Development of a high-fidelity urban spatial information system for advanced land use and transportation planning

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Through this Strategic Project, the research team will develop a high-fidelity urban spatial information system that uses geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing technology to extract detailed intra-zone land cover/use information quickly and consistently to enhance transportation and land use planning. Transportation and land use modeling and planning have traditionally been based on aggregated zonal information, such as census population and employment data. The zone-based modeling framework was established because of limited computation capability in the past and difficulty and expense related to collect detailed information within individual zones. A fundamental problem with this traditional zone-based modeling approach is that intra-zone land use spatial distribution and variation is missing. Moreover, these zonal data cannot reveal the scales of economic activities or land use type and intensity. In many cases, other information, such as census and GIS data, has to be used as a proxy, which could be misleading because such data is often dated and lacks detailed intra-zone land use spatial distribution and intensity information. The advancements in information technologies have largely solved the above problems: (1) the powerful computing facilities available today rarely limit the number of zones to be used; (2) remote sensing offers high-resolution air and satellite images from around the world, from which detailed information can be extracted. However, the task of transferring the technologies into practical applications has yet been accomplished. The system to be developed through this project will integrate traditional GIS, census data, extracted land use information, and remotely sensed imagery. The system will complement traditional planning approaches in many ways, such as its timeliness and richer land use information. It will be useful for many public and private organizations, including metropolitan planning offices, environmental protection agencies, and highway and transportation authorities. Canadian society will benefit from more sensible and realistic urban development plans that will lead to vibrant, sustainable and healthy cities and towns.