Introduction
Geospatial software programme or geographic information system (GIS) software have increasingly become more important for users in terms of data analysis and finding a solution for problems (Pettit, 2006). This software may be used for architecture, geography, land survey, urban planning, landscape and many other fields. GIS software is available for professional and non-professional, expert or beginner, educational facilities and government organization or personal business (Waddell, 2010). Furthermore, it is available as a free to download or chargeable software, and each GIS programme has special features and different tools.
This report seeks to identify a GIS programme for non-professional users such as a university student who deals with information and data that needs to be analysed to solve problem or to make a decision. The report presents several programmes that have different features for analysis tools and give advice to help users choose the right programme for their needs.
Research aim
During the development and improvement of GIS programme in last decade, it became difficult to find the right programme, which has the tools for beginner user needs (Kaplan, 2005). Also, some of these programmes are not free and cost a lot, which students cannot afford, and have analysis tools that not useful for students. For that, the aim of this research is to find out which one of the geospatial software programmes provide simple tool features for analysing database for non-professional users such as university students who deal with urban planning information to reach the final result without using complex analysing tools.
Methodology
A descriptive approach was used to gather information pertaining to different GIS programmes available in the market. This involved a literature review of different GIS programmes that have the same reason to use as well as collecting final results from different companies that have experience and development in this kind of programme. The researcher also analysed the programmes in terms of users suitability, i.e., which of them is more used by professional and non-professional, and different users and organisation. The search revealed these programmes as most recently used software: UrbanSim software, ENVI software, ArcView software, CityCAD software, and MapWindow software. A description of analysis tool features for each program was also undertaken. The analysis tools allow user to create modification into the data that users have to find a solution to or answer a question. The following is a descriptive overview of GIS programmes including their analysis tools.
GIS software programmes
UrbanSim: Is a software program that analyse land uses, transportation, and environmental planning (UrbanSim, 2009). UrbanSim is a tool to analyse the market needs for lands infrastructure to reach the public investment and choices (UrbanSim, 2009).
UrbanSim analysis tools deal with locations and development of household, business and developments. The software also allows users to incorporate policies explicitly and to evaluate their effects as well as analyse the economic and demographic changes with location choice for an agent (UrbanSim, 2009). Furthermore, it deals with the process from the point a developer or land owner makes a choice about where to develop and for what type of real estate until the final stages of the development. It also controls regional economic forecasts, travel access, and scenario policy assumptions regarding development constraints arising from land use plans and environmental constraints (UrbanSim, 2009). Further, UrbanSim analysis tools analyse creation or loss of households and jobs by type, the movement of households or jobs within the region the location choices of households and jobs from the available vacant real estate, the location, type, and quantity of new construction and redevelopment by developers, and the price of land at each location (UrbanSim, 2009).
ENVI software: This software deals with imagery to find a solution for processing and analyzing geospatial images used by different types of users like researchers, GIS professionals, scientists and image analysts around the world (ITT, 2011).
ENVI analysing tools allow users to deal with images from different sources to find information for government and researcher pursues. The tools allow user to analyzing important geospatial information for GIS applications including (ITT, 2010):
- Detecting change over time
- Finding features of interest or anomalies
- Identifying and classifying features or land cover
- Categorizing terrain
- Correcting for atmospheric conditions
- Detecting and mapping lines of communication
- Analyzing Leader data
ArcView software: Provide the technology to research, develop, implement and monitor the progress of planners. It provides the tools that planners, surveyors, and engineers need to design a map for neighbourhood and cities. Basically, it is the facility for decision making process (Esri, 2011).
ArcView analysis tools provide different and unique type of analysing process for basic information such as visualisation. However, analysing tools provide several features, which allow user to: authorise mapping using different samples to save times for creating a map style; use building tools to solve a complex problem such as measure distances and areas; find features in the map; select data by location or attribute, unselect all, switch the selection, access layer properties from the Identified dialog box. In general, it has simple features for editing and data integration (Esri, 2011).
CityCAD software: is a programme that uses BIM (Building Information Modelling) principles to the urban design scale and a prototype software product codenamed ‘Master planner’. It can also analyse a wide range of environmental and quality of life indicators and can estimate the carbon footprint of a development based on different density (Holistic City, 2010).
CityCAD analysis tools feature has a new way to analyse date with 3D modelling. So, the tool allows for dealing and defining problems in the early stage of the concept during testing and identifying risk and opportunities. The new tool is a parametric’ tool – meaning that if you change the design, then all design-related information is automatically updated. CityCADâ„¢ does all these number-crunching automatically, so the urban designer is relieved of tedious information management and is free to concentrate on design quality (Holistic City, 2010). In addition, it makes it possible to calculate: live ability and quality of life indicators that would have previously been too time-consuming; the average distance from a dwelling to an area of green space, or a convenience store, or a bus stop, or to the nearest health service; the number of people living within 5 mines’ walk of a bus stop helping in predicting the viability of local public transport services; urban design characteristics such as active frontage, graphs showing activity throughout the 24-hour cycle, and indicators such as the number of dwellings per entrance (Holistic City, 2010).
