{"id":772603,"date":"2026-06-01T06:02:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T13:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=772603"},"modified":"2026-06-02T15:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T22:58:16","slug":"planners-harness-data-for-smart-growth-and-community-impact","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/planners-harness-data-for-smart-growth-and-community-impact","title":{"rendered":"Urban Planners Harness Data for Smart Growth and Community Impact"},"author":671,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[289362,474072,237681],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[478872,478682],"esri_blog_department":[492402],"class_list":["post-772603","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-data-mapping","tag-digital-twins","tag-urban-planning","esri-blog-category-communication","esri-blog-category-development","esri_blog_department-urban-planning"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"Communities use GIS to model land use; engage residents; and form smart growth strategies that support equity, sustainability and infrastructure.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"GIS technology helps communities organize spatial data to model land use; evaluate equity impacts; and make informed decisions that support sustainable, resilient growth.\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Key Takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Planners model future development, helping communities balance new construction with environmental sustainability.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Maps and models make it easier to test potential impacts of policy changes, visualize outcomes, and engage residents.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Spatial analysis guides investment, natural asset protection, and preservation of community character.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s US cities too often grow faster than their infrastructure and policies can support. Population booms \u2014and the parcel-centric development that tends to follow\u2014can result in missing opportunities that would have bolstered quality of life and community aesthetics.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the opposite of smart growth.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But a modern approach to urban planning uses location data and digital maps to solve problems. On a map, city officials can see what a community needs and what it must protect.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Data\u2014and technology that makes it easy for collaborators to manage, organize, and analyze it\u2014brings key elements into focus. These include housing, transportation, infrastructure networks, and the green infrastructure of open space. With a clear view of what\u2019s already in place, it\u2019s easier to see opportunities and risks.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the frontier of smart growth\u2014data rich, location aware, community centered, and built to meet the moment. Artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates the work, guiding cities toward outcomes that are equitable, resilient, and financially sound.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet growth always comes with limits. In urban planning, those can include burdensome financing and development costs, restrictive zoning rules, environmental considerations and restrictions, aging infrastructure, and community concerns. What\u2019s changing is how planners understand and innovate to overcome those limits.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Getting Started: Using Location Data to Guide Smart Growth<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smart growth is rooted in understanding the unique needs, assets, and constraints of a place. Location data\u2014when organized and analyzed with GIS\u2014helps planners make informed decisions that align with community goals. Here are key ways to begin applying spatial data to support smart growth:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\r\n \t<li><strong>Map existing conditions.<\/strong>\r\nUse GIS to visualize current land use, housing density, transportation networks, and environmental features. This baseline helps identify gaps and opportunities.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Define constraints and opportunities using map layers.<\/strong>\r\nCombine data on zoning, infrastructure capacity, flood risk, and environmental sensitivity to understand where development is feasible.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Model land use scenarios.<\/strong>\r\nUse tools like ArcGIS Urban or ArcGIS CityEngine to simulate how different zoning or design choices will affect housing supply, mobility, and livability.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Engage the community with visuals.<\/strong>\r\nCreate interactive maps and 3D models to communicate plans clearly and gather feedback from residents and stakeholders.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Track performance over time.<\/strong>\r\nMonitor key indicators\u2014such as housing affordability, access to transit, or green space coverage\u2014to evaluate progress and adjust strategies.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Align with <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esriuk.com\/en-gb\/geospatial-thinking\/stories\/smart-cities\"><strong>smart-growth principles.<\/strong><\/a>\r\nUse location insights to support mixed land uses, compact development, walkable neighborhoods, diverse housing options, and preservation of open space.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The result was a concept for a self-sustaining \u201cagrihood.\u201d The community is designed around protecting working farmland and open space while optimizing residential areas to support food production and features that enhance livability.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This approach combines globally recognized smart growth principles: mixing land uses, preserving open space, and creating a variety of housing options within a walkable, multimodal framework.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The city fostered a distinctive sense of place by embracing the desert setting\u2014designing around natural features, honoring the site\u2019s agricultural history, and integrating open space as a defining element of the community.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Utah County, Utah, Turns Constraints into a Community Vision<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A University of Pennsylvania geodesign student tested what smart growth could look like in Utah County, one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, starting from scratch on desert land that had limited water and infrastructure. The project envisioned a place called New Mosida. It would be located on the foundations of the ghost town Mosida and redesigned with the help of spatial data and <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/geodesign-making-footprints-for-a-better-world\" data-outlook-id=\"575ab3e0-0f57-4d96-8336-cd81e617072d\">geodesign <\/a><\/u>tools.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mosida\u2019s first settlers arrived in the early 1900s with ambition but without the tools to understand the land beneath them. The colony failed. A century later, the New Mosida project started with geographic information system (GIS) data layers to ask what a community there could look like if the data led the way.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The work started with a <a href=\"https:\/\/mediaspace.esri.com\/media\/t\/1_45rsv0s3\">site-suitability analysis<\/a>. The student identified the most viable location\u2014layering data about transportation networks, water rights, seismic activity, and existing land uses onto maps. Using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/arcgis\/products\/arcgis-cityengine\/overview\">Esri\u2019s ArcGIS CityEngine<\/a>, they modeled development options to evaluate potential performance metrics such as population growth targets, available jobs, and open-space-to-urban-space ratios.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The result was a concept for a self-sustaining agrihood, a community designed around protecting working farmland and open space while optimizing residential areas to support food production and features that enhance livability.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This approach combines globally recognized smart-growth principles: mixing land uses; preserving open space; and creating a variety of housing options within a walkable, multimodal framework.