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Web Mapping for Comprehensive Planning: Now Serving Number �

by Douglas Miskowiak, Project Planner, CLUE

Introduction

Of all adult Americans, 128 million or 63 percent use the internet. On a typical day, roughly 70 million Americans log onto the web (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2004). In Wisconsin, approximately 66 percent of all people 3 years and older use the internet (US Bureau of the Census, 2003). They use chat rooms and email to communicate with family members, friends and colleagues. They also use the web to learn about daily events, plan trips, and shop for goods and services.

Geographical information systems (GIS) are another widely used technology that provides information, but is linked to a location or place (place-based information). GIS information is most commonly received in map form, but charts and statistics are also common. With a GIS, one can learn about the size of a feature or the distance between features. A GIS can display locational patterns and trends, such as population density over time. GIS is also used for modeling and impact assessment, such as with future land use mapping (LICGF, 1999). GIS is used in ways that help planners and decision-makers analyze and interpret physical, fiscal, cultural and political landscapes.

This article focuses on the union of these two prevalent technologies � the internet and GIS. Web mapping services provide a widely available and user-friendly node to access place-based information. This article briefly explores the technology behind web mapping and takes a look at several websites with varying themes. It also explores the potential for web mapping services to more fully engage citizens in comprehensive planning. This article is designed to serve professional planners and educators who wish to employ existing services or design new services to help citizens and planning officials become better informed and capable of making place-based decisions. After reading this article you�ll see that web mapping in Wisconsin is a widely available resource that can serve a variety of planning services to an ever increasing number of citizen clients.

The Technology at a Glance

Web mapping services provide an internet-based framework for distributing GIS data and services over the web. The service is enabled with web mapping software from vendors such as ESRI or Intergraph or with freeware such as MapViewer. The software enables websites to provide GIS maps, data, metadata and other services. The software, data and services are physically located on a provider�s server. Clients access these services from their web browsers, such as Netscape, Explorer or Firefox. From a personal computer, the client is able to:

  • Pan across and zoom in or out to areas on a map

  • Turn on or off data layers to create, print or email custom maps

  • Retrieve data attributes to learn more about a map feature

  • Measure distances on the map or sizes of map features

  • Perform basic spatial analysis, such as buffering

Web mapping services are hosted by many types of providers. Local, state and federal governments are common web mapping providers. Universities also widely employ the technology. There are even a few examples of use by private institutions. The following software vendors showcase some other great examples.

ESRI: www.esri.com/software/internetmaps/visit_sites.html

Intergraph: http://imgs.intergraph.com/customers/webmapping.asp

Array of Applications

A wealth of web mapping services is available on the internet. The applications tackle a host of issues such as crime fighting, retracing history, finding a travel route, and monitoring natural resources. Three sites are showcased in Box 1 that illustrate the host of topics a web service might address. The ability to interactively address varying themes can be employed for a variety of planning topics as well.

Box 1 - Sample of Web Mapping Services

Fuel Watch
www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au/
This site, based in Western Australia, displays fuel prices from various fueling stations. The client can use their browser to select the best fuel price and then create a map showing where the station is located.

Oak Mapper WebGIS
 http://kellylab.berkeley.edu/SODmonitoring/OakMapper.htm
The University of California�Berkeley monitors the locations and distribution of sudden oak death disease. The site allows users to learn more about sudden oak death symptoms and then report a diseased tree.

Lewis and Clark Expedition Mapping
www.esri.com/lewisandclark/interactive_maps.html
ESRI has compiled a list of web mapping resources that retrace the historic expedition of Lewis and Clark across the western United States.

Web Mapping in Wisconsin

Web mapping services in Wisconsin are widely available. David Hart, from UW-Sea Grant and Jerry Sullivan, from the Wisconsin Department of Administration are tracking the development of web mapping services throughout the state. Twenty-one state web mapping services were in existence as of November 2004. Almost 100 other web mapping services exist or are in development across the state to serve universities, county, city, village and town governments, regional planning commissions and tribes (Sullivan, 2004).

You can track the status of Wisconsin web mapping at the following address: www.doa.state.wi.us/pagesubtext_detail.asp?linksubcatid=392 or use WiscLINC, from the State Cartographers Office, to browse for local and state web mapping services: www.sco.wisc.edu/wisclinc/.

