The Complexity of Map-Making for Large-Scale Community Redevelopment

A big part of my job responsibility is to make maps to facilitate my boss to make complex decisions on community redevelopment strategies. Each time, when a new "fork" of decision point or a new layer of information appears, my job is to visualize it. What is on my mind is always about how to vividly present all the information in a concise manner, highlighting the main point while also trying to be thought provoking. Call me over-thinking, over-analyzing or unrealistic - Yes, I want my maps to do it all.

My have benefited from the workflow that I have developed overtime.

Step 1: Use ArcMap to analyze the raw data, and do the basic graphics without trying too hard to make it pretty (for example, not make any layer transparent, which not only makes the file size smaller, but also insures the maximized compatibility with the next step through the usage of vector images). Export to PDF.

Step1: Analyze raw data in ArcMap and complete basic graphic composition.

Step 2: Bring the PDF into Adobe Illustrator and focus on improving the graphics, for the purpose of not just making it pretty, but also better presenting data through several dimensions of visualization: colorization, lightweight, transparency, and text (including spell-check), etc. 

Step 2: Go deep in data visualization in graphic programs, such as Adobe Illustrator. 

 I am working on a map right now, which is not a brand new project, but rather it is a project/product builds upon past thoughts with new ideas. It is a challenge, because these are the things that I concern myself with,

1. Purpose: Every map is a presentation. My ultimate goal is to tell a story (to the general audience) and to provoke further thoughts (of my boss, an intelligent decision maker).

2. Data content: For this particular project/product, I am supposed to show the community development pattern in the past (through density analysis in ArcMap Spatial Analyst), the current conditions (through zone identification) and future marketing strategies (through zone visualization and narratives).

3. Data presentation: For this project/product, I am confronted with the challenge of presenting the "changes" as well as the "continuity" between the past and future. In my mind, the way to go is through delicate usage of several dimensions of data presentation, i.e. the cooperation between text, graphics and white space. I would love to have animation as another dimension of visualization, but in the end these maps will need to be printed. So I will have to stick with static approaches.

4. Audience: I perceive a working map serves dual purposes. The first is to serve the decision maker by reflecting his vision and possibly inspire new thoughts, and the second is to always keep the general audience in mind by maintaining the integrity of a good map product.

After I wrote about everything, I realized that all four of my concerns are interrelated, and I came up with this graphic to show what I mean.

The interrelation between purpose, data content and presentation, and audience.

After all, map-making is a task requires logical as well as creative problem solving skills. I need to get back to my task for this project. I hope I can achieve what I hope to do. Wish me luck!

GIS Analysis: Strengths and Limitations in Placemaking

Here are all the buzz words: big data, artificial intelligence, placemaking and real estate development. GIS has the capacity to hold all of these things together: it is a great tool for the planning world, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze big data and powerfully visually present the result on online or offline platforms.

What a minute, I feel like I am talking like machine, not like a authentic human being, who celebrates human intelligence. Yes, GIS is very powerful; however, it is not without its limitations.

In the program of my team, the purpose of placemaking is to create vibrant neighborhoods (mostly single families), to maximize the usage of current community values as well as to create new values in a rural environment. Our team benefits immensely from the extensive GIS analysis we conduct in the office. On my daily basis, I deal with over 34,000 parcels and hundreds of columns of data in the attribute tables. We are thankful for the vision that GIS analysis has helped us to develop. Here are the deeper-level strengths that I, as the GIS Analyst, am amazed by Esri's ArcMap:

 Analyzing standardized data. These are basically geographic and real estate data from the national (e.g. USGS, FEMA), state (e.g. topo coutours), county levels (e.g. parcel and real estate info from the accessory's office) and internal data (e.g. property owners info and project boundaries). I use Spatial Analyst, Network Analyst, Spatial Statistics and so on to fully work with the nature of attribute table (basically spreadsheets) based standardized data, which is quantitative data in most cases.
Communication online and offline. ArcMap has decent ability to create visually pleasing maps, and with the help of Adobe Software, the visualization versatility can be improved a great deal. My colleagues and I enjoy sharing thoughts over a piece of physical map. The online service is a complementary function when we need to brainstorm on the flight: whenever and wherever, as long as there is internet service on the smart phone. I am also well aware that this kind of communication can be carried out with potentially unknown audience through APIs. ArcGIS products definitely do a great job in enabling efficient communication.
Automation. With the help of ModelBuilder and Python, it brings the machine to work at it's full-speed, once the analytic operation has become mature and repetitive.

