The Experience of Integrating GIS into the Nottingham Planning Curriculum:

Innovation, Aspiration and the Future
Dr T.M.Shalaby

Recent years have seen an increase in the development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS is an important area where computers have greatly strengthened the choice of tools for deployment in any planning sp here. This article focuses on how GIS has been integrated into the urban planning curriculum at Nottingham University.

Overview
Overview

Introduction

Nottingham University has already gained an international reputation in engineering surveying, space geodesy, and remote sensing. In addition, the university’s role in GIS research is becoming increasingly recognised. This article describes how GIS has been integrated into the Nottingham planning curriculum. Since the early 1980’s IT has played an increasingly essential role in teaching and research development in the Department of Urban Pla nning (formerly the Institute of Planning Studies). The academic aspects of all courses offered within the department are linked with IT. These include the MA in Environmental Planning, the MA in Environmental Planning for Developing Countries (recently terminated), and the BA in Urban Planning and Management (a new course). Between 1983 and 1986, the first three courses on the use of computers in planning practice were introduced, covering SPSS, wordprocessing, and simple Fortran programming.

During this period two research projects were established in the department, concerned with the application of computer mapping for the purposes of spatial analysis in developing countries. The first project focused on the analysis of behavioural pattern s in relation to the spatial distribution of public spaces in rural areas in Egypt. The second focused on analysing the distribution of infrastructure facilities and health care services in Kenya. Computer programming code (Fortran and Gino), was used i n the generation of maps from which the required spatial analysis could be undertaken. Progress in this research stimulated demands for more specialised computer mapping equipment. In 1988 the university allocated £37,000 for the establishment of two co mputing labs in the department. The first provided facilities for GIS and includes two Sun workstations, each with a 23 inch screen and 2GB Hard Disk, and an A0 digitiser and plotter. The second has six networked PC’s and a laser printer, used in the te aching of databases, spreadsheets, statistics, project management, and wordprocessing. The lab also contains six Apple Macs for teaching CAD.

Overview

System Choice, Operation, and Staff Development:

 Arc/Info was the most appropriate software available for analysis purposes and also the most affordable as it was available under the CHEST agreement. The Cripps Computing Centre in the university assisted in setting up the GIS system. After the installa tion of Arc/Info, it took almost six months to become fully operational due in part to unfamiliarity with the Unix, and later Solaris, operating systems. It proved invaluable to have the support of a good computer technician available. As part of the Nott ingham University staff development programme, the lecturer responsible for teaching the GIS and IT modules was able to complete an MA in IT in the Department of Computer Science, as well as a PhD which included GIS programming.
Course Structure ArcTools Example

Integrating IT and GIS specialisation into the MA courses:

 In the 1989-90 academic year the Department was one of the first planning schools in the UK to incorporate GIS into the course curriculum. By 1991 more than seven modules on IT and CAD, including GIS specialisation, had been introduced into the MA and th e new BA courses. Also other modules on statistics and planning methods had been extended to incorporate the application of computing. These modules were structured to achieve two objectives; to provide students with a basic knowledge of GIS and IT skil ls; and to provide them with the opportunity to specialise in GIS and IT [Course Structure Diagram]. Nottingham City Council has made a significant contribution to the development of IT and GIS in the department, particularly in advising on the level and types of skills that students need to acquire. The Council also provided first hand data, representing current planning issues in Nottingham, for most of the IT and GIS projects. Data collected on primary health care a nd rural development in Kenya (Dr K.G. Williams, Urban Planning Department, Nottingham University) has also been used in teaching GIS applications in the district development planning module [Screen Capture]. Using GIS facilities in solving real planning problems has made the specialisation very popular with both home and overseas students. Examples of specialised GIS projects are as follows:
Overview

Locational Analysis for Mini-Recycling Centres:

This project used GIS facilities to find the ‘best’ location for a proposed ‘Mini-Recycling Centre’ in Southchurch local shopping centre in Nottingham. The ‘Network’ module in Arc/Info was utilised to analyse the movement and behavioural patterns of pedes trians in order to ascertain the regularity of visits to particular areas. Shortest walking routes were also calculated and the visibility of the proposed recycling centre and its distance from housing noted so as to avoid noise.

GIS and Light Rapid Transit (LRT):

This project focused on the evaluation of three possible routes, running from the city centre to the Wollaton area, to identify which would serve the highest number of potential travellers. A GIS system was dev eloped to calculate the catchment area for each of the proposed routes based on the actual walking distance from the surrounding housing estates. The students used overlay facilities to intersect these buffers with population density and car ownership ra tios to find the number of potential travellers.

GIS and Visual Impact Assessment:

This project applied the ‘TIN’ facilities in Arc/Info (3D projection) to model the coal spoil in Gedling Colliery (near Nottingham). The students used visual impact analysis to calculate the possible height and shape of the spoil. The 3D modelling assisted in studying the possible visual intrusion of the spoil as viewed from the surrounding roads and villages. Modifications could then be taken if necessary to reduce visual impact.

