station within five miles of
any resident). In this case, the TIGER sheet network map can be located into a GIS to
draw circles with a five-mile radius around the existing facilities to identify areas that are
not being served adequately. Similar analyses can be used to identify suitable sites for
new industrial and retail facilities.

The location of other facilities, like libraries, may be defined in terms of the
maximum client population (e.g., a neighborhood library should serve no more than
50,000 residents). In this case, a GIS can be used to determine the location of existing
neighborhood libraries along with the census block boundaries and the populations they
contain. The GIS can then be used to draw service areas around each facility that contain .
populations that are approximately equal to 50,000. The municipality can assume that
areas outside these boundaries are inadequately served, indicating where new facilities
should be provided.

The TIGER/Line road and street network information can also be used to estimate
the noise and air pollution impacts of existing and proposed highways and major aterials.
The TIGER/Line files can be located into a GIS to locate the highway under consider
consideration and the residential population in neighboring blocks or tracts. GIS buffer
operations can then be used to identify the proportion of each block that lies within a
specified distance of the highway and estimate the residential population that will be
affected within the corridor. (Wirnkowitz, 1991)

I3

Transportation - GIS-T

Transportation agencies are currently faced with ever-increasing demands for
information to support more effective decision making throughout their organizations —
from engineering at the individual project level to statewide planning and management.
Further, the broad environmental and economic development problems that confront all
of society today require data sharing and cooperation among multiple government
agencies at all levels.

The application of GIS to transportation problems is relatively new. Very few
large-scale implementation efforts have been undertaken. However, a number of
successful pilot projects and a few broadly introduced applications have effectively
demonstrated many potential benefits of GIS for transportation (GIS-T). Main inhibitors
of large-scale implementation include a lack of awareness of the revolutionary nature of
this technology, institutional barriers, and the significant costs of implementation.

An effective design and implementation plan for GIS-T must have both a
technological and an institutional context. Information technology in general is changing .
rapidly and will continue to do so. GIS is one of a number of information technologies
that must be planned for in concert. Principal aspects of the institutional context include
determining the most critical initial applications, sharing costs of developing and
maintaining the required spatial databases across applications, gaining and retaining
support of high-level management, coordinating with external organizations, and utilizing
standards developments.

There are several capabilities required for GIS applications to transportation that
go beyond those developed for applications in other areas. In the ideal - at some cost in
efficiency - these should be realizable by acquiring modules that provide them and can be
used in association with other modules that provide core GIS capabilities. In a server net,
the different modules might well be supported by different servers. The current state of

technology is such that products providing the capabilities are unlikely to be so neatly

14

decomposable into modules. In some cases, the pioneer DOTS (Department of
Transportation) that have made these capabilities available to themselves have done so
by extending commercially available products with internal development efforts.
(Transportation Research Board, 1993)

15

Chapter 4
Valley Court Community Comprehensive Plan

A central component of this report is a case desciption of the Valley Court
Community project which displays how a GIS can work in urban planning. The project is
compiled for the East Lansing Planning Commission and the Downtown Development
Authority. The purpose of this study is to collect data on issues that affect the study and
interpret the data to provide a plan of action.

The Valley Court area is located three miles east of downtown Lansing (figure 4-
1). The Valley Court Community boundaries are Louis Street on the west, Abbott Road
on the east, and Wildwood Avenue and Michigan Avenue on the north and south. The
Valley Court Community consists of pre—50's and 60's styles of development. This
explains why a majority of the housing area is zoned as a historic district. Michigan State
University, originally known as Michigan Agricultural College, officially opened in 1847,
with all its faculty and students living on campus. The main circulation of traffic frmneled
through Michigan Avenue and Grand River Avenue. Also, a street trolley system serviced .
users from downtown Lansing along Michigan Avenue to Grand River Avenue, up MAC
Avenue to Burcham Street and then back downtown. This route system lasted until
approximately 1930. In 1950, as the university population had grown to 14,996, housing
outside the university evolved similarly. By 1970, the population of Michigan State
University jumped to 44,092 and in 1975 university numbers peaked at 48,488. During
this time, the city of East Lansing recognized many major social changes.

. Within the study area there are two neighborhood groups, the Central
Neighborhood, and the Glencaim Neighborhood. The Central Neighborhood extends
westward to the city limits from Michigan Avenue and Grand River Avenue intersection.
It contains an area called the Delta Triangle (en-flamed by Michigan Avenue, Grand
River Avenue, and Harrison Avenue) and the Chesterfield and Kensington subdivisions.

The

16

Valley Court Community

Block Groups

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Glencairn neighborhood extends north of Grand River Avenue and to Wildwood
Street. It is sandwiched between Abbott Road and Rosewood Street.

In the center of our study area lies the last of East Lansing's green space - Valley
Court Park. Within the park is the Valley Court Community Center which is used as an
elderly day care and doubles as a public meeting facility for the different community
groups in the East Lansing area in the evenings.

Before discussing the application of GIS in this area, there are six topics ,
Transportation, Land use, Housing, Neighborhood preservation, Business as well as
Crime , are introduced in this chapter.

Transportation: Within the Valley Court Community, people utilize various forms of
transport. The majority of the working population (71%) travel by car; of that seventy-one
percent, eighty-eighty percent drive alone. This causes the serious problem of parking in
this area. The next highest percentage of people walk to work. This implies that the work _
is close in terms of time and distance. The average trip time for job related trips is almost
fourteen minutes is taken to get to work. The reason for this is that students within the
study area typically work in downtown East Lansing, while older residents work in
downtown Lansing. The average number of people making Lansing their destination was
twelve hundred, while twenty two hundred were going to East Lansing. It is readily
evident that the car is over utilized as a mode of transport when a thousand more people

are using it to access the core of the city only a couple of blocks away.