Image 1: GIS analysis on the housing density at Hot Springs Village

The breakthrough in the relationship between me and ArcGIS comes when I realize what ArcGIS is incapable of doing. The irony is similar to that I start to grow fonder of someone, when I start to see his/her weaknesses. It is through what I see GIS's limitations, I developed a deeper appreciation for it. Here are some of my observations in the application of placemaking:

1. It does not work well with non-standardized data. It overlooks the nuances. For example, in my real estate rating analysis, a piece of property is rated mediocre by the machine and turns out to be very desirable when I paid a visit in person. Why? Because the standardized data records what is parallel with others and underestimate individual qualities.

2. It relies heavily on the second-hand data. It is not data analysts' job emphasis to go out into the real world to conduct survey, to collect original data and to be inspired by the one-off incidences. While I mentioned in the previous point, it does not document feelings, human five senses or the quality of life/place, which are usually qualitative data. To urban planners, this kind of data crucial.


3. It "blocks off" creative design. Not only ArcMap does not collect new data for you, it prevents you from reflecting how you could possibly be blindsided with its variations of analysis. To an urban planner, design is art; it is not computation. It is to work with limited resources and materials using your unlimited and boundless creativity. For example, a piece of land that has severe topographic conditions, may turn into a piece of land worth treasuring.

Image 2 to 4: The conceptual design stemed from GIS analysis to the final completion of the Grove Park Placemaking Project at Hot Springs Village

To bring it together, placemaking is a human-centric urban planning practice. While GIS can help us exclude the obvious "no-no" conditions, it is the human touch and creative thinking that enable us to work with the geographic elements of our communities and work for our fellow residents of humanity.

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If you are urban planning professionals, I'd like to invite you to share thoughts on placemaking in rural environment through two open-ended questions:

Transect in rural communities. My observation is that housing density is the highest at are premium locations in our community: golf front, lake front and great mountain views. How to take advantage of the momentum of housing density and create transect around these locations? Or is "transect" is even a proper thing to aspire to in a rural community?
Values and real estate marketing strategy. I suppose people choose to live in a rural community for a different reason from choosing an urban community. Then what are the differences exactly, and how does that impact marketing and promoting a rural community?


Thanks in advance!

Image 5: A bird-eye view of lake and golf frontage real estate at Hot Springs Village

A Quick Comparison between ArcGIS and Space Syntax in Real Estate Analysis

Act Boldly and Think Deeply: a New Book by David Twiggs

Through my work at Hot Springs Village, the largest gated community in North America, it has been my privilege to work with David on many placemaking projects . I believe ideas are just as important as actions and I consider this book project to be a highlight of our working together.

Destination Community: The Evolution of Travel, Tourism, Leisure, and Community

David has over 20 years of community development and management experience. I admire David's tremendous passion for land, and the nature and transformation of human communities in rural settings.  He also nurtures his own original and deep thoughts while he spends time, lots of time, in the field. This book is a documentation of his years of work developing improvements for tourism destination communities.  Although this book was completed during David's time at Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, it is not about specific projects in any one community; but rather, it focuses on the sociological and philosophical side of overall community development: land-use planning, the cultivation of sense of community and running a community as a business. After reading this book, one can readily apply the ideas and concepts presented here in communities anywhere.  Those ideas and concepts include:

• Monoculture vs. Sub-culture,
• Handcraft tourism,
• Sense of belonging at Destination Community,
• In-migration, 
• Startups in communities, and so on.
• If you are interested in real estate development, community management, urban planning, sociology, and value theory, combined with real-world experience, this is a book that you should not miss.

