others involved with design, the tools to leverage geographic information within their design workflows. Fully leveraging geography during the design process results in designs that emulate the best features and functions of natural systems, benefiting both humans and nature through a more peaceful and synergistic coexistence. GeoDesign involves three activity spaces: the work environment (where designers do their work), the design tools (the tools designers use to do their work), and supportive workflows (how designers do their work). Having one of these out of sync can impede the design process. • Work Environment—Today’s work environment used by geo-based design professionals involves the field, the desktop, connection to enterprise servers and databases, the use of document management systems, collaborative environments (both inside and outside the enterprise), and interaction with outside agencies and organizations. • Design Tools—Geo-based designers use a variety of tools to assist them as they create their designs. Probably the most frequently used tool, or type of tool, is the drawing tool. The particular type of drawing tool depends on the designer’s domain and whether the designer is working in 2D or 3D space. • Supportive Workflows—Most geo-based workflows, at least at a detailed level, are domain specific. Three workflows pertaining to the use of geographic information stand out, however, as being predominantly genetic: one related to landuse change; one related to the design, construction, and management of built facilities; and one related to the use of 2D CAD. Early Forays in GeoDesign Although it might be easy to compare the two, GeoDesign should not be confused with computer-aided design (CAD). In fact, the first geographic design system was ArcCAD, Esri’s earliest attempt to build a dedicated GeoDesign tool. Released in the early 1990s, ArcCAD was the first fully functional GIS system within the AutoCAD environment. While traditional CAD is a useful tool in the architectural design of a building, GeoDesign is concerned with designing that same building in and around the environment. ArcCAD was an attempt to integrate geographic data and spatial modeling into the design process. ArcCAD provided powerful mapping, data management, spatial analysis, and display tools that worked directly with AutoCAD’s design and drafting tools. ArcCAD was followed by other Esri applications (including SDE CAD Client and ArcGIS for AutoCAD) that allowed designers and others within the CAD environment to leverage the full power of GIS functionality and GIS databases. ArcGIS for AutoCAD, a free downloadable tool that offers seamless interoperability between AutoCAD and the ArcGIS platform, is used widely today. ArcGIS for AutoCAD users are provided with quick and easy access, within the AutoCAD environment, to enterprise GIS data published by ArcGIS Server. This tool lets designers include the results of GIS analysis in AutoCAD designs, as well as create, manipulate, and define how CAD data is organized and attributed as GIS content. Design Tools in ArcGIS Design professionals are creative and rely heavily on intuition, a gut feeling that something is right. GIS professionals providing input to a creative process rely heavily on analysis and science. With GeoDesign, GIS becomes a tool for designers; they can move rapidly through an iterative design process while leveraging the full analytical power of the geodatabase. We believe that bringing together the worlds of design and analysis under one common information system framework will have huge implications. In 2005, Bill Miller, Esri’s engineer/architect, led a small team to develop a free sample ArcGIS extension that was the first step toward true GISbased GeoDesign tools. Released in 2006, the extension allows you to quickly create features in the ArcGIS Desktop ArcMap application with easy-to-use sketch tools. You simply select a sketch tool and an associated symbol, then draw the feature. This simple design tool automatically manages the drawing environment, allowing you to conceptualize what to draw, as opposed to how to draw it. With ArcSketch, you can sketch a set of alternative land-use concept plans, quickly lay out the spatial components of a disaster response plan, sketch out the location of a highway, or lay out a site master plan. As a geographic sketching tool that allows users to sketch initial designs on top of GIS-based maps and imagery, ArcSketch was useful to many of our users, but it is only the beginning. Functionality similar to ArcSketch will be further enhanced and integrated into the core software system at the 9.4 release. And subsequent releases of ArcGIS promise even more support for the use of GIS for design. ArcSketch tool-style editing in ArcGIS 9.4 will make editing simpler, with new streamlined func- ArcSketch tool-style editing in ArcGIS 9.4 will make editing simpler. tionality making it easier for you to complete your work. Creating features is accomplished through the use of feature templates. To get started with templates, you just need to start editing, which launches the Create Templates wizard. The wizard will quickly help you build a set of feature templates you can use to create new features. Once you finish, the Create Features window opens with a list of templates. ity made all the more gargantuan by the fact that we still have a long way to go toward fully understanding the dynamics of the various systems and developing a robust suite of comprehensive models and other tools to support these activities. As Neutra did with architecture in the 1950s, we need to advance a framework for design and planning that not just incorporates but also embraces technology; science; and, ultimately, nature in a system that helps us design and choose the best alternative futures. Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design To what extent are the fundamental spatial concepts that lie behind GIS relevant in design? To what extent can the fundamental spatial concepts of design be addressed with GIS? Is it possible to devise a curriculum to develop spatial thinking in both GIS and design? To begin developing answers to such questions, a specialist meeting on spatial concepts in GIS and design was held December 15–16, 2008, in Santa Barbara, California. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the potential for NCGIA meeting (Photo from the integrating design more fully into GIS, as well as NCGIA Web site: Jake Sopher). the development of curriculum in spatial thinking. This was one of an ongoing series of such specialist meetings organized by the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, over the past two decades. The meetings combine a small number of context-setting presentations with ample time for discussion in plenary sessions, small groups, and informal social gatherings. The meeting was cosponsored by NCGIA and Esri and was attended by Tom Fisher, Michael Goodchild, Fritz Steiner, Carl Steinitz, Ron Stoltz, Jack Dangermond, and a number of other representatives from education and industry interested in the emerging field of GeoDesign. More Information A full participant list, as well as position papers and presentations, can be viewed at ncgia.ucsb.edu/projects/scdg/participants-scdg.php. Feature templates define all the information required to create a new feature: the layer where a feature will be stored, attributes new features will be created with, and the default tool used to create that feature. In the Create Features window, choose the template in which to store the new feature, click a construction tool from the palette at the bottom of the window, and click the map to digitize the shape of the feature. In ArcGIS 9.4, the edit sketch will show a WYSIWYG preview with the symbology used for that template (layer). Snapping is now enabled by default and has been broadened from being within an edit session only to being available across ArcMap. To this end, all the settings you need to work with snapping are located on the new Snapping toolbar, including turning on and off snapping types (edge, vertex, endpoint, and so on) and customizing the appearance of the cursor and SnapTips. The Fields tab on the Layer Properties dialog box has been redesigned for 9.4, making it easier to reorder fields, turn them on or off, sort them, and set other display and formatting properties. These properties will be used throughout ArcMap, including the editor’s attributes dialog box, table windows, and the Identify dialog box. Meeting the Challenge with GeoDesign Integration of design tools with existing GIS functionality is important, but it’s only the first step. Ultimately, our vision is to expand the utility of GIS to the point that it is a foundational design system. As humanity comes to grips with its overwhelming impact on the natural world, we are also gaining a much better appreciation for our inextricable link to nature. And with that, of course, comes an enormous responsibility—a responsibil- Imagine if your initial design concept, scribbled on the back of a cocktail napkin, has the full power of GIS behind it: the sketch goes into the database, becoming a layer that can be compared to all the other layers in the database. The experience Esri has gained while developing CAD integration tools, ArcSketch, and the new tools in ArcGIS 9.4 has led to an appreciation of the power that could be derived by associating drawing tools, symbology, data models, and process models into one integrated framework for doing GeoDesign. Having “back of the napkin” design sketches available for immediate analysis and feedback is one of Esri’s primary areas of research and development over the coming years, and our users will see the results of these efforts in upcoming releases. And the need for such tools has never been greater. We live in an ever more complex world, where our impact on the natural environment is massive and can no longer be ignored. People are starting to recognize the importance Neutra placed on the inseparable relationship between humans and nature and to realize McHarg’s vision of design with nature, and they want to act. “There is now a growing interest in combining design functionality with the broader geographical context that geospatial tools offer in order to engage more deeply in land-use planning,” notes Matt Ball, editor at V1 Magazine. A GeoDesign framework will provide a robust set of tools for design professionals and finally meet the challenge of Ian McHarg, letting us truly design with nature. More Information For more information, contact Matt Artz, Esri (e-mail: martz@esri.com). AN