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GISdevelopment.net --> Application --> Urban Planning
The garden city blooms ….with GIS projects Sreeshaila G., Project Manager, TIDE Sathish Selvakumar, Project Manager, TIDE Bangalore has been in the forefront in terms of GIS applications in planning and urban management. The BMRDA, BDA, BMTC and BWSSB have taken initiatives in employing GIS technology in their functioning. GIS provides the ability to capture, store, and manipulate map data along with the associated attribute data. The ability to handle spatial data makes a GIS a very powerful tool in the hands of a planner. Planning and guiding implementation of plans for a whole region requires the planner to have access to vast amounts of data regarding the region. Accurate and timely information are a necessity for the planning exercise. Data regarding land use pattern, infrastructure networks, soils, geology, contours, along with attribute information like census data are essential for developing plans for a region. The Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA), and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) have taken a lead in developing GIS applications in this area. Utility and facilities management is another area where GIS technology has a significant role to play. Urban utility and transportation networks can be planned and managed effectively using a GIS. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) have taken the initiative in utilizing GIS technology in their functioning. Apart from these Governmental organizations, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as Centre for Environmental Education (CEE), and Swabhimana are also utilizing GIS applications in their work. In this paper we first discuss the GIS that has been setup at the Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA). Then we discuss the ongoing development of a GIS at the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). Next, a summary of GIS efforts at the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board is given. Finally, GIS applications used by NGOs in Bangalore are summarized. BMRDA GIS The availability of information in the form of documents, records and maps provides a strong base for formulating rules, regulations and laws for the effective management of land use and its planning. GIS technology as an indispensable tool in the field of modern planning is a well-established fact as major planning agencies worldwide are now extensively using GIS. On the same lines a major step was taken by the BMRDA to develop a GIS Centre to assist in its planning activities. This is a pioneering effort in the sense that it is the first GIS of this nature in the country. The GIS centre at the BMRDA now houses GIS layers and related data of 12 taluks under the jurisdiction of the BMRDA. Land Use Planning at the BMRDA The BMRDA is entrusted with the responsibility of preparing plans for the development of the metropolitan region. For planning the land use, the BMRDA has to prepare: 1) A structural plan defining the priorities of the government to develop the metropolitan region 2) A development plan which gives details of the development and gives an overall land use pattern for the region, and identifies areas for different uses 3) Local area plans which gives cadastral map level details for the land use of the urbanisable area. GIS Centre The GIS center at the BMRDA has been established to:
Base Map at 1:50 000 scale for structural and development plans has the following features:
Hardware and Software The BMRDA GIS Centre houses Windows NT/Windows95 LAN based Hardware set-up. The present configuration of the Server are: 100 MHz Pentium Processor, 64 MB RAM, 5 GB Hard Disk space, 2 GB DAT drive, 3.5" floppy disk drive, 5.25" floppy disk drive and 16x CD-ROM drive for data retrieval and back-up. WindowsNT ver 3.51 is the operating system for the server, and clients have Windows 95. CARIS ver 4.3.1 from Universal Systems, Canada supplied by Siemens Information Syst-ems.Ltd is the GIS Software Tool at the Centre. MS-Office Professional is being used which also involves DBMS System MS-Access. The RDBMS Package MS-SQL Server 6.5 serves the attribute data requirements. BDA GIS The Bangalore Development Authority, under the Integrated Urban Environment Improvement Project has commissioned a GIS for four layouts (HBR Stage 1 & 2, OMBR, HRBR, and East of NGEF) covering 40 square kilometers in North-East Bangalore. This is a pilot project with a potential extension to the whole of Bangalore City. This project aims at environmental improvement of the four layouts, an important aspect of which is utilities management. Effective management of utilities requires up-to-date map and other attribute data, for preparing maintenance plans, cost management, data modification, updating and retrieval. GIS is an ideal system to handle all the above. The future expansion of this information system would lead to more generalised GIS system, which can be used for urban planning, and other utility management. A common database that can be used by all utilities is being developed. Multiple users have been identified for this GIS viz., BDA, BCC, KEB, BWSSB, Telephones department, Postal Department, Police, Residents’ association, NGOs (CEE, TERI, and Waste Wise) involved in Solid Waste Management. The system being installed is a networked (Windows NT / 95 LAN), Client Server architecture. The data will reside in a GIS Server in the BDA GIS-Centre. The clients, within the BDA will have access to the Server through a Local Area Network (LAN) and the Clients at various locations like the BDA layout office, BCC, KEB, BWSSB, and others can have access to the server through LAN remote