GIS and Site Selection in Mauritius:

This project applied Arc/Info ‘Buffering’ facilities to select a 6km2 site for tourist development in Mauritius. This area was considered sufficient for several clusters of chalets and tourism facilities inc luding hotels, recreation areas, and a small shopping centre. Arc/Info was used to select the site based on various criteria; accessibility, road networks, water supply, agriculture, wildlife, ecology, energy and power supply. A simple buffering techniq ue was used to eliminate areas which were not appropriate.

GIS and Site Evaluation in South Africa:

This project applied Grid-based modelling to develop a simple ‘Locational Referencing System’ in the Central Witwatersrand Metropolitan Area of Johannesburg. The project assisted in the decision making p rocess for the selection and evaluation of sites appropriate for additional low-cost housing. The system identified the sites available for development and examined the infrastructure capability.
Overview

Achievement, Research, and Contribution to the Professional Community:

 In 1991, a national survey on the use of Computers in Planning Teaching was commissioned by the CTI Centre for Geography based at the University of Leicester. The IT and GIS modules in Nottingham were highly rated and described as providing the most compl ete coverage of software. Nottingham was also the second planning department, Oxford Brookes being the first, to have their own GIS installed on Sun workstations.

Working closely with Nottingham Council, foundations have been laid for developing various joint research programmes. In 1993-94, two pilot research projects took place: developing a GIS system for monitoring and managing recycling collection centres in Nottingham; and the use of GIS in developing a data-bank for air pollution in Nottingham.

Research interest in ‘Multidisciplinary GIS’ has also developed in the department. Until recently, most of the GIS research schemes were carried out in geography and planning departments. However, in the last few years, the development of computer techn ology in other disciplines has offered a valuable contribution to GIS research. For example, recent developments in ‘Virtual Reality’ (VR) provide a powerful technique for viewing, filtering and categorising information in a GIS environment. Also, develo pments in computer networks and distributed systems have introduced a new dimension to human communication. Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW) has emerged as a new research area in multimedia tele-conferencing, focusing on the development of app ropriate computer technologies to support group work. CSCW would significantly aid the use of GIS in a corporate environment; groups of planners and designers in different locations, could manage projects over the computer network, evaluate plans, discus s designs, analyse data, and make decisions in a shared environment. Furthermore, research laboratories have now begun experimenting with networked multi-user VR systems, which enable several people at different locations in a computer network to experie nce a common virtual world. Two further pilot research projects have been initiated to explore ‘Multidisciplinary GIS’ and have required collaboration between the Departments of Planning and Computer Science. These projects concerned the application of GIS and VR in studying the route modelling of city streets in Nottingham and the role of GIS and CSCW in development control. Data collected from this research has been incorporated into the Nottingham GIS course, so that students are familiar with the c oncepts and future of linking GIS with VR in a distributed system.

Computing activities in the department, particularly in GIS, have supported and extended the departmental ‘Short Course Programme’, which is run for mid-career planners from the developing countries. Special training programmes have been organised for th e ODA, United Nations Development Programmes, the World Bank, the European Economic Community, the Swedish International Development Agency and the Asian Development Bank, raising more than £200,000. Various GIS models have been developed with the help o f research and short course students (from India, Pakistan, Brunei, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, and Kenya) to analyse housing requirements, the spatial distribution of schools, shopping and leisure activities, and the patterns of need for services. These models have been used in the GIS course specialism, particularly in the teaching of overseas students. As part of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme organised by the University, two CPD seminars were held entitled ‘Computers in the Planning Office’, and ‘GIS-Fact or Fiction?’.

Future Direction and Aspirations:

 In 1994 the courses in the department were restructured to emphasise urban planning and urban design. As a result, the IT and GIS specialisation was discontinued. However, research programmes and short course activities have been extended, and are now j ointly carried out between the Department of Computer Science, the ICL Institute for IT and the Department of Geography. This work has raised more than £165,000 in the last nine months and includes the use of OS digital maps with a value of more than £55 ,000. This collaboration has opened new opportunities for planning students to study and explore much wider aspects of GIS technology, such as VR, CSCW, and the use of artificial intelligence concepts with GIS facilities. In this year’s GIS project, pla nning students will have the opportunity to use data collected first hand for developing an expert system in recycling research. In addition they will have access to the 1991 population census data which is accessible via Manchester Computing Service, and the use of three hundred and sixty-six Nottingham OS maps.

GIS is one of the most rapidly growing fields in planning practice as it holds potential for spatial analysis on strategic, regional, and local levels. With the current provision of digital OS maps to local authority planning departments, the interest in applying GIS is likely to increase dramatically. Planning students should not only know what a GIS is, but should also have GIS ‘skills’ themselves and be competent in the use of the software, so as to appreciate the application of new technological fa cilities in solving planning problems. In particular students of Arc/Info should be familiar with the techniques of overlay and buffering and the use of grids, tins and networks.

Dr. M T Shalaby
ICL Institute of IT
University of Nottingham
Nottingham
NG7 2RD.

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