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Metropolitan Spatial Data Infrastructure Empowering Government Authorities Through Modern Spatial Tools and TechniquesThe diagnosis of the city highlighted a number of advantages that the city possesses that will help it achieve its goal of becoming an international metropolis. A socially diverse, cosmopolitan city benefiting from a pleasant climate with good housing and sanitary conditions, easy access to high-tech jobs; all of which make Bangalore an ideal destination for many.  9.Currently no integrated approach to planning. Example of a bottleneck that will be created once the layout is fully developed. However, the city diagnosis also brought out handicaps and challenges that, if unchecked, may hamper and possibly prevent its growth. Current infrastructure just cannot cope with the increase in population
 10. Urbanisation of a flood-prone valley.
3.2.1 The current trends This is a projection of what would happen if the current trends and processes are allowed to continue
 11. Current trends scenario This was clearly a scenario that should be avoided at all costs as this would definitely prevent the city from becoming a “World-class metropolis”. 3.2.2 The I.T. Corridor scenario The I.T. Corridor is an initiative of the public authorities that shows that the current urban planning does not meet with the needs of the expanding companies and that new concepts in urban planning are the need of the day. This scenario dedicates 140 km2 of the East and South Eastern portions of the agglomeration for I.T. purposes with a plan to make place for 750,000 jobs. This would be a zone especially reserved to the high incomes of the I.T. sector. A density of 70 inhabitants / hectare is totally insufficient for an urban space of this quality. This urban rupture would lead to serious social problems. The construction alone of this new city will require large public funds which are not even sufficient for the city today.  11. I.T. Corridor Scenario Besides, the zone is presented as being both I.T. and Business. It will therefore be empowered so as to attract offices that do not find a place in the current CBD embryo; thereby condemning the development of the CBD itself. This is an extremely serious option which can seriously mortgage the future of Bangalore. It is true that the MP must give serious consideration to I.T. sector today. But this does not mean it is necessary to devote 14000 hectares to a corridor socially reserved to the high incomes, nor does not mean that it is necessary to condemn the development of the CBD. In terms of metropolitan development, these two options are not recommended. The I.T. Corridor scenario is akin to that of a big dual industrial city but not that of an international metropolis. 3.2.3 The scenario of urban integration The central concept of this form of urbanism is that of integration. The city should ensure integration of the functions as well as the integration of a society with the natural environment. Only in this way can it look towards a development that is sustainable in the long run.
 12. Urban Integration Scenario  13. Structure Plan: 5 Concentric Belts The implementation of such options implies a change in the qualitative level of urbanism, another profile of skills and other means for the authorities and the public players. 3.3 Design of the Master Plan and the Proposed Land Use Map With a general agreement on the scenario to be put to use, the next step in the revision process was the laying out of the Structure Plan which would provide a framework for the future development of the City. The main principle behind the plan is to promote a “Structured Continuity” i.e. in order to avoid unmanageable urban sprawl, all developments must be structured both spatially and functionally. It is important to minimise all developments in the outskirts of the city that are not serviced by infrastructure.  14. Proposed Master Plan for 2015 For the Design of the Master Plan, a number of principles were kept in mind:
 15. Planning districts arranged in 3 concentric rings For the creation of the Proposed Land Use Map, the entire city was divided up into 47 Planning Districts (PD) organised in 3 concentric rings in order to implement the Master Plan:
 16. Proposed Land Use Map The Master Plan is much more than a document for spatial development orientation; it is, above all, a strategic vision of the city based on directive principles that make a coherent combination of respect for natural balances, economic efficiency, market forces and social equity. 4. Training and capacity building programme For a project of this scope and size, the training phase plays a crucial role. In many ways, it is the phase that decides whether the project can be considered a success. Data has its own lifecycle: It is created, has a period of usefulness, and finally becomes outdated. If, once the project is over, there is no one on the client’s side capable of updating and maintaining the data, the project’s usefulness comes to a halt. In view of this, a comprehensive training programme that lasted a year was carried out during which 137 personnel were trained. The audience targeted for this phase were the decision makers of the BDA and the personnel who would be involved in continuing the GIS process. Interested individuals from other agencies such as the Department of Town Planning were also invited to attend these sessions. The programme was split into two portions:
