Geodesign | Case Studies

Data assembly involved the creation of a composite map using existing GIS layers and sketched additions gathered on the first day of workshops.

Fighting Climate Change

In Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center began a pilot project to address climate change by facilitating transit mobility planning at the state, regional, and local levels. The collaborative design charette took a number of diverse stakeholders through the geodesign process, from defining of issues to the comparison of design alternatives and selection of a final scenario map. This study demonstrates the communicative power of geodesign using spatially informed models, fast feedback, and a large format sketching environment.

Read "Climate Change Scenario Planning for Cape Cod: A Collaborative Exercise in Geodesign."

Singapore Uses GIS to Master Land-Use Planning

The Master Plan shows a map of the permissible land uses for development in Singapore.

Suitability in Singapore

The Urban Regional Authority (URA) in Singapore used the geodesign process to help evaluate multiple alternative master plan scenarios, optimizing them for energy efficiency, water conservation, open space, and other sustainable metrics important to this ever growing city state. This project showed that identifying key governmental or private entities tasked with the responsibility of final decision making and ultimately with program implementation is crucial to project success.

Read "Singapore's Sustainable Development of Jurong Lake District."

The University of Calgary uses ArcGIS to manage a $1.5 billion expansion and maintain the facilities on its 200-hectare campus.

Building a University of the Future

University of Calgary used GIS technology to manage a $1.5 billion expansion and maintain the facilities on its 200-hectare campus. University planners relied heavily on geodesign principles to help analyze and evaluate the impacts of design alternatives early in the development process. This integrated approach to design has saved thousands of dollars.

Read "Building a University of the Future."

Abby Jones of Anthro/Ecological Design Collective shares how she uses geodesign to convert distressed properties into green space.

Red Fields to Green Fields

Geodesign is about holistic design and communication. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the story of Red Fields to Green Fields (R2G), a plan for turning distressed properties (red fields) into parks (green fields) in Los Angeles. Geodesign helped to break down a very large and complex problem into components that could be more easily analyzed. Geodesign greatly decreased data collection and preparation time compared to doing the project using traditional methods.

Watch the video: Red Fields to Green Fields—Los Angeles

All the university's information is stored in a geodatabase and is easily accessed using a Flex viewer.

Building Smart from the Ground Up

Kuwait University, Sabah Al-Salem Campus, uses GIS to design and manage a multibillion-dollar development initiative. Geodesign played a significant role in the complex world of adaptive management throughout the construction process. This ambitious vision posed many challenges and represented a level of enterprise data development unmatched in the world today.

Read "Building Smart from the Ground Up."