Web Mapping for Comprehensive Planning

The internet is a widely used source of information for comprehensive planning. The Wisconsin Department of Administration�s website, for example, provides fact sheets, guides for completing the elements of a plan, and other useful resources. Web mapping services, not unlike typical web pages, also provide a host of information for comprehensive planning. Many of Wisconsin�s state and municipal web mapping services have been applied to help address place-based planning issues. Below, a short list is provided that explores ways these services can be applied to enhance planning and participation. Premiere web site examples are recognized and their web addresses provided in Box 2.

Box 2 - Examples of Premiere Web Sites

1. Serving information about a place and its resources.
Serving information is the basic function of all web mapping services. Accessing maps on a web browser helps interested citizens and planners learn more about the spatial patterns and trends of a place at a time convenient for them.

The Wisconsin DNR compiles statewide information for comprehensive planning on the Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources Inventory website, found at:  http://maps.botany.wisc.edu/atri/Maps/index.htm

2. Compare and contrast planning alternatives.
The planning process often involves the development of various planning scenarios or alternatives, such as with future land use mapping. Web mapping helps individuals visualize and even quantify variations in proposed alternatives and demonstrates how alternatives affect them, their neighbors and surrounding community resources. Web mapping may also be applied to visually inspect spatial consistency among local jurisdictional plans.

Though no longer available on the internet, UW-Madison LICGF employed an early version of ArcIMS to compare farmland preservation scenarios in the Town of Verona.

3. Interactively view and measure land use change over time.

Planning is often concerned with questions such as, "What has happened since?" or "How have things changed?" Data from various time periods can be analyzed for patterns and trends. Like comparing plan alternatives, temporal data can also be visually compared using simple geographic overlay.

The Bayfield County Land Records Department provides a great example of land change over time. Their mapping service provides ortho-rectified1 aerial photographs dating back to 1938. The photos show how land has changed and eroded along the Lake Superior shoreline:  www.bayfieldcounty.org/LandRecords/mapviewer_start.htm 

4. Help citizens articulate their concerns or interests.

Maps can be used to help communicate ideas more effectively. A citizen may be able to explain their preferred community vision, but a map can help them explicitly show how that vision relates to the landscape (LICGF, 2001).

Mapping services provide an opportunity for citizens to lay out their visions in map form. Brown County provides a service to help community members make customized maps. Using ArcReader, the user can browse a variety of data layers and create a map that contains cartographic features, such as a title, scale, description, etc.: www.co.brown.wi.us/Land_Information_Office/ArcReader PMF published map.htm

5. Teach planners about community beliefs, attitudes, and desires.

A few services provide additional tools that allow the client to draw shapes and write text on the digital map and then submit the finished product via email.  These tools could be used to construct a spatial survey or cognitive map.  Planners could ask citizens a series of questions such as, "Where should new homes be built?" "What roads do you travel most?" or "What is your favorite place in the county?" Citizens could use the web service to answer the questions by drawing on the map and then submit their response via email.  The compiled results show planners the locations of interest to citizens.

Monroe County�s service provides tools that could be used to conduct a spatial survey: www.monroecogiws.com/html/default.htm

1 Ortho-rectification is a process that applies corrections to aerial photographs to remove terrain and perspective distortions. Ortho-rectified images can be used as a map.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

Web mapping services add yet another tool to the planner�s toolkit. These services are widely available throughout Wisconsin and are becoming increasingly more powerful and user friendly. Anyone with an internet connection at home, work or via public spaces, such as libraries or cyber caf�s can access these tools; their use is not restricted to professionals. Web mapping services enable planners to improve the quality of local plans by engaging citizens more thoughtfully in the planning process and empowering citizens to articulate their vision for a preferred future. Armed with new place-based information, communities are well equipped to make more informed local decisions.

Bibliography

Pew Internet and American Life Project. 2005. A decade of adoption: How the internet has woven itself into American life. Downloaded March 9, 2005 from: www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=148

Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility (LICGF). 1999. Land Use Planning Tool Kit: GIS Functionality in a Real-World Setting: A Case Study of Dane County, Wisconsin. Land Information Bulletin, No. 3. University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility (LICGF). 2001. Shaping the Citizen Planner: Citizens Look to Information Technology to Address Land Use Policy Questions. Land Information Bulletin. National Consortium for Rural Geospatial Innovations. Great Lakes, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sullivan, Jerry. 2004. Streaming Web Mapping Services to Your Desktop. Downloaded March 2, 2005 from: www.doa.state.wi.us/pagesubtext_detail.asp?linksubcatid=392

US Bureau of the Census. 2003. Current Population Survey supplements, September 2001, and October 2003. Downloaded May 26, 2005 from: www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/anol/NationOnlineBroadband04.htm.

 

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