Land Use : The Valley Court Area is made up of two type of soil: UpA - Urban Land -
Capac - Colwood, and UtB - Urban Land Marlette Complex. UpA has a zero to four
percent slope and is classified as nearly level to undulating. It is found in the northeast

corner of the study area where the Hannah School is located, in Valley Court Park itself,

18

and along the Michigan Avenue border of the Delta Triangle. UtB maintains a two to
twelve percent slope and is classified as undulating to rolling, well drained soil. It is the
predominant soil across the rest of the site.

Currently there is a diverse spectrum of use in this area. The different housing
uses including: single family, double family (duplex), multiple family (apartment), and
group (fraternity, sorority, cooperative). The commercial uses include: offices,
restaurants, retail, and highway service uses. Other uses include churches, schools,
government, and public facilities.

The Delta Triangle area between Grand River Avenue and Michigan Avenue is
predominately multiple family and group housing with a small amount of commercial
interspersed. On the north side of Grand River Avenue there is a small commercial strip
containing a church, four restarnants, a bus station, and several empty lots. Behind this
commercial strip is the Valley Court Park and Community Center. North and west of the
park is all residential. The periphery of the park area is multiple and group housing,
transiting into single family housing. A large proportion of the single family units close to .
Grand River Avenue and the university exist as student rental homes. The single family
units on the northern and western borders of the study area are predominantly owner

occupied single family homes.

Housing: Physically, housing is one of the most important elements in our lives.
Population and households are important factors in dealing with over crowding, parking,
and garbage disposal. In the rental areas, the higher the concentration of people appears in
the R—2 zoned areas. These areas are mostly student housing rentals, fi'aternity and
sororities. The highest concentration of people, according to the maximum occupancy
load for rental houses, is the area north of Valley Court along Oakhill Road, the area to
the east of Valley Court between Evergreen and Abbott, and along Louis St. off of
Michigan Ave.

19

If Valley Court was a central focus then this area could be compared to Burgess'
Concentric Zone Model, where the lower income dwellings surround the central focus
and the higher income housing is another concentric zone surrounding the lower income
rental housing. This kind of model shows the buffer between the owner occupancy and
the rental housing. The effect that this had on the Valley Court park is that most of the

owner occupancy buildings are buffered fi'om the park.

Neighborhood Preservation: Neighborhood preservation is an important ingredient
concerning the conservation of any community. Historic preservation is only a small part
of maintaining the integrity of an area or neighborhood. Deterioration and loss of historic,
architectural and cultural resources are the main reasons for a community's decline as a
vital economic, social and cultural center. Neighborhood preservation and its programs
help to rebuild and revitalize various areas.

In East Lansing, a Historic Preservation Code was adopted in 1989. The code
addresses the physical stabilization, maintenance and improvement of historic resources .
and structures within designated Historic Districts. Considering the quality of homes, it
was important to study rental homes vs. residential homes, their location and their
structural condition. In East Lansing, to study the structural quality, Michigan State
University students need to be taken into account, since they are the renters and change
from year to year.

Neighborhood preservation is always important to the image of a community.
With this in mind, historic preservation, the historic preservation code and the structural

quality of homes are extremely important issues.

Business: The students of Michigan State University are an enormous economic
resource to the city of East Lansing, however, the students alone are not enough to

support such a diverse market.

20

East Lansing is currently a very pedestrian oriented town. This is often true of
college towns. Consumers much bike or walk to reach their destinations. Or they must
park. in one of the many pay lots, and then walk. Based on this point alone, a valid
alternative would be to make our service area more user fiiendly - beautify the
stereoscope, provide more visual links and improve safety.

Another problem that was verbally expressed by business owners was that East
Lansing did not cater to their needs. A simple achievable short term goal would be to
initiciate a system in which the work force of East Lansing or at least the business owners
would be allowed fiee parking during business hours. This seems minor, but in actuality
many owners are so angered by the parking that they considered moving.

Parking is an extremely pressing problem, but it need not be one that detracts from
East Lansing business. Another serious problem in East Lansing is "awareness". How can
East Lansing make local businesses aware of issues that could affect them? They need to
be made aware of positive things being done for them as well as things that may

temporarily negatively affect them.

Crime: East Lansing is not a crime infested city, but some crime does occur on and off
Michigan State University's campus. Noise citations have increased over the past three
years, while the number of tickets to people driving under the influence has decreased
over the last three years. Crime statistics for the Valley Court community were not made
available, but a general crime data sheet for the city of East Lansing from 1984-1992

showed that violent crimes do take place in this area.

21

Chapter 5
Objectives and Goals

Before the planning and implementation of social programs, the planners usually
have to predict and design the objectives and goals. VCCGIS, since it is a tool for
research the data of Valley Court Community, the explicit goal of this system is "To can
efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze and display the data related our
study area, Valley Court Community". Of course, this general and abstract statement only
briefly describes what we have to do in this system. Like chapter 3, the application of GIS
in public policy, we have to transfer the general policy statement into quantification. It is
also necessary to set the specific objectives including the quantification and locations for
each problem in Valley Court Community because computer systems can not work
according to a general statement. The following are ten objectives from six main topics
(they are briefly mentioned in chapter 4), Transportation, Land use and Zoning, Housing,

Neighborhood preservation, Business as well as Crime issue.

Transportation

There are two main issues related to transportation. One is the average daily traffic
volume and the other is the public transportation system.
a. Average daily traffic volumes

Because Valley Court Community is close to the DDA (Downtown Development
Authority) of East Lansing, to identify the traffic volumes is significantly important.
According to the investigation, the average daily traffic volumes of selected streets in the
study area are as table 5-1: ( on the following page).

