This syllabus for "GIS for Design Practices" at Columbia University outlines a course focused on the application of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in urban design, participatory research, and community-based projects. Students will explore open-source geospatial tools, learn the fundamentals ...
GIS for Design Practices | A6939-1| Fall 2023
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Eric Brelsford | ebrelsford@gmail.com
Manon Vergerio | vergerio.manon@gmail.com
Lecture & Exercises
Friday 11 AM - 1 PM
300 Buell South
Office Hours:
By appointment.
Course Description:
GIS for Design Practices introduces geospatial technologies tailored to participatory, community-based
research and activist agendas for urban spaces. The class explores open source desktop and web-based
geospatial toolsets for research, design, and visualization of urban conditions, as well as strategies for
intervention and transformation of issues and challenges facing urban communities. Students will gain
valuable experience in harnessing open data and creating innovative mapping tools with local urban
communities.
Weekly lectures will cover the history, underlying fundamentals, tools, and programming languages
required to make use of GIS and the geographic web. In-class activities will introduce technical
fundamentals for each week’s topics, followed by weekly assignments where students can master the
skills necessary for interactive mapping. Throughout the course, students will balance their efforts
between individual research and assignments. During the latter phase of the course, students will develop
interactive mapping projects that address specific local community challenges. These projects will feature
opportunities for students to engage local communities, ground their emerging geospatial skills in
real-world urban issues, and draw significant thematic connections broadly with their ongoing urban
studies.
Course Themes:
● Open Source GIS Software
● Desktop and online GIS
● Strategies for creating desktop and online cartography
● Participatory GIS
● Critical cartography and GIS
● Collaborative online mapping
● Programming for interactive maps
, Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the semester, successful students will:
● Demonstrate a solid working knowledge of GIS and interactive mapping technologies.
● Articulate and develop research and data collection strategies around a unique research topic in
geospatial technology for urban communities.
● Articulate their own understanding of research, data, and GIS processes through a final project
and presentation.
● Participate in class discussions and in-class exercises, as well as conduct independent research
and weekly GIS / interactive mapping exercises (lab sessions will allow mastery of broad
concepts, but students will ultimately be responsible for completing each week’s technical
exercise out of class).
● Demonstrate their ability to translate and migrate GIS data to other spatial technologies in both
desktop and online environments.
● Articulate how GIS and the geographic web relates to other spatial modeling techniques for urban
design.
● Develop their own interactive mapping project reflecting their mastery of geospatial technologies
as they relate to their own research topic.
● Apply concepts and skills to their future work in urban design.
● Utilize technical, quantitative, and qualitative mapping/ethnographic knowledge in the context of
local urban communities, neighborhood development, and their spaces.
● Contribute to the course archive, creating a resource for project community partners and future
students.
Course Outline (subject to change):
Class 1 Introduction to GIS
September 8 Activity: Latitude and Longitude.
Class 2 Cartographic design & conventions. Projections and coordinate systems.
September 15
Activity: Desktop GIS basics. Managing projections and coordinate systems.
Readings. Map design and symbology
● How to Lie with Maps, excerpt (Monmonier)
● Designing Better Maps, excerpt (Brewer)
Class 3 Thematic and choropleth maps. Participatory GIS.
September 22
Activity: Desktop GIS: Opening CSVs. Categorized Maps. Choropleths and
counting points in polygons.
Readings. Data classification
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