Geographic Information Systems as a Tool for Planning Community Greenspace

Abstract

Community greenspace provides ecologic, social, and economic benefits, but is often overlooked in the land development process. As growth pressures intensify in our communities, existing undeveloped open space is rapidly converted to other land uses, often with little regard for parcels that are better suited for greenspace preservation. The purpose of this project was to develop a model for locating high-valued greenspace. Using Stevens Point, Wisconsin as a case study, significant greenspaces were identified by assessing the size, composition, and location of forests, wetlands, and grasslands in and around the urbanized area. The following four-part process was developed: 1) project scope definition, 2) information collection and map creation, 3) isolation of valuable greenspaces, and 4) differentiation of lands currently with and without protection. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology was instrumental in completing the project as it provides an efficient means of collecting, storing, representing, and spatially analyzing large quantities of data. GIS was used to create map layers depicting information about the area's land and ownership characteristics, and to analyze that information in combination with existing zoning and land use maps.