I sincerely hope you enjoy it, and I know you will.

What to Expect When New to Career (Especially with a PhD)

People with a PhD are typically told they have two professional options after graduation: academia (professorship) or industry (business). I have a PhD in Land-use Planning, Management and Design, and I am working in the urban planning and community development "industry". In this environment, the laser-focused research that we are used to doing (in academia) is replaced by collaboration across the spectrum. If you are like me, early in your career (I'm about two years in), it is not unusual, to feel like you are drowning (I'm being dramatic here) from time to time.

Here's what to expect, based on my own experience:

I remember my mentor and academic adviser once told me, after having taught at the university level for 40 years and retired, that:

"a PhD is a certificate that says you are now ready to teach yourself. Learning is a lifelong endeavor but I guess you know that already. The more I learned the more I felt inadequate, so much so that I was even embarrassed. I am glad you like your job." - Dr. Tsai

I'm still back and forth on the path and taking my time to get there. I will be very happy when I hit the coins, just like Super Mario.

Good luck to you, and welcome aboard!

The Back of My Napkin: Keep it Simple

I had so much fun at a Sushi restaurant this evening. I was relaxed, taking my time to enjoy the food, and chatting with the staff in Mandarin. In another word, as a costumer, I was whole-hardheartedly connected to the food, the people, the surroundings and the moment.

While I sat at the bar, I wondered why some restaurants let you do that, but in others, I feel like an outsider - being treated like a guest, being wooed (for the sake of tips), finish my food and get out as quickly as possible. Then I saw this (picture below) on the counter where sushi were being prepared:

Three simple pieces: a hand bell, an iron stick and a desk bell. When the sushi chef receives an order, he puts the ticket on the stick. The hand bell ringing tells the waiter a take-out is ready for pick-up; whereas, when a dine-in order is ready to serve, the desk bell rings. The concept is simple, and it works out beautifully. The serving staff are in order, and the background music of the restaurant is two tones of jingle that come up every now and then.

I decided to take a note of this great piece of inspiration by drawing on the back of my napkin - It made me think, when a waiter takes my order using an iPad, it inevitably creates disconnection - a sense of out of touch. Why make things so complicated with fancy gadgets?

Placemaking, sounds like an edgy word, but it is not at all unique to our times - people have been doing this for thousands of years: from home decoration in each family to building gigantic ritual monuments in the ancient civilization kingdoms. I think, the reason that the term "placemaking"was reintroduced to the urban design industry was to emphasize the basic concept of craftsmanship, connection, efficiency and identity when we physically impact an environment.

When we become able to appreciate more about the act of drawing than on what a drawing is done (on a piece of napkin or on iPad), we start to see the substance among the noises. Keep it simple is to filter out the noises.

(The title of the article is inspired by the book title: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures, by Dan Roam, 2013)

New Urbanism, yes or no?

I have been secretly skeptical about trends, for example "New Urbanism." Yes, New Urbanism has been working out very successfully at many places. But when we invent a new terminology to define a trend, and repeat it over and over, we are likely to do ourselves a disservice. Because we may have created a "box" for confined thinking.

I am big fan of "form follows function." What are the "functions"? I think, for a community, it involves economic feasibility, social prosperity and stability, ecological sustainability, and cultural nurturing and preservation. New Urbanism, yes or no? Maybe. It could be one of the candidates, along with all the other nameless options to make it work.

The following is the best statement that I have read in a long time - it touched my heart, to be honest. Dr. Phillip Tabb mentioned at the end of his paper "Unity at the edge: constellation sustainable urbanism" that a planning official, Kerry Blind, made a comment on Serenbe Community,

"The development plan is not really New Urbanism; it is more organic. We are not saying what a structure looks like, but how it fits into the whole."

Author's notes on Dr. Tabb's paper

New Urbanism or not? As long as it functions beautifully, it does not matter. To quote what my boss, David Twggis,

"Why copy other people's formula? Be creative!"

I completely agree: it's time to let go of the terminology and stereotype thinking; observe, think and be creative.