Can we display and analyze the above data through GIS? The answer is absolutely

"yes". Since the daily traffic volumes combine two important factors, the attribute and

22

Spatial data. They are qualified to fit the basic requirements of GIS, so we can design the

objective for the average traffic volumes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Street Name Average Daily Traffic Majority % & its direction
Abbott N. of Grand River 14,733 52% heang South
Abbott N. of Burcham 13,252 53% headigSouth
Delta S of Grand River 804 51% heading North
Delta N of Michigan 900 51% heading North
Meet) N of Grand River 1,455 51% heading South
Grand River E of Abbott 39,102 54% head'mgN.W.
Grand River W of Abbott 42,295 51% headiflw.
Grand River W of Rosewood 24,587 51% heading S.E.
Man SW of Grand River 33,844 53% heading S.W.
Lamar sw of Bea] 36,360 53% headingS.W.

 

TABLE 5 - l : Average Daily Traffic Volumes of Valley Court Community

Objective 1:

VCCGIS should have the ability to display two different base maps, one is Valley
Court Community and the Greater Lansing area ( including East Lansing and Lansing
area). When we research a community, not only try to identify the activities within the
area but also try to understand the relationship between this community and the adjacent
areas. Therefore system is expected to exhibit the two base maps with this information.

Besides the base maps, GIS can also display the volumes of daily traffic by each
street. The demonstration should include the directions of traffic flow and the amount, so

we can distinguish which street has a heavy volume or hsa a light volume.

23

b. Public Transportation System

There is only a public transportation system, Capital Area Transportation Authority
(CATA), in great Lansing area. The bus system represents the most common means of
urban transit. It has universal application and it is both reliable and economical. Because
a lot of students live in the Valley Court community area, it is doubtless that CATA plays
an important role for the area's transportation considering that many students do not have

vehicles. Five routes of CATA cross this area and the data as following:

 

Route 1: Travels along Michigan Ave. from downtown Lansing all the way to Meridian
Mall

 

Route 17: From downtown East Lansing along Abbott to Carriage Hills Shopping

Center

 

Route 19: Follows Grand River Avenue from downtown East Lansing to the Lake
Lansing Road Meijer via North Harrison Road.

 

Route 20: Follows Michigan Avenue fi'om downtown East Lansing to Spartan Village

down South Harrison Road.

 

 

 

Route 1X: From Meridian Mall to Williamston express.

 

TABLE 5 - 2 : CATA Bus Routes
Objective 2:
The VCCGIS can display the paths of each routes and bus stops, and use the
analysis of the GIS to examine the service area of each bus stop and check the number of

stops is too much or little.

‘24

Land Use and Zoning
a. Land Use

A land use plan is an expression of a community's intent as to what its future
pattern of land uses should be. It identifies areas that are to be devoted to various types,
densities, and intensities of use categories, such as residential, commercial, industrial and
various public uses. A land use plan is an important component of a comprehensive plan,
we have to understand the land use in this area when we deal with the master plan of
Valley Court Community.

The land use planning process should begin with an understanding of what is
already there. This is achieved by conducting an existing land use survey, which normally
consists of (1) a map with colors or patterns denoting various land use categories, (2) a
quantitative analysis of how much land exists in each category, further subdivision by
geographic subareas, and (3) a text that analyzes the findings.

b. Zoning

Besides the land use map, the other significant map of the master plan is the zoning ‘
map. A traditional zoning ordinance consists of a map and a text. The map divides the
community into districts, and the text lists the types of uses permitted in each district and
sets forth regulations governing the way in which these may occur. Since zoning
ordinances are the basic nrles for a community development, we can not study Valley
Court Community without the zoning map. (John M. Levy, 1991)

Objective 3 and 4:
Display and query the land use and zoning of the whole or part of the study area.
The GIS can use different colors to show the different categories, meanwhile, it can

provide the quantitative analysis of each category.

25

Housing

Housing in its most basic sense is shelter, but in fact it serves more needs than only
protecting people fiom the elements. It provides space for a range of activities - cooking,
eating, working, recreation, and sleeping. It also provides relative access to schools, jobs,
parks and so on. In the housing, there are various people activities. In this topic, we will
try to analyze the social/economic activities in the housing.

a. The value of housing

The primary housing concern today is the proportion of income that households
must spend in order to procedure adequate housing. If the GIS can display the value of
each' housing in this area, we can not only distinguish the distribution of housing values
but also realize the relationship between area and income.

Objective 5:

Demonstrate the value of each housing by a different color and calculate the
statistical significance.
b. Value of housing, total housing units, mean contract rent and population

In the 1990 Census of population and housing in the Valley Court Area, to help
define the study area more accurately, it has been broken down into its respective tracts,
40 and 41, and firrther more, into block groups and blocks. Tract 40 includes block group
2 (or BG2) and tract 41 includes BG3 and BG4.

The major emphasis of the research will be on the housing and population
characteristics in terms of total number of housing units, mean contract rent and
population.

Objective 6:
Census data displays the pattern of this data block by" block and the GIS can capture

and update the new census data.

26

Neighborhood Preservation

The Historic Districts in East Lansing were created to protect the importance
historic, architectural and cultural resource that the East Lansing community has to offer.
Six geographically defined historic districts exist within the city: Hillcrest Village,
Chesterfield Hills, Collegeville, Oakwood, College Grove and Bailey. There are also
exists a Landmark District and a Cast Iron Street Light District.

a. Historic Districts and Land marks

The study area is located in part within three geographically defined districts:
Collegeville, Oakwood and College Grove. Besides the three historic districts, the
landmark district is also a part of this project area. The landmark district is a non
contiguous district comprised of 27 individual structures which the Historic District
Committee felt bad outstanding historical and architectural merit. There are.10 landmarks
in this area.

