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

通过这个战略项目，研究小组将开发一个高保真的城市空间信息系统，该系统使用地理信息系统（GIS）和遥感技术，快速和一致地提取详细的区域内土地覆盖/使用信息，以加强交通和土地使用规划。交通和土地利用建模和规划传统上是基于汇总的区域信息，如人口普查和就业数据。基于区域的建模框架的建立是因为在过去有限的计算能力和困难和费用相关的收集详细的信息在各个区域。这种传统的基于区域的建模方法的一个基本问题是，区域内的土地利用空间分布和变化是失踪。此外，这些分区数据不能反映经济活动的规模或土地利用类型和强度。在许多情况下，人口普查和地理信息系统数据等其他信息不得不被用作替代数据，这可能会产生误导，因为这些数据往往是过时的，缺乏详细的区域内土地使用空间分布和密度信息。信息技术的进步已在很大程度上解决了上述问题：（1）今天可用的强大计算设施很少限制所使用的区域数量;（2）遥感提供来自世界各地的高分辨率航空和卫星图像，从中可以提取详细的信息。然而，将这些技术转化为实际应用的任务尚未完成。通过该项目开发的系统将综合传统的地理信息系统、普查数据、提取的土地使用信息和遥感图像。该系统将在许多方面补充传统的规划方法，例如其及时性和更丰富的土地使用信息。这将是有用的许多公共和私人组织，包括大都市规划办公室，环境保护机构，公路和运输当局。加拿大社会将受益于更明智和现实的城市发展计划，这些计划将导致充满活力、可持续和健康的城镇。

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.