Peiqian's work sample on GIS

All about bikes and picnic:

Analysis on Philadelphia’s entertainment system and reviving program on Mill Creek neighborhood

Peiqian Zhong CPLN 503 Modelling Geographic Objects

I. Analysis on Philadelphia’s “outdoor entertainment system”

II.Figure out the connection between bike system and recreation areas

III. Find out the distrbution of good picnic sites in Philadelphia

IV. Change the Mill Creek as a good picnic site

Elements will be used: point shapefile: bike rack, farmers market, recreation facilities

Polygon shapefile: park boundary, historic sites

Flooding information of Philadelphia

Polyline shapefile: contour

Data source: PASDA, pictures from pinterest Philadelphia Census Tracts

Philadelphia building map

Philadelphia zoning map

Philadelphia waterway

I. Analysis on Philadelphia’s “outdoor entertainment system”:

In holidays, people would rather escape the crowded city area and ride to the park and recreation facilities to have fun.

They may also pass some historic sites to learn about the history of the city. After that, they go to farmer’s market to buy fresh and natural foods before going home. In this part, we focus on the analysis on the distribution of recreation facilities and farmers market, as well as the density of bike rack in these areas.

Elements: Entertainment elements: recreation facilities, farmer’s market Commute: bike rack, bike network, bike side trail Philadelphia area: census tract Method: IDW, kernel density, point density, visualization on ArcScene, OLS Analysis

Step 1: analysis on density of bike rack Kernel density result

Point density result

To analyze the Philadelphia’s outdoor entertainment system, we need to analyze the density of the bike rack in Philadelphia. I use kernel density and point density to go through the test.

The kernel density has higher accuracy in showing the bike rack density. From here we can see that the bike rack is dense in center city area, then along the direction of broad street. Other areas has a sparse distribution of bike rack.

To see whether the farmers market and recreation facilities are close to the bike rack, I used “closest� in the spatial join within 1000 square kilometers, and joined the number of bike racks to farmers market shapefile and recreation facilities shapefile. I also visualized in a 3D pattern on ArcScene to see the accessibility of farmers market and recreation facilities.

The result left shows that the accessibility pattern of farmers market (green) is not totally the same as that of recreation facilities (red). Recreation facilities has more accessibility to the bike rack than farmers market does.

IDW result of farmers market and recreation facilities close to bike rack

Step 2: Regression on census track with farmers market/recreation facilities and density of bike rack in farmers market/recreation facilities Census track that has farmers market (not in green) with the relation of number of racks

Census track that has recreation facilities (not in green) with the relation of number of racks

OLS regression on census track that has farmers market with the relation of number of racks

OLS regression on census track that has recreation facilities with the relation of number of racks

The famers market and recreation facilities are joined into the census tracts to see their distribution and the density of bike racks. OLS regression is done between the number of census track with farmers market or recreation facilities (dependent variables) and number of bike rack in census tract accessible with farmers market or recreation facilities (independent variables). From the results, the census tracts with farmers market and recreation facilities have a higher standard deviation.

II. Figure out the connection between bike system and recreation areas :

Some entertainment facilities are hard to access, but they still can give fun to people. Therefore we need to figure out the connection between bike system and recreation areas.

The logic of the model is to sort out the accessibility (to bike rack first, bike side trail next, and bike network finally) and connection with three elements and the bike system. In this way I can figure out the type of the accessibility to parks, historic sites, and farmers market.

Elements: bike network, bike side trail, bike rack, parks, farmer’s market, historic sites Method: model building-dissolve, spatial join, multibuffer, intersect, select, erase Result: sort out a list of parks, farmer’s market and historic sites related or not related to the bike network, bike side trail and bike rack

Step 1: sort out those parks, historic sites and farmers market that are near bike rack bike rack and parks

bike rack and Historic sites

The first step of the model is to sort out the parks, historic site and farmers market that are near bike rack. Since they are different types of shapefiles, these three elements are dealt differently.

For parks, I sorted out the parks that are within the distance of 0.3 miles to their nearest bike rack. I also sorted out the historic sites that are within the distance of 0.3 miles to their nearest bike rack.

As for the farmers market, it is more complicated in that the “farmers market shapefile� is a point shapefile rather than a polygon. Therefore I sorted out the buffered area of the farmers market (which is within 200 meters) that are within the bike rack surrounding area of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 miles.

bike rack and farmers market

Step 2: sort out those parks, historic sites and farmers market that are near bike side trail and bike network bike rack and parks

bike rack and Historic sites

The second step of the model is to sort out the parks, historic site and farmers market that are near bike side trail and bike network. Bike side trail and bike network is different in that bike side trail is along the walking route or along the park, but bike network is located along with the road.

I sorted out the parks, farmers market and historic sites that are intersect with bike side trails and bike network. Shapefile “YFARMBIKENET”, “YPARKBIKENET”, “YHISBIKENET” are the ones that are intersected with bike network, and shapefile “YFARMBIKETRA”, “YPARKBIKETRA”, and “YHISBIKETRA” are the ones that are intersected with bike side trails.

bike rack and farmers market

Step 3: sort out those parks, historic sites and farmers market that are not near the bike system in Philadelphia, and selection to the studied area bike rack and parks

bike rack and Historic sites

The third step of the model is to sort out the parks, historic site and farmers market that have no good connection with the bike network. These areas are either too far from the reach of bike racks, or no intersection with the bike network and bike side trails. (shown in the map) Further, the analysis can be applied to the study area within Philadelphia. I now have the results of three elements that are near bike rack, near bike side trail, near bike network, and with inconvenient access to those above. Then I can get the accessibility result of parks, historic sites and farmers market within the study area.