login. Customised applications will be developed for specific users to use the common database, update, modify and output results. For general users, a Web based GIS system will also be customised, so that the data can be viewed through Internet tools. The base maps being used are at 1:1000 scale and have parcel level information. A walkthrough survey will be carried out to map above ground features such as location of dustbins, trees, electric infrastructure, telecom information, etc. BMTC GPS/GIS GIS applications for route planning and vehicle tracking have been implemented in the West. Such an application for the tracking of private buses operating under the BMTC is being proposed. The use of Global Positioning System to monitor the location of the buses and generate appropriate bills based on distance traveled is on the anvil. The pilot project is to track 200 buses, which will then be expanded to 2000 buses. Provision for interfacing the data with the GIS of Bangalore City, being developed by ISRO, is also being planned. BWSSB GIS BWSSB has planned to develop a GIS to map and monitor the water supply and sewage systems in the Bangalore region, day to day maintenance of the system will be enhanced by developing a complete database on the technical components of the network. The system would also help to plan extensions to the network. A French consulting firm is developing the system. Sathyanagar Layout GIS Sathyanagar Layout near Banaswadi Main Road, Bangalore was selected by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE, South), Bangalore for carrying out improvements to the environment. In a related project, a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) of the area was to be prepared. For carrying out the activities, physical plan (base plan) of the layout and socio economic information about the residents of the layout was necessary. Instead of following the traditional method of preparing physical plan (carry out a physical survey and draw it on a hard copy), a computerised GIS was developed. The advantages of such a GIS would lead to easy retrieval & modification of data and preparation of outputs. Other advantages of GIS software like spatial analysis (buffering, overlay, queries, etc.) and non-spatial analysis (basic statistics like standard deviation, mean, sum, etc.) can be availed. Preparation of thematic maps that would aid in identifying problems & communicating with the stakeholders is facilitated. A GIS system for the Sathyanagar Layout using the desktop mapping GIS software Maplnfo 4.0 was implemented by TIDE for CEE. The GIS of the Sathyanagar contains both physical & socio-economic data that can further be used by CEE for preparation of CDP. Base map at 1:500 scale contains building data and shows the footprints of the building. Location of physical infrastructure such as roads, taps, streetlights, garbage bins are given on the map. Also included in the database are photographs of the lay out taken at some locations. Contours are also mapped. The individual houses were mapped and the socio-economic-physical survey was linked to the map data, so that spatial analysis could be carried out to give an understanding of any spatial patterns. Plane-table survey was carried out to prepare maps at 1:500 scale. All the aboveground features as mentioned below were surveyed & mapped. Entities surveyed and mapped:
The GIS is being extensively used by CEE for its activities in the layout. CEE is presently using the system to plan a drainage system for the area. Malleswaram GIS The Geographical Information System created for Malleswaram ward contains both map and attribute data of all the parcels that come under Malleswaram, Ward-7 of Bangalore City. It contains map and attribute data of roads, features on the roads, landmarks, and other services. These data were computerised using one of the standard GIS software, MapInfo so that the final product is in a form useful for solid waste management, planning and monitoring. The files were converted into Arcview format so that the information can be viewed by means of freeware available for viewing, such as Arcviewl.0 and Arc Explorer. This project was carried out in co-ordination with Mythri Sarva Seva Samithi and Bangalore City Corporation (BCC). This data is also available with Centre for Science and Technology, Malleswaram, and Swabhimana, Malleswaram. (For more details refer to GIS@development March-April, 1998 issue.) It is hoped that these efforts would act as forerunners for such similar efforts throughout India. Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the help of the GIS group at TIDE, Metropolitan Commissioner, BMRDA, Commissioner BDA, GEE, Swabhimana, and Waste Wise who were involved in the execution of the projects mentioned in this article. We also thank all our colleagues, who helped us to compile this document. The use of GPS to monitor the location of the buses and generate appropriate bills based on distance traveled is on the anvil. The pilot project is to track 200 buses, which will then be expanded to 2000 buses. Authors: Sreeshaila G., Project Manager, TIDE. He is a Post Graduate in Electronics and Communication Engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore, Bangalore University. He is presently working in the areas of Geographical Information Systems Development, Software Applications development and System Administration. Sathish Selvakumar, Project Manager, TIDE. Sathish is an architect and urban planner. He is currently working on projects in GIS, and urban governance issues. He obtained his B. Arch (Honors) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, and his Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. |
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