Objective 7:

Display the three historic districts in this area with the 10 landmarks by using a_
layer overlaying function. The system should record the basic information of each
landmark and we can check the information and the picture of each landmark in the
computer.

b. Structural Quality

The structural quality of homes is always important for the preservation of a
neighborhood. The project area, in East Lansing , being primarily residential, contains
mainly sound structures. When reviewing the homes, the following criteria was used:

1 - Excellent : Structurally sound and in excellent condition.
2 - Good: Structurally sound.
3 - Fair: Dilapidated. (problems that are fixable)

4 - Poor: Deteriorated (will not be around in 20 years)

27

Objective 8:
Display the structural quality of each lot. We can analyze the relationship between

the housing quality and historic districts as well as housing value.

Business

In the Valley Court Community, the commercial area is a small part of this study
area. Since some residents suggested extending the DDA (Downtown Development
Authority) and connecting with Frandor Plaza commercial area, consideration of the the
commercial development of this area is an important issue. There are 35 business stores
in our study area and most of their activities relate to students of Michigan State
University. DDA extension will attract more students for shopping and dining in this
area.
Objective 9: First to create a query system for checking the basic data of each business,
like address, store name, area, type of their consumers and business categories. Second, to .
decide the locations of new stores with some conditions such as if we want to develop

some retail stores.

Crime issues

To keep a safe community is a substantial issue for the living quality of a
community. Although East Lansing is not a crime infested city, some crime does occur on
and off Michigan State University. The associations of this area suggest that adding more
street lights for detering the criminals.

Each of the three associations in this area, East Glencairn, Oakwood Historic, and
the Central Neighborhood Association, stated that more lighting is needed. In addition,
they also suggested the ordinance on street lights in historic districts should be re-

evaluated.

28

Objective 10:
' To determine if the existing lighting facilities are enough? If it is found that more

lighting is needed, then how to decide the locations of new street lights by VCCGIS.

29

Chapter 6
The Process of Establishing VCCGIS

Generally, there are a series of logical steps used to create a GIS project.
Establishing VCCGIS also follows the similar sequence. In the previous chapter, the ten
objectives of six issues had been disscussed. They provide the information about what the
functions and database of VCCGIS should be. We have to build the database and analytic
functions according to these objectives.

Sometimes, it is necessary to organize the non-quantitative data and calculate the
quantitative data for getting more information. On the other side, if we get the graphic
data . from the other existing system with different format, we have to convert the
coordinates to fit our system. Therefore besides building a database and a system, some
basic principles about database management and graphic transformation will be discussed
in this chapter.

VCCGIS Components and Structure

In the computer software market, many computer programs run under MS-DOS and
call themselves Geographic Information Systems (GISs). What is a true GIS? and what is
"Desktop GIS" ? Actually, a computer program can begin to call itself a GIS if it will give
users information geographically. Specifically, if we can point to a geographic feature on
a map display and be shown a data record for it, the program begins to be a GIS. About
the desktop GIS, it is a personal GIS, not that runs an enterprise and runs on a personal
computer, though it may be connected to an enterprise GIS over a local area network. It
has more functionality than a thematic mapping program. (C. Peter Keller, 1988) When
we choose a GIS software, several factors which should be considered :

1. Cost: since most people or bureaus have limited budgets, the cost is an important

factor.

30

2. Functions: choose the GIS which fits our need. Usually different GISs focus on
different fields, like transportation, natural resources, urban planning etc., and
we have to decide which software to use according to what needs we have.

- 3. Performance: a good computer program can be designed to do things fast, such as
by using indexs to go right to data in a large file, rather than search each record
for matches, or by organizing the map data so that geographic features in a small
area can be quickly found and drawn.

4. Ease of learning and use: the more "natural" a program is in its approach to doing
work for you, the better you will like it. Whatever the firnctions a GIS provides,
it is not a good program if it is hard to use and learn. (Wiggins, 1990)

Basically, the whole VCCGIS combines some PC version software including
AutoCAD, Arc/Info, ArcNiew, DbaseIII, MS Excel and Wingif. Why does VCCGIS
comprises these programs but not an independant software? Actually, it can not be
expected that there is a perfect GIS software which can fit all your needs. It is a new trend
in computer applications of urban planning to use varied programs for dealing with
different problems of a project. For example, Arc/Info is the main component of
VCCGIS, but we use the digitizing firnction of AutoCAD instead of Arc/Info because
AutoCAD is the most popular Computer Aided Design program and easy to use and edit.
The other reason that we consider the combination of programs is that we can use our
existing programs to match the needs without buying new ones. Figure 6 - I is the
structure of VCCGIS. '

31

I

 

Analyze and
Praeautdata

 

 

 

7 Scan [rim
Croat image
files

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

l Analyau
Overlay
Quay
Locate
Measure
Euler

2 Present
Mm
Pnntu-
Hotter

 

 

Figure 6 -1: The structure of VCCGIS

The followings are the brief descriptions of the function of each software.
AutoCAD:

It is a Computer Aided Design program and is famous for its fiiendly use and
powerful functions. In VCCGIS, we input the spatial data by digitizing through
AutoCAD. Besides inputing the features like points, lines, arcs, circles or polygons, we
also can add the texts on the graphic. After drawing the base map, we need to transform
the AutoCAD graphic format into "DXF" (Drawing Exchange Format) because it is a
bridge format between AutoCAD and Arc/Info. (R. Gesner, 1991)

32

Arc/Info:

PC Arc/Info is developed by ESRI (Environmental System Research Institute) and
includes [most of the abilities of GIS. A whole Arc/Info are divided into six parts, Starter
Kit, ArcEdit, ArcPlot, Overlay, Network, Data conversion and PC Info. In VCCGIS, we
only use Starter Kit and Data conversion to transform the DXF files from AutoCAD and
create the topology and coverages. A coverage can have point, are (line) and polygon
(area) features, but node points are part of arcs and a polygon is defined by the group of
arcs that bounds it. Coverages can be used together in any combination when doing
analysis.