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the project, New Mosida fostered a distinctive sense of place by embracing the desert setting\u2014designing around natural features, honoring the site\u2019s agricultural history, and integrating open space as a defining element of the community.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By grounding every decision in spatial data, planners turned environmental and infrastructure constraints into a blueprint for sustainable development.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[772624,772625,772623]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Washington, DC, Plans for Equity with Data and Digital Tools<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Washington, DC, planners needed to strike a balance between preservation and inclusive, transit-oriented growth in the city\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/dc-planners-seek-smart-growth\">Rock Creek West planning area<\/a>. This part of the city has Metro subway stations, parks, and civic amenities, but lacks affordable housing.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rock Creek West makes up over 10 percent of the city, but its restrictive zoning and historic preservation rules limit options for building more housing. Communities that advocated for those restrictions did so to protect against large-scale change. There are even caps on the number of restaurants allowed.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[624212,624152,624102]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To navigate within these constraints, planners had to identify underutilized corridors and create multiple models for new development. They used GIS to make a location-aware digital twin\u2014a virtual replica of the area that provides a 2D and 3D design environment.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the digital twin environment, planners could model different building heights, density levels, and streetscape designs as solutions for adding residential units while protecting neighborhood character. The planning team\u2019s GIS tools extended to support public engagement, with virtual walking tours and ArcGIS StoryMaps stories to explain the vision and generate feedback.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The student\u2019s approach embraced smart-growth principles by directing development efforts toward existing communities, creating a range of housing choices, and encouraging stakeholder collaboration.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Planners Use Maps to Protect Community Character in Sandy Springs, Georgia<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As in the nation\u2019s capital, planners in Sandy Springs were working to protect the character of established neighborhoods while adjusting to meet rising demand for housing and infrastructure.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The once-rural outpost near Atlanta historically has had an independent spirit and a distinct identity. However, it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/sandy-springs-maps-its-growth\">has taken on a more urban persona<\/a> as it has become one of the fastest-growing cities in the Atlanta metro area.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, half of the city\u2019s housing is in the form of apartments, a more affordable option that has attracted a sizable population of millennials. Meanwhile, in the Crossroads neighborhood, planners have made a diligent effort to balance the interests of a diverse community of current residents along with those of newcomers.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[671162,662902,662892]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The challenges were easy to see on a map. The west side of State Route 9 is home to a Latino community that has deep roots in Sandy Springs. Crossroads is also the location of The Prado, a large shopping area that includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopprado.com\/store\/life-time-work\/\">Life Time Work<\/a>, a combined coworking space and health club. Across the street from the mall is El Taco Veloz 2, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wIwQWKm0CF0\">Atlanta\u2019s oldest taqueria<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That type of geographic juxtaposition\u2014an established local institution and a work\/wellness facility for remote office workers\u2014will define the next generation of life in Crossroads.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City staff rely on various types of data, analyzing it on GIS maps to understand where growth is happening and how it\u2019s affecting residents. And city planners apply these insights to hit strategic objectives: protect and rehabilitate existing neighborhood housing stock, increase open space, improve walkability, and promote mixed-use zoning.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Equally important, the maps help planners balance growth with inclusion in mind, ensuring that new development supports current residents and strengthens the city\u2019s identity as it evolves.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Mapping into the Future<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cities of tomorrow will flourish based in part on how boldly planners apply data to address the challenges of growth, equity, and sustainability.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As communities face mounting pressures to do more with less, spatial data and the technology needed to optimize it can help create a road map. With it, cities will better understand constraints, test ideas, and develop the precision to act in ways that reflect their local values.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From desert agrihoods to historic urban corridors and diverse suburban neighborhoods, smart growth is being redefined\u2014for everyone\u2014with location data.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/urban-community-planning\/overview\">urban and community planners use GIS to analyze community needs; strategically design development<\/a>; and support resilient, sustainable growth with maps and spatial analytics.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Center","content":"<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>The Value of Smart Growth Explained<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Aligns Development with Infrastructure Capacity<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Network analysis and infrastructure capacity models can identify areas with sufficient or expandable capacity in water, sewer, transportation, and public facilities. This can reduce life cycle costs and service failures. Infrastructure capacity models show where scores are higher for potential development.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> Maximizes Accessibility, Not Just Proximity<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accessibility modeling can show where residents can reach jobs, schools, health-care facilities, and services within reasonable travel times across multiple transportation modes (walking, transit, biking, driving). Travel times are mapped rather than guessed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> Minimizes Environmental and Hazard Exposure<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Location-based risk analysis can confirm that a proposed development avoids floodplains, heat\u2011risk zones, sensitive habitats, and high\u2011pollution areas, or mitigates those risks through design.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> Produces Measurable Fiscal Efficiency<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GIS cost\u2011of\u2011service models show where compact or infill development could generate more tax revenue per acre and lower per capita service costs than dispersed patterns. Positive fiscal outcomes are visible on a map.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> Advances Equity Based on Spatial Evidence<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Equity mapping highlights options for improving access to opportunity for residents in historically underserved communities, while avoiding development that concentrates burdens or increases displacement pressures.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> Is Scenario Tested Before It Is Approved<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scenario modeling compares alternative growth patterns (such as infill versus greenfield) and supports decisions based on projected long\u2011term outcomes.<\/p>","snippet":""}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Urban Planners Harness Data for Smart Growth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Communities use GIS to model land use; 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