MapWindow software: This software was developed to address the need for a GIS programming tool that could be used in engineering research and project software, without requiring end users to purchase a complete GIS system or become GIS experts. It was also developed in order to distribute data, along with a viewer tool, to many users without having to pay expensive royalties (Ames, 2010).
MapWindow has a simple tool for analysing data, which all the other programmes have. However, as it is open source programme the analyses tools are modifiable to fit the user needs. The tool features allow user to edit data, special view, modify models, data converting, measuring distance and allow sharing information with different users (Watry, Ames, and Michaelis, 2007).
Comparison of GIS programmes
University students require a GIS programme to analyze simple data and make inferences on certain phenomena. Specifically, urban planning student would need to look at the planning trends as well as analyse data that can assist in making hypothetical plans. Such uses require a simple and easy to use GIS tool that cannot confuse student, but at the same fulfil their user needs.
Looking into the information above, there are a lot of analysis tools in each programme, which the student does not need as a beginner user or cannot deal with because they need some professional and expertise. So, most of these programmes have over needed analysis tools for students because a student in university stage need just simple tools to reach the result he/she is looking for. For instance, UrbanSim features in general is suitable for any users and for any organisation or governmental projects, but has many tools that student does not need and could confuse then trying to remember which of these analysis tools help them. Besides, the data analysis process could as well be difficult and hard to remember.
ENVI software tool features, which deal with images, may as well not be a suitable GIS programme for my hypothetical environment. Usually, urban planners do not deal with images, but rather numbers and figures to analyse an area or neighbourhood. Furthermore, the features that it provides are more suitable for expertise scantest and landscape architects to track changes on the environment. For that, urban planning student needs programmes that are simpler than this one to process data analysis.
ArcView generally has all the simple futures that a planner can need. It deals with maps and information and the tipple features are not complex so non-professional users can handle it. Besides, this programme does not have many tools that student do not need hence providing an appropriate GIS program for university student.
CityCAD software is a new application in the market and provides just a 3D model so users can process a 3D data analysis. Besides, it seems like a tool to build a model for an area and when the information changes, the entire model is automatically modified.
MapWindow, which is a very simple programme, has tools that are not as much complicated and very basic application for beginner hence an appropriate software for university students. A summarised comparison of GIS programmes is provided in Appendix 1.
Conclusion
Geospatial software programs became important in recent years to analyse data and find a solution to a problem. For that, many companies have been developing their software to be used as analysing tools to meet the needs of users and end users hence opening the market for new software that could be a competitor for the oldest organisations, which have led the market for several years. However, in the presence of the large amount of software, university students who have little experience and the ability to deal with all the features of these software analysis tools could have a problem in choosing the right programme for their needs and use.
Because of that, this report has looked into the most popular software that have been used recently including a descriptive analysis of the information about what the features for the analysis tools of each software can do and the ability to help the student to reach the result that he/she is looking for. There are too many features for analysis tools provided for these GIS software. Most of them students could not use it in the early stage hence confusing them to choose from. As a recommendation for university students, MapWindow provides a simple and easy to use GIS programme that any beginner can manage. It also has just the tools a student may need a GIS programme for. I also recommend ArcView as a second choice. It is the oldest software in this field and its design is suitable for urban planning use. Finally, CityCAD also provide another GIS programme option for students. It provides a 3D technology for analysing data, which may help in designing stage for tracking any changes in the future for the area.
References
Ames,D., 2010. MapWindow Project Overview. Web.
Esri, 2011. ArcView Overview. Web.
ESRI, 2006. ‘GIS Solutions for Urban and Regional Planning: Designing and Mapping the Future of Your Community with GIS’. Web.
Holistic City (2010). Holistic City Software introduces CityCAD 1.0. Web.
ITT Visual Information Solutions, 2010. ‘ENVI Tools for ArcGIS’. [pdf] ESRI-Chile. Web.
ITT Visual Information Solutions, 2010. Introducing ENVI 4.8. ITTVIS. Web
Kaplan,D. (2005) ‘How to Choose the Right Software for your Company’. [pdf] SMC DATA. Web.
UrbanSim, 2009. UrbanSim Overview. [Web] Urbansim.org. Web.
Waddell, P., 2010 ‘Dynamic Microsimulation: UrbanSim’. [pdf] Urbansim. Web.
Watry,G. Ames,D and Michaelis, C. (2007). ‘Introduction to Map Window’. [pdf] Mapwindow. Web.