3. DbaseIII and Excell:

Both of them are the software for Data base management. DbaseIII provides a
prograrnnrimg function working in MS-DOS and Excel] provides Macro language
working in MS-Windows. Why does VCCGIS need two database systems? Since users
can design the program to input, delete, edit, calculate and print the data according to
their need and format by DbaseIII. But it does not work in Windows system. Excel] has '
statistic and geographic function like bar, pie and charts. Most importantly is that it can
work in Windows system , so we can execute ArcNiew to analyze the graphics and in the
meanwhile edit the Database by Excell. (PC Learning Labs, 1994)

4. Arc/View ':

ESRI produces ArcNiew in Windows system because Arc/Info is a huge program
and difficult to learn and use. In order to improve the problems, ArcNiew is designed in
Windows system and users can easily operated by a mouse for choosing the database and
analyzing tools. It provides the most graphic analyzing functions of Arc/Info like thematic

map, overlay and service area coverage.

33

 

 

 

Figure 6 - 2: The flow of VCCGIS Database.
Creating Database

Before creating the database of VCCGIS, we have to determine what kinds data we '

have to prepare. A GIS combines two main kinds of data, spatial and attribute data.

Spatial data means the information about the location, shape, and relationships among

geographic features, in this project like the locations of street, lot or bus stops. In

Arc/Info, the different spatial data is stored in different layer called coverage. Attribute

data ”is directly associated to the spatial data and contains both spatial data characteristics

and attributes. In VCCGIS, the land use, value of each lot, housing units and the
population of each parcel are attribute data.

Besides the two kinds data, a image file is the other format data in GIS. It is a two-

dimensional data representation which can be transformed from a photograph by a

scanner. Table 6-1 . shows the spatial, attribute and image data in each objective.

34

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Objective Spatial data Attribute data ImageiData
l.Traffrc Volumes Great Lansing area the number of
Block map“ traffic volumes
Traffic voulmes
2.Public Transit Bus stOp Land use
system Lot map”
Bus routes
Great Lansinggea
3.Land Use Lot map” Land use
4.Zoning Lot mag" Zoning
5.Housin& Lot map" "' Housing value
6.Census Data Block map“ Housing value
Housing units
Contract rent
Population
7.Historic District Lot map“ Historic districts Land marks
8.Structural Quality Lot map“ Structural quality
9.BuSiness Stores Lot map" ‘ Business data
108th lightings _ Lot map"
street lightings

 

 

Block map‘: Valley Court Community Map by each block.
Lot map": Valley Court Community Map by each lot.

Table 6—1 : The spatial, attribute and image data in each objective.

According to the table, it is evident that most objectives use the same spatial data
such as a lot map. It is a main character of GIS which can create much information only
by a limited database. The following are the steps in creating the whole database.

0 Get the spatial data into the database

This step is the most time consuming in creating a database. Inputing the spatial
data means the convert on of features on a map to a digitial format on the computer. In
Arc/Info, a digital map is called a coverage and the process of capturing spatial data
manually is called digitizing.

Data on a map can be captured by digitizing each feature, one by one, or by using

an electronic scarmer to capture an entire sheet of features. Image files can only be created

35

 

by a scanner but not by digitizing. Digitizing is the process of converting the spatial
features on a map into a digitial format. Point, line and area features that form a map are
converted into X,Y coordinates. A point is represented by a single coordinate, a line by a
string of coordinates and when combined, one or more lines with a label point inside ,
outline and identify an area.

To ensure the maps are digitized most efficiently and accurately, we usually have to
prepare good base maps since the accuracy of the digitial data is directly affected by the
quality of the map manuscripts fiom which we digitize. Before starting to digitize, we
have to defrne the coordinates. In VCCGIS, the block map is the first coordinate to be
digitized. So the other maps should follow this identical coordinate.

- Converting data fiom other system
' If the spatial data is already in a digital format, we need not to digitize from
manuscript maps. Digital data can sometimes be obtained fi'om government agencies or
commercial firms. In VCCGIS, the Greater Lansing map is converted fiom the data base .
of Integraph Workstation of Michigan Department of Transportation. We need to convert
the spatial data of workstation to our Arc/Info system by DXF files. The largest problem
in converting data is transforming the new coordinat to fit the existing one. There are
three procedures to transform the two different coordinates.
1. Movement
Movement means shifting the original point (0,0) of the new coordinate to the
orginal point of the existing coordinate. In our case, the block map is the first map and the
Greater Lansing map has to match its coordinate . The formula for movement is
‘X=X+a
Y' = Y + b

36

 

[0.01 D x

 

 

Figure 6 - 3: The shift of two coordinates

(X', Y') is the existing coordinate and (X,Y) is the new one. a and b are the shifts
between two original points of the different coordinates in X and Y axis. (Figure 6 -3)
2. Scale

Since each map has its own scale like 1": 1000' or 1": 500', we have to change the
new coordinate with the same scale as the existing one. The formula for scale is

. X' = a * X
Y'=a* Y (aisthe ratio ofthetwo scales)

LY

 

 

 

[[0,0]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 6 - 4: The scale of two coordinates

37

3. Rotation
Usually map creaters use the same orientation (set the north head to the top of map).
If they do not, we have to rotate the new coordinate to match the existing one. The

formula for rotation is

X' = cos0 * X
‘ Y' = sin 0 t Y (0 is the degree difference of two coordinates)

fix

 

Figure 6 - 5 : The rotation of two coordinates

The three procedures are sequential in transfonning the map, so the order can not be
changed.
0 Get the attribute data into the database

Before the analysis can be done, we need to specify additional data, for example,
what type of land use each polygon represents. To do this, we have to add descriptive

attribute to the land use coverage. The attribute includes a code indiciating the type of

38

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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39

land use in each polygon and the cost so we can determine the land acquistion cost of
each potential site. Table 6 - 2, it shows the attribute data linked to the lot map.

Area, perimeter and lot_ID are generated by Arc/Info automotively, but the other
items are created by users. In the items of land use and condition (Structural Quality),
attributes are stores as sets of numbers but not characters.

Land use : l - General Office

2 - General Retail Sales
3 -- City Center Community

4 -- Community Facilities

Condition: 1 - Excellent

2—Good
3—Fair
4-Poor

Why do we use numbers to represent the types instead of characters? There are A
two reasons. First, it saves the space of the computer. Secondly is because the ease for
operators to input data. This is especially ture because it will take too much time in typing
when the database is enormous. But if the item is related to the individual or specified
data, we still have to input the characters like addresses, names of owners.

Before we finish the database for the GIS project, the final step is to ensure its
functionality. A fimctional project database should contain a number of associated
coverage with the following characteristics.

1. Each coverage contains clean topology.

2. The accuracy of all feature locations has been verified.

3. Feature attribute tables are present.

4. The accuracy of the feature attribute values has been verified.

40

To a computer, since "Garbage in and garbage out" , insuring the accuracy of

database is important to the result of analysis.

41

, Chapter 7
Analysis and Presentation

Analysis, this is where the true value of a Geographic Information System shines
through Analytical tasks which are otherwise extremely time consuming or even
impossible if done manually. It can be performed very efficiently using a GIS. But the
most importantly is the conjunction of the knowledge of the project objectives and the
database.

The other substantial benefit of a GIS is to present the results of analysis. Usually a
GIS offers many options for creating customized maps and reports. The final products
should relate direct to the objectives of the project and intended audience. Of course, we
have to determine them at the beginning of the project. For example, the intended
audience of Valley Court Community is East Lansing City Government and the residents
of this area and the goal is to improve the living quality. So all the objectives we designed
have to fit their need. We can get varied analytic results even though we are using the
same database. The skill in summarizing and presenting understandable results of the .
analysis is the key to determining the effect of the analysis in the decision - making
process.

The analysis and presentation will be according to the objectives designed in
chapter five. There are several common methods of geographic analysis which will be
used in VCCGIS to help in understanding and solving the problems in this area.

Transportation
Objective 1 . Average Daily Traffic Volumes
Figure 7-1, the study area, Valley Court Community , is in the red fiame which
two arterial roadways, Grand River Road and Michigan Avenue run through. On the west

42

 

\..J
w1

 

 

 

 

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i

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

K‘V/l _
\\ E —-

 

  
 

 

M 'Ch'con St at.

ii
. ‘- ' Univonity 4
r -¥A‘7 ' - ‘.

Figure 7 -1 : The Greater Lansing Area and Average Daily Traffic Volumes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 7-2: The parking status distribution

43

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘.‘, . a. - o
$.'. ti”) .Va
" “. t ‘

. . .
‘J‘. “
I. -.
a;

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K

Figure 7-4: Land Use Map

45

side, Michigan Avenue crosses I-127 and heads to the State Capitol. In the east
side, is the East Lansing downtown and Grand River Avenue is the main street. Basically,
this map combines two base maps, one is Greater Lansing including East Lansing city and
Lansing city and the other is the study area. The reason to show the both maps is because
we can figure out the relationship between the study area and the adjacent area. If there is
only one base map of Valley Court Community, in the database, it will be hard to
understand where Grand River Road comes and where Michigan Avenue goes.

This figure is designed to use different arrow signs for presenting the directions and
traffic volumes. In order to provide more detailed information, the system shows varied
colors for the levels of traffic volumes. For example, since the traffic volume of Michigan
Avenue is in the highest level, we know the drivers choose Michigan Avenue over Grand
River Avenue as their route to access Lansing.

The other serious problem in this community is parking. Figure 7 - 2 shows the
parking distribution. We know most streets are set to be "No Parking Anytime" and there
is no large public parking lot for the residents in this area. We can consider the parking .
status or create a new parking lot according to the traffic volumes, population and zoning
maps.

Objective 2. Public Transportation System

The residents of this area complain about the locations of the East Lansing
commercial bus terminal. They think there are some negative effects on Valley Court
Community, like noise, traffic impairment and inappropriate use in the area. First of all,
we can understand these bus routes through the area and the locations of bus terminals by
figure 7-3. VCCGIS provides a function to analyze the service area of a bus stop.
Suppose the distance that a passenger walks from home to the bus terminal is within
1800 feet which is the radius a terminal can serve. We can draw a circle with 1800 feet
radius and the bus terminal as the center to see the service area of each bus stop. It is

obvious that

most of service areas are overlaid each other. We can immediately understand why
the residents complain about the noise, traffic impairment and inappropriate use. So
VCCGIS can provide the useful information for the planners to decide how many and the

locations of bus terminals in this area.

Land Use and Zoning
Objective 3: Land Use and Objective 4: Zoning

Figure 7-4 and figure 7-5 show the existing land use and the zoning map according
to the master plan of East Lansing. In the two figures, we select different colors to
represent the attribute data which are called "Thematic Map". A thematic map means " A
map that presents the distribution of attribute data (a theme) across a set of map features.
Through the use of color, patterns, shading , or size, the relative value of feature
characteristics and their geographic relationship can be displayed." (F. Stuard Chapin,
1985)

Usually planners use some specified color to show the varied land use. The
following illustrative major urban land use categories for Generalized and Detailed Land
Use Map Presentations.

