What does the future look like? Planners wrestle with this question daily as they strive to bring a community's vision of itself to life, in all its complexity. Here is an authoritative and accessible guide to a tool that combines 3-D visualization, data analysis and scenario building to let planners and citizens see the future impacts of a plan or development. The Planners Guide to CommunityViz is the first book to explain how to support planning projects with CommunityViz, GIS-based software that planners around the world are using to help decision-makers, professionals, and the public visualize, analyze, and communicate about development proposals, future growth patterns, and the outcome of particular plans or developments. It shows the planner which tools and techniques to use and how to use them for maximum effectiveness on planning projects large and small. Full of practical examples and case studies, the book shows how CommunityViz can enliven the comprehensive planning process from visioning, to public participation, to values mapping, to build-out analysis. Chapters show how to use CommunityViz to analyze zoning regulations, calculate the costs of community services, and evaluate development proposals requiring design review. In addition, it is applicable to transportation planning, natural-resource planning, land-development suitability assessment, and urban economic development analysis.

Contents

Introduction: Communities, Planning, and CommunityViz Part 1 Foundations 1 Getting Started 2 Technical Needs and Data Resources for CommunityViz 3 Planning Study Design Guidelines 4 Custom Impact Models and Analysis 5 Three-Dimensional Scenes 6 Getting the Most from 3-D Part 2 Visioning, Values and Growth Projections 7 Visioning 8 Growth Projections 9 Value Mapping and Special Places Part 3 Making Plans 10 Local Comprehensive Plans 11 Regional Land-Use and Transportation Plans 12 Site Selection and Assessment 13 Resource Plans Part 4 Reviewing Regulations and Development Proposnalyzing Zoning Regulations 15 Cost-of-Services Analyses 16 Design Review and Form-Based Codes Part 5 Communicating and Interacting 17 Public Meetings, Presentations, and Charrettes 18 Reports, Displays, and Websites 19 Beyond Planning Projects Appendix 1 When and How to Get Help Appendix 2 Data Management Appendix 3 Performance Appendix 4 Data Sources Appendix 5 CommunityViz Features

Author Bio

Doug Walker is president and principal of Placeways in Boulder, Colorado.

Tom Daniels is a professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania.