Geography 464 Winter, 2017
GIS and Decision Support: A Sustainability Management Approach
Thompson Hall 325

Lecture MWF 9:30 - 10:20 AM

Section AB MW Labs 10:30 – 11:20 AM

Section AA TTH Labs 1:30 – 2:20PM
http://courses.washington.edu/geog464

Instructors:

Tim Nyerges, Professor, nyerges at u.washington.edu

Smith 402, Office hours : MW 11:30-12:20 AM, or by appointment

Gene Martin, Teaching Assistant, ewmartin at u.washington.edu

Smith 401, Office/lab hours as announced in Section

 

Overview:

This course is designed as a learning experience about GIS-oriented decision support methods. Decision support is interpreted broadly, but the underlying decision paradigm is based on Herbert Simon’s ‘intelligence, design, and choice’ of rational decision making. The course makes use of concepts from urban-regional planning, improvement programming, and project implementation (PIPPI) work to inform the process of GIS methods. PIPPI is a pervasive decision process across the world in public, private and non-for profit organizations. The course makes use of issues in land use, transportation, or water resources (LUTWR) to focus the substantive context of GIS work.  We treat PIPPI processes and LUTWR substance within the context of GIS-based decision support methods in an integrative way.  This perspective leads us to issues about urban growth management in connection with community and regional sustainability management in connection. GIS as an information technology and particularly a decision support technology in a broad sense will mature if we challenge it to address complex decision problems.  Furthermore, we develop our own expertise when we challenge ourselves to use GIS technology in complex ways.  Group-based decision support of LUTWR within PIPPI processes is among the more complex and important topics in the 21st century – because the integration of these ideas can be a practical (as well as theoretical) foundation for addressing growth management and sustainability concerns. This course is taught at an intermediate level. Consequently, students are expected to have taken at least a beginning level course in GIS mapping, and have some exposure and interest in regional and urban topics.

 

Although there are several definitions for GIS, Prof. Nyerges’ working definition of GIS for this course that integrates three perspectives (components, processes, and purpose) is: a combination of data, software, hardware, people, motivation, timing, procedures, and institutional arrangements for collecting, storing, manipulating, analyzing, and displaying information about spatially and temporally distributed phenomena for the purpose of inventory, decision making and/or problem solving within operations, management, strategic contexts as related to urban-regional issues. Although Prof. Nyerges’ expertise focuses on land use, transportation, and water resource issues, other urban-regional issues are treated based on teaching assistant and student interest through readings and class discussion. 

 

The fundamental learning objectives for students in this course are to:

  • understand the intellectual benefits and costs of integrated data processing strategies with GIS, particularly within the context of urban-regional growth management and sustainability issues. These strategies include (but are not limited to) problem definition, database design, data collection, data structuring, data analysis, and information presentation in a modeling approach.
  • master the use of several GIS data processing strategies as applied through hands-on use of GIS software to complete laboratory assignments as practice in critical enquiry.
  • experience the process of working in groups in order to encourage a broader and deeper understanding about the value of using geographic information to address complex urban-regional geographic issues within a context of a pluralistic society, i.e., a society that mediates multi-valued interests for overall improvement.

Required Reading:

- Nyerges, T. and Jankowski, P. 2010, Regional and Urban GIS: A Decision Support Approach, (aka RUGIS) Guilford Press.

- Selected readings – available directly through various web sites as indicated by specific URL.

Optional Books:

- Michael Zeiler, Modeling Our World, ESRI Press, 2000

- ESRI, Getting to Know ArcGIS for Desktop, ESRI Press, latest edition.

 

Grading:
- Two exams containing short answer essay questions (1st exam is 25% of grade; 2nd exam is 25% of grade = 50% of total grade)
- Six lab assignments plus a final project lab assignment with presentation (50% of total grade).

- Peer evaluation for final project activity is required.

Software to be used in Geography’s Sherman Lab in Smith 401: ArcGIS for Desktop 10.4.1 running on Windows operating system. Software is also available on workstations in the Smith 411 Commons Room and in Smith 415C Geography Collaboratory.