Residence

Low density - Yellow. Medium density - Orange. High density - Brown '

Retail business - Red

Transportation, Utilities, Communications - Ultramarine

Industry and related uses - Indigo blue

Whole sale and related uses - Purple

Public buildings and open spaces - Green

. Institutional buildings and areas - Gray

Vacant or non urban use - uncolored

46

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 7-6: The 1992 Assessed Value of each lot.

47

 

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Figure 7 - 8: Total number of Housing units by Block

 

 

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Figure 7 - 10: Total population by Block

50

After filling the colors on the map, we can understand the business districts move
along the bottom of the Valley Court expanding west along Grand River Avenue
fi'ocentral business district. Most of the area around Valley Court except to the south is
zoned for multi-farnily housing, and the area outside of that is a historic district
residential to the north and scattered zoning to the southwest. Zoning and land use maps
are always the best way to describe the study area.

Housing
Objective 5. The value of housing

This thematic map, figure 7-6, shows the 1992 Assessed Value of each lot.
According to the map, it is evidence to figure out the distribution of housing value. For
example, the houses of the highest level, $91,000 - $15,320, are located at the Northeast
area and the stores along Grand River Avenue and Michigan Avenue. This means the
value of the housing is more expensive if it is near the main streets. Sometimes the result .
of analysis depends on the classifying method. In this area, the assessed value are
divided into five levels by the same quantity method in which every level has the same
number of lots. However, if we use same range method instead of same quantity method,
some lots will be changed into the other levels. Analysts should be careful in designing
the patterns of a thematic map when choose different classifying ways.

The other problem in this map shows only the value of each housing but not the
average value of each square feet. In order to get the average value, we have to divide the
assessed value by the area of each lot in the attribute database. Then reselect the new
item, average value of square feet, to be the analytic data.

Objective 6. 1990 Census Data

48

Population and household size is an inrportant factor in dealing with over crowding,
parking, and garbage disposal. In the rental areas, the higher the occupancy the more
evident these problems becomes. The higher concentration of people in R-2 zoned areas.

These areas are mostly student housing rentals, fi'aternity and sororifies.Figme 7- 7
to 7- 10 show the census information about mean value of owner occupied housing units,
total number of housing units, mean contract rent and total population by block. All of
them are displayed by the same spatial data, the block map, but not the lot map since the
basic unit of census data is a block. Because 1990 census data is public and easy to access
and census bureau keeps this data for ten years, it is very useful for plarmers to analyze
the social issue by GIS.

Neighborhood Preservation
Objective 7. Historic Districts and Land Marks _,

' Historic preservation in the East Lansing area was officially begun in October of
1989, through a Historic Preservation Code that was adopted by the East Lansing City
Council. In this study area, there are three historic districts which are represented by three ._
colors.

Collegeville: Most of the structures in this area were built between 1890 and 1920
and show a variety of cottage and farm house designs popular to that period.

Oakwood: This area was home to many prominent local figures. Many of their
homes still exist today with relatively few alterations.

College Grove: This district is demographically mixed, with boarding houses for
students and homes for faculty intermingled. (East Lansing City Council, 1988)

Besides displaying the districts in figure 7 - 1], VCCGIS also shows the ten land
marks with their pictures in this area. For example, figure 7-12 is the landmark map
which contains the information on the "People Church" and the picture of the church.

Using image files to store the pictures of every land mark is an advanced function of the

51

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 7 - l 1: Historic Districts and Land Marks

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Figure 7-12: A land mark and its picture

52

 
      
  

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Figure 7-14: The distribution of street Lighting.

53

GIS. It is not only helpful for planners to figure out the real shape of the housing but also
helpful for them to use in doing presentation.

Objective 8. Housing Structural Quality
The change of individuals in and out of the East Lansing area every year due to

Michigan State University is a define issue facing structural and housing quality. Sunset
Lane, Hillcrest, Oakhill, Evergreen, Louis street, Forest, Abbott Road and Dorothy Lane
have a high percentage of rental homes. Due to the fact that renters change final year to
year, the quality of homes tends to change because of the variety of students that live in
them and the different care that is taken when occupying the home.

Figure 7-13, the housing with poor quality is displayed by red since we usually tend
to use red for representing dangerous. The way to select the patterns or colors for
representing the meaning of data is very important. A best map should be clearly and
immediately understood without any clue, though we usually add a legend to provide the . .
detail information. For example, people are familiar to recognize the density of dotes or
the size of a circle to represent the population density or the number of population. They
can easy to distinguish which area with high population density or low one.

Business

Objective 9. Business stores

There is a useful ability of analysis in GIS called site selection. For example, we are
going to select a lot for a new store in Valley Court Community and there are some
conditions due to the restrictions of a store.

1. The area of the store is more than 2300 square feet.

2. The land use of the lot is general retail sales.

3. The assessed value of the lot and housing is less than 100,000.

54

4~ The SNOW quality is 800d or excellent.

After determining the conditions, we can input these statements (logical
expressions) into VCCGIS one by one. The number of selected objectives will reduce
when we add a new condition. Usually the planners will get several ideal lots for
matching all the conditions. If the local results are too many or none, we can reset more
restrictions or some loose conditions. This process is similar to "What - if" analysis which

is frequently used in spreadsheets like MS-Excell or Lotus.

Crime issues
Objective 10. Adding more street lighting.

A main problem which the associations of this community mention is the lack of
street lights caused the crime occurrences. There are two ways to improve the situation,
one is to add more sheet lighting and the other is to increase the candlepower of the
lighting. VCCGIS provides both the abilities to decide the new locations of street _
lighting and the degree of candlepower. In figure 7 - 14, it is evident that the street
lighting are not enough at Hillcrest St.. We can either set more lighting in these streets or
relocate some existing sheet lighting. Since it is easy to add or delete the symbols
representing street lighting in computer , we can arrange and recognize the new street
lighting distribution. The second ability of VCCGIS is to use the different size circle as a
symbol for showing the coverage of a sheet lighting. The bigger size of the circle means
the more degree of candlepower. We can immediately know the area where is covered or

not by the street lighting.

55

Chapter 8
Conclusion

It is doubtless that the technology of GIS has demonshated a remarkable maturity.
This maturity is supported in the first instance by the rapid strides over the past few years
in computer hardware, especially the hardware of personal computers and workstations.
Even more important is the explosion in software offerings both of general nature and in
the form of a variety of GIS systems. (Marble, 1988)

GIS is a most important tool in many kinds of development planning, for two
principal reasons. First, it is oriented to the spatial component of development. This
comprises the use of the land for human settlements. The use of land resources and the
social and economic activities. Second, GIS is oriented not solely to the purely
geographic aspects of planning, but its informational content. Thus, GIS goes for beyond
mapping and purely spatial analysis, and deals with the athibutes of the land, the residents
and social content. A vitally important aspect of any GIS is its provision of means to
store, access, and manipulate data and to utilize its informational content in a spatial.
context. (United Nations Center, 1989)

Basically, VCCGIS is a tool for the master plan of Valley Court Community As
most GIS systems, VCCGIS not only provides the spatial demonstrations of the base
maps and athibute data, but also has the abilities to analyze the data. The whole hardware
sh'ucture of VCCGIS is based on microcomputer system (IBM compatible) since it is the
most popular personal computer on the market. To some small bureaus or deparhnents, it
is hard for them to develop GIS systems on workstations because of the high expense.
The other reason that VCCGIS is created by micro-computer is that most planers are
familiar with the operations of micro-computer, so we need not to spend much time in
training the users. To create a GIS based on a popular and low price micro-computer can

be a first step for the bureaus or departments without any experience in GISs.

56

Since the VCCGIS deals with the master plan, it created a lot of athibute data and
spatial data in its database. The six issues, transportation, land use and zoning, housing,
neighborhood preservation, business as well as crime, are the most important topics
usually mentioned in urban planning problems. Most of these problems or issues are
displayed by the thematic maps with the lot or the parcel map and varied colors.
Providing the information is the basic function of a GIS by the thematic maps. Planners
can not only "look at" the maps but also "interpret" them and generate more information.
For example, the thematic map of 1993 Assessed value shows the different value in each
lot. Besides recognizing the dishibution of assessed value, planners can also analyze the
relationship between income and lot value or how h'affic volumes or historic districts
affect the values.

There are two common mistakes in using GIS applications. First, people think a
GIS is a system to draw maps. In fact, this is only one basic function of a GIS . It is
called computer Graphic Design if the system only provides the drawing function.
Second, GIS systems can not provide the final decisions after creating databases and
execute the analysis. Do not expect that there is a perfect system that can deal with every
planning problem and solve it. Planners still have to use effort in analyzing therefare the
role of a GIS system is to deliver the information generated by the database to assist the
planner in their analysis.

The other main problem in GIS is that there is no single GIS software that can
totally fit our needs. For example, TransCAD and GIS Plus are popular GIS software, but
they focus on hansportation issues. Therefore they are not suitable for natural resources
or economic issues. The functions of VCCGIS are established on many softwares like
ArcNiew, Excel] and Win-Gif. Since even software has its own merits and faults, we can
combine all the merits of the software packages to match our needs. On the other side, if a
GIS is created on existing or familiar software, planners or users need not to spend too

much time in learning.

57

There are three points on which VCCGIS could be improved. First, we need more
spatial and attribute data to create a functional and useful database. Because all the output
information or results of analysis are gained through the database, only a good database
can provide more and helpful information for planners. The second point is to improve
the software and hardware. Due to the restriction of software and hardware, it is hard to
deal with the data quickly, such as to display a graph or get the exact output by a plotter
or a screen. After the rapid advances in new technology, we can improve these faults of
GIS systems shortly. For example, VCCGIS provides image file function to show the
pictures of each land marks. The new technology not only improves the qualities of the
pictures, buts also use CD-ROM to record the voice and film of the life site. The final
point of needed improvement is that the system should have more abilities to analyze the
data. Since a GIS is not only a mapping system, more firnctions of analysis will improve
the power of this system.

Although VCCGIS is not a perfect and professional system, it successfully
demonstrates that it is possible to create a GIS for a local area or even like a small.
community. In the future, a comprehensive plan report will no longer be a thick report but

a small CD-ROM which record all the contents, tables, maps, images as well as voices.

58

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Boyce Thompson, "The Dazzling Benefits of Computerized Mapping". G_0\_/e£ip_g=
(December, 1989). P 40 - 46.

C. Peter Keller. Mapping Software for Microcomputers. (V ictora, Canada, 1988)

East Lasing City Council. Historic District Study Committee. (East Lansing , Michigan,
1988)

Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc. PC Understanding GIS (Redlands, CA ,
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F. Stuard Chapin, Jr. and Edward J. Kaiser. Urban Land Use Planning (Chicago, 1985)

International City Management Association. The Practice of Local Government Planning
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Jeffiey Star and John Estes. Geoggphic Information Systems. (New Jersey, 1990)

John M. Levy. Contemporary Urba_n_P_lan_ni_ng_(New Jersey, 1991)

Les Worrall. Smtial Analysis and Spatial Policy using Geographic Information Systems.
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Marble, DP. and Amundson, SE. (1988), "Microcomputer-based geoggaphic information
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Peter H. Rossi and Howard E. Freeman. Evaluation. (N ewbury Park, 1989)

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William E. Huxhold. An Introduction to Urban Geomhic Information Systems. (New
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Wimkowitz, Howard J. "TIGER in Actio: Making Effective Use of the Census Bureau's
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Wiggins, Lyna L.(1990). , "Microcom uter-based e0 hic information and m in
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