In the fourth part, mill creek will be the study area of the model.

bike rack and farmers market

III. Find out the distrbution of good picnic sites in Philadelphia:

Picnic is a good way to enjoy the entertainment facilities in Philadelphia.

However, a good picnic site should not only be a vacant area. In fact, Philadelphia has its water network, and waterfront should be regarded as an important resource for relaxation and entertainment. Also, as the contour is different from place to place, picnic areas should be flat. These areas should be within the range of a short walking distance to farmers market.

Elements: Entertainment elements: farmers market Commute: bike rack Philadelphia area: contour, flood hazard, bike rack, farmers market, waterway Method: dissolve, intersect, select, buffer, erase, slope analysis, create TIN

Step 1: changing the contour to TIN file and present slope analysis To analyze on the contour of Philadelphia, I need to transfer it into TIN to visualize the contour, and develop the slope analysis for the next step.

Philadelphia contour line

Philadelphia contour visualization (in TIN)

Philadelphia slope analysis

Step 2: find the accessible area of bike rack and farmers market for potential picnic sites bike rack and farmers market accessible area

bike rack distribution

Farmers market distribution

The picnic site should be accessible to bike rack area and farmers market, so that people can easily go to the farmers market to buy fresh food when they needed. People can also park their bike within the walking distance to the picnic site.

Step 3: combining the elements to find out the appropriate picnic sites in Philadelphia area Philadelphia slope analysis

bike rack and farmers market accessible area

present

Sort out areas which are along the waterfront with a slope less than 3 degree using intersect and erase (erase the waterway)

Flooding information of Philadelphia

Philadelphia waterway

present

present

present

erased from flooding and slope

present

Bike rack accessible area that falls along the waterfront with a slope less than 3 degree using intersect

Farmers market accessible area that falls along the waterfront with a slope less than 3 degree using intersect appropriate waterfront area with good accessibility of bike rack and farmers market

These areas have a good view of the waterfront, as well as prosperity in food trading and exchange.

IV. Change the Mill Creek as a good picnic site:

Here, Mill Creek neighborhood will be a case for improving the local entertainment system. Mill Creek is a neighborhood used to develop along the mill creek river. However, in the process of urbanization, mill creek was buried underground, which brought out negative effect for the neighborhood. To thrive the Mill Creek area, I suggested that the mill creek should be brought into surface.

However, the flooding hazard, contour change, building reallocation and zoning rearrangement should be considered to make this happen. the creation of a polyline shapefile on mill creek

referencing map to draw out mill creek

the location of mill creek neighborhood in Philadelphia

Elements: Entertainment elements: park (recreation facilities are included in all parks), historic sites, farmers market Commute: bike rack Philadelphia land situation: flood area map, contour map, building map, zoning map Method: georeferencing, select features, creating polyline shapefile in ArcCatalog, intersect, create TIN, multibuffer, editor, spatial join

Step 1: creating elements in the Mill Creek neighborhood area Contour Line and Mill Creek river

The contour line is the intersection between mill creek neighborhood and contour line in Philadelphia. I also create “mill creek” shapefile to draw out the original mill creek waterline.

Mill Creek neighborhood building

Building in the mill creek area is intersected from the Philadelphia building shapefile. Since the river overlaps with some buildings, we need to know the buildings that needed to be teared down.

Contour visualization

The contour visualization is based on the elevation of the contour line. TIN creation was used to create the TIN result. However, the appearance of the river might change the contour of mill creek neighborhood.

Mill Creek neighborhood zoning

Zoning in the mill creek area is intersected from the Philadelphia zoning shapefile. The way river goes may require the change of zoning into “Special purpose”, so that the revival of mill creek river can happen in reality.

Slope analysis

Slope analysis is based on the contour visualization from the TIN file. However, the appearance of the river might change the slop of mill creek neighborhood.

Distribution of parks, farmers market, and bike rack

Distribution of parks, farmers market and bike rack can show the relationship between mill creek river and these areas. The goal of mill creek development may require additional construction on parks and commercial stores.

Step 2: Changes in assumption of mill creek river revived Contour change

Slope change analysis

As the mill creek river would be revived, there would be a change in the contour.

The route where river goes through (the blue line) would have a low elevation of 50 meters, while other areas remain unchanged.

Slope analysis based on the contour change shows more detailed information affected by the revival of mill creek river. The route which river would go through has a rather high degree of slope, while other area remains unchanged.

Mill Creek neighborhood building change

Mill Creek neighborhood zoning change

The to-be-revived mill creek river affects some of the buildings,since it flows through these buildings. Therefore, the buildings in blue is needed to be torn down. About 33 buildings will be torn down due to the flow of mill creek river.

Mill creek river would flow through some areas zoned with residential and industrial land use.

These should be changed into “Special purpose� for parks. However, the commercial land use will not be affected, for they can help bringing more people to the area by providing convenient facilities and services.

Step 3: the future of Mill Creek neighborhood The burial of the mill creek river presented various disasters: the deterioration of the once-wealthy neighborhood, the negative influence to the building structure, and the abandonment of local housing.

Although urban renewal plan gave a delighted future to this area, it did not take the mill creek river into consideration. It is delighted to see that some participatory process to evoke people’s awareness of mill creek river, and we can see that some parks were constructed along the mill creek river.

Still, it will be a better idea to let mill creek river come back to life.

The future of Mill Creek neighborhood would not be like before. People could go along the mill creek park to enjoy the beautiful nature. They can ride the bike along the river, and go to the farmers market to buy fresh food.

They can even visit a historic sites to review the history of mill creek neighborhood. That’s what I hope for.

farmers market

historic museum

parkway