Figure 2.25 Community Viz

Internet off er greater potential for public and stakeholder participation and help decision makers collect diverse viewpoints on how to improve the quality and the acceptability of plans. Also, the maps are open to scrutiny by a wider audience that may provide ideas for additional spatial inquiry, have access to more information or updated information, and point out inadequacies in the maps.

Work toward scenario-based GIS As capacity builds within a city, overlay mapping methods may evolve to include powerful scenario-based GIS. Such applications can rapidly alter maps to refl ect changes in design and automatically generate precise calculations of spatial indicators and resource fl ows. An example is CommunityViz, a software package developed for cities and made available at a minimal cost through the Orton Family Foundation, a charitable foundation. CommunityViz greatly reduces the time required to create plausible scenarios for urban system design and for establishing a standard protocol for the use of indicators and benchmarks (fi gure 2.25). It also provides a convenient basis for sharing data and integrating results across departments or institutions. In the Squamish application described above, CommunityViz has been used as a common platform by three separate design teams: smart growth (urban form and transportation), pathways (risk management and natural hazards), and bridging to the future (30-year pathways for sustainability).

Figure 2.25 CommunityViz

Source: Author elaboration (Sebastian Moffatt) with a core schematic adapted from Orton Family Foundation (2009).

Note: CommunityViz is a GIS application based on scenarios and indicators that may be used in concert with other methods to produce much of the information required for assessing development options.

References

Li Jingsheng, ed. 2006. “Bridge of Jinze, Bridging to the Web.” Bridging to the Future Project. http:// www.bridgingtothefuture.org/sites/default/fi les/

China%20Bridging%20to%20the%20Future% 20presentation.pdf. McHarg, Ian L. 1969. Design with Nature. Wiley Series in Sustainable Design. Garden City, NY: Natural

History Press. Orton Family Foundation. 2009. “CommunityViz

User’s Guide.” Orton Family Foundation,

Middlebury, VT. Prasad, Neeraj, Federica Ranghieri, Fatima Shah,

Zoe Trohanis, Earl Kessler, and Ravi Sinha. 2009.

Climate Resilient Cities: A Primer on Reducing

Vulnerabilities to Disasters. Washington, DC:

World Bank. Rees, William E. 2002. “Globalisation and Sustainability: Confl ict or Convergence?” Bulletin of Science,

Technology and Society 22 (4): 249–268. Sheltair Group. 2007. “Bridging to the Future in

Squamish, BC: Summary Report—New Directions for Energy System Design.” Prepared for District of Squamish, BC, March 2007. Available at http:// www.squamish.ca/downloads/communityenergy-action-plan. Society for Environmental Communications. 2002.

Down To Earth: Science and Environment Online.

December 15, 2002. Center for Science and

Environment, New Delhi. http://www. downtoearth.org.in/default.asp?foldername= 20021215. TERI (Tata Energy Research Institute). 1997. TERI

Energy Data Directory and Yearbook 1997/98. New

Delhi: Teri Press.

CHAPTER 10

Methods for Investment Planning

Investing wisely in urban development is a complex process. A large number of professionals must be engaged (architects, designers, suppliers, engineers, economists, and fi nancial planners), each of whom brings a diff erent concept of what is important and how it may be measured (fi gure 2.26). Construction occurs in many phases and over many years (programming and planning, design and engineering, construction, operation, and dismantling). The fi nal product is composed of many levels of subsidiary products (materials, components, technologies, whole buildings, infrastructure systems, and open space). At each phase and on every scale, diff erent actors are involved in the decisionmaking process. The complexity of interactions among these actors and among the many elements is one of the most signifi cant challenges faced by someone trying to assess the real costs and benefi ts of alternative plans for development. Investing wisely in urban development revolves around coping with complexity.

A number of assessment methods are available to help cities cope with complexity. The following methods are worth considering. Each of them may be applied using simple and scalable tools that adjust to the needs and capacities of the user.

First and foremost is life-cycle costing (LCC), which is used to understand many of the indirect and contingent costs associated with any project design over the expected lifetime of the facilities. Some LCC tools work with complete urban environments, including spatial elements and infrastructure. Other LCC tools work exclusively with specifi c types of infrastructure facilities, such as treatment plants and power plants. We look at both types.

The second method to consider is environmental accounting, which attempts to add up the lifetime environmental impacts of a project. Environmental accounting includes material fl ow analysis, but also expands the scope to encompass the broader impacts of specifi c projects on the environment, such as resource use and depletion and the costs of emissions.