Dissolving Boundaries
ArcGIS as a Tool for Authentic Engagement
Designing the built environment never happens in a vacuum. From a small residential lot to a rural greenfield site to a city plan, every project begins with a process of discovery: what are the environmental and cultural forces acting on a particular site, and how will these forces inform the design solution? Increasingly, designers are tapping into the power of geographic information systems (GIS) to streamline and supercharge this process. Of these digital tools for spatial analysis, ArcGIS is one of the most widely used.
What is ArcGIS?
ArcGIS is a proprietary tool developed by Esri, a company specializing in mapping and analytics software: essentially, ArcGIS embeds “location intelligence” to help users understand a place more fully. For the architecture, engineering, and construction industries, ArcGIS integrates many layers of data with geographic maps, making it easier for teams to analyze the natural and manmade systems that impact a site.
At a basic level, ArcGIS is especially useful in the early stages of a project when designers are seeking to understand key site elements such as topography, hydrology, infrastructure, area demographics, and other data before beginning design. As the project progresses, however, the most skilled ArcGIS users can also tap into advanced capabilities including integration with building information modeling (BIM), digital twin technology to facilitate real-time documentation and monitoring during construction, and reality capture using an array of systems to assist with ongoing building operations.
The ”Science of Where”
Esri describes these complex analytics as “The Science of Where,” and believes that understanding geospatial relationships is critical to solving real-world, large-scale problems. ArcGIS connects project sites to myriad layers of free, publicly available data which can be harvested and analyzed in service to design. The tool is invaluable to urban designers, planners, and architects seeking to understand the needs of the communities for which they’re designing. Layers of detail about interconnected patterns can include area median income, housing affordability, distance to healthy food, public transportation opportunities, and green space, to name a few; this information can guide designers towards the interventions that will best honor and serve the community. This information is particularly impactful when working at the neighborhood or city scale. LS3P Associate and Senior Urban Designer Blake Reeves, AICP, LEED GA, feels a real mandate in his work on the Urban Environments team to design for the greater good. “We are always
designing for the general public, not just the client,” he explains. “We have to think beyond site boundaries to include all communities that might be affected by our work. We have a responsibility to think not only about what’s happening on our site today, but also what happened decades before or what might happen decades after. We understand that our work isn’t a standalone project, but an interconnected component of many larger networks.”
ArcGIS is extremely helpful in thinking beyond the site, and allows the design team to uncover hidden trends and design informed solutions. For example, if obesity is trending high in a neighborhood, can designers incorporate more green space into a project to encourage activity? If the nearest healthy food source is far off or most residents don’t have cars, is it possible to incorporate a community garden, or make the pedestrian environment and public transit options as welcoming and accessible as possible?
Rethinking Boundaries
For all of the complexity of ArcGIS and its capabilities, its true power may lie in helping designers break down the borders between their buildings and the rest of the world. Thinking beyond the site lines encourages authentic engagement and connection with the community. Design is never neutral, as the saying goes, so thinking about the broader community context for a project at any scale can help to create better outcomes for all.
Emerging Professional Ariel Hills, a recent graduate of NC State University, is a passionate believer in the power of data to understand the forces that have shaped our communities. As part of a semesterlong class in “Mapping Racism in the Built Environment,” she used ArcGIS to trace patterns related to Confederate monuments. In examining the proliferation and placement of these monuments, Hills was able to uncover and share
Harnessing Data for the Greater Good
Though ArcGIS is often used at the neighborhood, city, or regional scale in planning projects, in can be a powerful tool at the single building scale as well. Architects may be used to working within strict lot lines, but ArcGIS can help designers dissolve the imaginary boundaries between their buildings and their communities
by better understanding the cultural and environmental context. In a higher education project, community data might help colleges and universities bridge gaps between campus and community by providing shared amenities and thoughtful infrastructure. In a healthcare project, understanding the impacts
a complicated story of systemic oppression. For her, architecture isn’t just about form and function. “What role does the architect have in addressing socio-economic, environmental, and political challenges beyond the traditional scope of a project?” she asks.
of social determinants of health in the neighborhoods around a hospital or medical office building might help clients connect authentically with the community by designing to address challenges and opportunities for public health and wellness.
What’s Next?
For those who want to learn more about ArcGIS and how it can be integrated into the project process, Esri offers a variety of online and in-person training opportunities; many free or low-cost online courses also exist. A new user might be able to navigate the basics of the program after a few hours of training, but uncovering the data sets which are most relevant to any given project will take additional creativity, discernment, and skill. Translating this complex data into graphics that can help clients and communities understand its implications is yet another skill set; designers, however, are uniquely qualified for this challenge.
LS3P Urban Designer Alison Marble, Assoc. AIA, sees rich potential for the program as more and more people become proficient in its use. “We may just be scratching the surface of how we can use ArcGIS now, but as we continue to learn about available data and begin to synthesize this knowledge across the southeastern cities we serve, we have the opportunity to drive positive change,” she explains.
About the Contributors
Emerging Professional
Blake Reeves, AICP, is a Senior Urban Designer within LS3P’s Urban Environments Practice. In service of robust community building, he has led and advanced significant urban projects across the world.
Blake specializes in master planning and strategy, where his proficiency for robust idea generation allows him to address complex challenges with innovative solutions that drive meaningful and effective change.
Blake’s work has been critical in shaping vibrant, inclusive, and welcoming mixed-use districts that provide more just and equitable outcomes for all.
Blake holds both a Master of Science
in Urban Design and a Master of City and Regional Planning from Georgia Tech. He previously worked with a global firm on prestigious international commissions including crafting the public space recommendations for Habitat III, the United Nations’ third bi-decennial summit on cities, towns, and villages. He now brings that wealth of insight back to the region that he calls home, where is passionate about addressing the challenges that are unique to the Southeast with a sharp understanding of what makes for great communities the world over.
Allison Marble, Assoc. AIA is an urban designer in LS3P’s Urban Environments practice. She brings a background in architectural design, urban planning, and landscape design and desires to shape the built environment in a manner that promotes equity by responding to cities’ social, economic, and environmental challenges. Her passion for sustainability and resiliency for future growth drives her eagerness to understand the complex interwoven issues that cities face. In her career thus far, she has worked on various small to largescale projects in urban design, mixeduse environments, and the public
realm through the lens of landscape architecture and planning.
Allison holds a Bachelor of Architecture with a concentration in Urban Design, Green Building Practices, and Environmental Resiliency as well as a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture with a minor in Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State University. She has completed studies in Prague, Czech Republic, examining sustainability factors in the city’s urban fabric while creating suitable design solutions based on a keen understanding of historical and cultural conditions.
Ariel Hills is an Emerging Professional in LS3P’s Raleigh office. A recent graduate of NC State University with a Bachelor of Architecture, Ariel first joined the firm as an intern in the Charleston office in 2019 and the Raleigh office in 2021.
BLAKE REEVES, AICP, LEED GA Associate Senior Urban Designer ALLISON MARBLE Urban Designer I ARIEL HILLS