Geodesign is a set of concepts and methods used to involve all stakeholders and various professions in collaboratively designing and realizing the optimal solution for spatial challenges in the built and

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

s, utilizing all available techniques and data in an integrated process. Originally, geodesign was mainly applied during the design and planning phase. "Geodesign is a design and planning method which tightly couples the creation of design proposals with impact simulations informed by geographic contexts." Now, it is also used during realization and maintenance phases and to facilitate re-use of for example buildings or industrial areas. Geodesign includes project conceptualization, analysis, design specification, stakeholder participation and collaboration, design creation, simulation, and evaluation (among other stages).

History

Geodesign builds greatly on a long history of work in

geographic information science Geographic information science (GIScience, GISc) or geoinformation science is a scientific discipline at the crossroads of computational science, social science, and natural science that studies geographic information, including how it represe ...

computer-aided design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

, and other

environmental design Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. It seeks to create spaces that will enhance the natural, social, cultural and physical environm ...

fields. See for instance, the work of Ian McHarg and Carl Steinitz. Members of the various disciplines and practices relevant to geodesign have held defining discussions at a workshop on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design in December 2008 and the GeoDesign Summit in January 2010. GeoDesign Summit 2010 Conference Videos from Day 1 and Day 2 are an important resource to learn about the many different aspects of GeoDesign. ESRI co-founder Jack Dangermond has introduced each of the GeoDesign Summit meetings. Designer and technologist Bran Ferren, was the keynote speaker for the first and fourth Summit meetings in Redlands, California. During the fourth conference he presented a provocative view of how what is needed is a 250-year plan, and how GeoDesign was a key concept in making this a reality. Carl Steinitz was a presenter at both the 2010 and 2015 Summits. The 2013 Geodesign Summit drew a record 260 attendees from the United States and abroad. That same year, a master's degree in Geodesign — the first of its kind in the nation — began at

Philadelphia University Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. The university is ...

. Claudia Goetz Phillips, director of Landscape Architecture and GeoDesign at

says "it is very exciting to be at the forefront of this exciting and relevant paradigm shift in how we address twenty-first-century global to local design and planning issues."

Theory

The theory underpinning Geodesign derives from the work of

Patrick Geddes Sir Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a Scottish biologist, sociologist, Comtean positivist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban plannin ...

in the first half of the twentieth century and Ian McHarg in its second half. They advocated a layered approach to regional planning, landscape planning and urban planning. McHarg drew the layers on translucent overlays. Through the work of

Jack Dangermond Jack Dangermond (born 1945) is an American billionaire businessman and environmental scientist, who in 1969 co-founded, with Laura Dangermond, the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), a privately held geographic information systems ...

, Carl Steinitz, Henk Scholten and others the layers were modeled with

Geographical Information Systems A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database; however, this is not ...

(GIS). The three components of this term each say something about its character. 'Geographical' implies that the layers are geographical (geology, soils, hydrology, roads, land use etc.). 'Information' implies a positivist and scientific methodology. 'System' implies the use of computer technology for the information processing. The scientific aspects of Geodesign contrast with the cultural emphasis of

Landscape Urbanism Landscape urbanism is a theory of urban design arguing that the city is constructed of interconnected and ecologically rich horizontal field conditions, rather than the arrangement of objects and buildings. Landscape Urbanism, like Infrastructural ...

but the two approaches to landscape planning share a concern for layered analysis which sits comfortably with

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

and post-postmodern theory.

Technologies

Nascent geodesign technology extends

geographic information systems A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database; however, this is not ...

so that in addition to analyzing existing environments and geodata, users can synthesize new environments and modify geodata. See, for example, CommunityViz or marinemap. "GeoDesign brings geographic analysis into the design process, where initial design sketches are instantly vetted for suitability against myriad database layers describing a variety of physical and social factors for the spatial extent of the project. This on-the-fly suitability analysis provides a framework for design, giving land-use planners, engineers, transportation planners, and others involved with design, the tools to leverage geographic information within their design workflows."Dangermond, Jack. GIS: Designing Our Future ''ArcNews'', summer 2009.
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References

Bibliography

* Ian L. McHarg. 1969. Design With Nature. Garden City, NY: Doubleday/Natural History Press. * Ian L. McHarg and Frederick Steiner, editors. 1998.To Heal the Earth: Selected Writings of Ian L. McHarg. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. * Ian L. McHarg. 1996. A Quest for Life: An Autobiography. New York: John Wiley & Sons. * Frederick Steiner, editor. 2006. The Essential Ian McHarg: Writings on Design and Nature. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. * Frederick Steiner. 2008. The Living Landscape (paperback edition). Washington, D.C. Island Press. * Carl Steinitz, Hector Arias, Scott Bassett, Michael Flaxman, Thomas Goode, Thomas Maddock, David Mouat, Richard Peiser, and Allan Shearer. 2003. Alternative Futures for Changing Landscapes: The Upper San Pedro River Basin In Arizona And Sonora. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. * Carl Steinitz. 2012. A framework for Geodesign - changing geography by design. Redlands: Esri Press. * Danbi J.Lee, Eduardo Dias, Henk J. Scholten. 2014. Geodesign by integrating design and geospatial sciences. Springer International Publishing Switzerland. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-08299-8 * Frank van der Hoeven, Steffen Nijhuis, Sisi Zlatanova, Eduardo Dias, Stefan van der Spek. 2016. Geo-Design: Advances in bridging geo-information technology, urban planning and landscape architecture. Research in Urbanism Series (RiUS), Volume 4, ISSN 1875-0192 (print), E-ISSN 1879-8217 (online) Delft: TU Delft Open, 2016 . * Paul Cureton and Elliot Hartley, Geodesign, Urban Digital Twins, and Futures, Routledge. .

External links