Under the purview of the MSDI project, it was also required that hardware and software capable of hosting and manipulating the spatial repository be provided to the BDA. To this effect one server and 8 workstations, all on the Microsoft® Windows based platform were provided to the client. Along with these, 8 ESRI ArcGIS® licences were also given.  17. Tailor-made GIS tools The current industrial standard GIS software is ideal for complex handling of the database. However, this is not necessarily always the best solution at the level of the decision maker who requires tools that are extremely user-friendly in order to view data and perform queries quickly. It was also important to create GIS tools that would help in the promotion of the MSDI project to the different stakeholders as well as interested members of the public. To fulfil this need, a number of tailor-made GIS applications were developed specifically for the MSDI project. 5.1 MSDI ONLINE The main aim of this website was to increase project awareness among the public. The site provides the viewer with an overview of the project. It also gives the user easy access to documents like the Master Plan Vision for 2015. Through the site, the user can also access the planning district reports and land use maps. Through the SVG format, these maps, rather than being static tiffs or jpegs, are GIS-enabled and are rendered dynamically.  18. MSDI Kiosk 5.2 MSDI KIOSK This is another tool that was designed and created for the non-GIS savvy public. It aims at giving the user a bird’s-eye view of the city along with some of its history through georeferenced historical maps, satellite images and themes like roads, railway lines, buildings etc. A powerful search engine has also been incorporated that allows the viewer to alphabetically or numerically query themes like the name of a street, a village or even a survey number. The principle behind the MSDI KIOSK was that it be extremely user-friendly. To this effect, it is operated with just three buttons – the right mouse button to zoom in, the left mouse button to zoom out and the space-bar access the search engine. The tool was intended to be capable of being distributed on a DVD-ROM as well as be installed as a kiosk in places like airports, railway stations, hotels, and large public spaces.  19. MSDI VISIO 5.3 MSDI VISIO While the first two applications targeted an audience that did not necessarily have an understanding of the concepts of GIS, MSDI VISIO is a tool that was created mainly for the decision makers at the BDA. It gives them quick access to spatial data over the intranet, through client-server architecture. Using this model, the user can be assured of having access to up-to-date information stored on a server, since, as data is modified, it can become available to the viewer for use on MSDI VISIO. However, should the user require, for the sake of mobility, MSDI VISIO can be configured to access the relevant data from local sources like a DVD-ROM or a hard disk. This tool gives the user a view of the city via the QuickBird and SPOT 5 satellite images and the base map features. An important feature here is the ability to view the Existing Land Use situation as well as the Proposed Land Use of the Master Plan. A configure-free WYSIWYG printing capability has also been included in this tool. One of the most important features to note here is that the entire application can be driven by just a series of mouse-clicks. The interface has been kept as user-friendly as possible, where the viewer never has to use the keyboard. 5.4 MSDI Project Management The final tool developed for the Bangalore Development Authority is a decision support tool that helps the BDA in authorizing new projects and development plans through a series of control conditions. When a plan comes to the department for approval, the tool can quickly scrutinize the spatial information accompanying the plan to check for inconsistencies as well as whether the plan satisfies the relevant conditions for that particular zone.  20. MSDI Project Management 6. Conclusion This is the first time a GIS project of this scale and magnitude has been carried out for a city in India. The Metropolitan Spatial Data Infrastructure project has played a crucial role in helping the Bangalore Development Authority get a holistic, up-to-date view of its territory. By definition, the project aimed to be an end-to-end solution in that, it would provide the BDA with the spatial data required for its needs as well as the tools needed to manipulate this information, carry out the much needed capacity building to help it use the tools and then aid the client in making use of these tools to better plan the city. With this project, the first official digital base map of the city has also come into effect. It is now important, that the other stakeholders in the city begin to make use of this product in order to ensure that a common spatial framework exists between the different stakeholders which will greatly help in the exchange of information. One of the most important tasks at the moment is to ensure that the data is maintained and updated on a regular basis. This is a Herculean task and is one that ideally should not be carried out by any single agency alone. The Digital Urban Spatial Repository comprises of data that has come in from numerous stakeholders. These stakeholders, then, are the custodians of their data. Therefore, sufficient communication protocols need to be set up between the different stakeholders and the BDA to ensure that as the data is updated at the stakeholders’ end, it is subsequently passed on for incorporation into the DUSR. In return they can have access to the relevant layers of the DUSR along with an up-to-date version of the base map. Through this model, the project encourages the sharing of data acquisition, maintenance and updation costs. The base map along with the rest of the components of the DUSR should form a single basis for urban development stakeholders to come together and offer a common planning and development approach to provide solutions to challenges the city currently faces. It is only in this transparent and participative method that Bangalore can ensure a development that is sustainable both economically and environmentally in the long run and achieve its goal of becoming an international metropolis. Modified CORINE Land Cover Nomenclature categories used for the creation of the Land Occupation Mode for Bangalore City
2. Agricultural Lands
3. Forests and Wooded Lands
4. Humid Zones
5. Water Bodies
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