Schematic Mixed-Use Design

Objectives of the Project

The goal of this project is to propose and then digitize a schematic mixed-use development plan for the suitable areas you identified in the previous exercise. Keep in mind that the suitability model that we created is far short of what needs to happen in the real-world analysis. There are many factors that we did not take into account due to time restrictions. Real suitability models can take months and extensive resources. Each element of the model can significantly change the results and the feasibility of the proposed plan. Therefore, in reality, we cannot exclude any relevant factor without adverse consequences.

Figure #1

Defining Your Principles of Design

In this exercise, we adopt the principles of New Urbanism for our schematic design. You may find all these principles here in the official website of Congress for New Urbanism, or, ask Dr. Ellis for further information about this movement.

*** Please click on pictures to see enlarged versions. ***

Scales of Design within the Region: Metropolis, City, and Town

- Identifiable center and edges
- Strong link to agrarian hinterland and natural landscapes
- Development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edges of the metropolis
- Infill development within existing urban areas > Conserving environmental resources > reclaim marginal and abandoned area
- Organize the new development as neighborhoods and districts, and be integrate it with the existing urban pattern
- Respect historical patterns, precedents, and boundaries
- Support a regional economy that benefits people of all incomes
- Maximize access and mobility >> transit, pedestrian, and bicycle systems

Figure #2

Elements of Design within the Region: The Neighborhood, The District, and The Corridor

- Form identifiable areas
- strengthening the personal and civic bonds >> authentic community
- Planned transit >> organize metropolitan structure and revitalize urban centers
- Do not let highway corridors fragment the urban fabric
- Buildings within walking distance >> transit stops
- Activity centers within neighborhoods
- A hierarchy of parks

Figure #3

Elements of Design within the Neighborhood: The Block, The Street, and The Building

- Streets and public spaces >> places of shared use
- Buildings linked to their surroundings
- safety and security >> reinforce safe environments
- Respecting the pedestrian
- Forming public space
- Encouraging walking
- Respecting local climate, topography, history, and building practice
- Reinforcing community identity
- Clear sense of location
- Historic preservation

Figure #4

Summary of the Principles

Figure #5

Digitize Your Design in ArcMap

At this stage, you must have a loose sketch of your proposed plan (Figure # 6). The goal of this exercise is to practice digitizing your design using ArcMap. Scan your draft and save it in the same folder that your data for this assignment is stored. After you copy your scanned draft into your workplace, right-click on the folder and click on 'Refresh' to see your image (Figure # 7). Drag and drop your image to your map. You will receive the message "This raster data source does not have pyramids or contains insufficient pyramids. Pyramids allow for rapid display at varying resolutions". Click "yes" to continue. In your Table of Content, right-click on the layer you just dragged into your map and click "Zoom To Layer" (Figure #8).

Georeferencing Your Draft Design

At this step, we will overlay our draft drawing over the actual location of the study area. From Customize menu, activate Georeferencing tool. Then, click on Add Control Points and then choose your first point (Figure #9).

Figure #6 Figure #7

Figure #8

Figure #9

When you select your first control point, before you click on the real location of that point in your study area, right-click on your Study_Area layer and choose Zoom To Layer to see your actual area of interest. Now you can click on the point that is the equivalent for the point you previously chose from your drawing. Repeat the same process for your second point. Now, if you went through the procedure correctly, your drawing should cover most of your map. However, we still need to add control points to maintain accuracy. In order to see through your drawing, right-click on your layer and go to Layer Properties. From Display tab, set the layer transparency to 30 to 50.

Now you can see through your drawing to set other control points. Add at least one more control points. Your drawing now is ready for tracing and digitizing (Figure # 10).

Using the Editor Tool

In this step, you will create two sets of features; polygons and polylines. Polygons represent your neighborhoods and districts, and polylines represent your corridors and thoroughfares. You can get as detailed as you want. However, the aim of this assignment is to show you how these tools can be utilized. To start tracing your drawing, you first need to create the relevant feature classes. Right-click on your Home Geodatabase and create a new Feature Dataset. Name it DesignFeatures. Right-click on your new feature dataset and create two feature classes; one as Polygon and one as Line (Figure #11). Name them Neighborhoods and Corridors respectively and add them to your map. At this point there are no objects in your features. To add objects to your features, right-click on the feature in your Table Of Content and go to Edit Features and click "Start Editing." Keep in mind that your Editor tool should be activated (Figure #12).

Once your feature is in Edit mode, click on Create Features tool on the far right of the Edit tool panel. List of editable layers are going to show up under your Creature Feature panel on the right. At the bottom-right of the screen, you will see a set of Construction Tools. For this exercise, we will use Circle for neighborhoods demarcation (Figure #13).

Figure #10

Figure #11 Figure #12 Figure #13

Click on the center of each circle and drag the mouse to your desired radius. You should use your drawing layer as a guide. Keep in mind that you can edit any of the objects you created later. After you draw all the objects in your drawing, go to Editor tool and click on Save Edits. You must save your Edits manually. ArcMap will NOT automatically save your edits (Figure 14).

Now, change your Neighborhood layer symbology to see through the circles (Figure # 15). Now you can start tracing your corridors.

Figure #14

Figure #15

Repeat the same process for the Corridor layer, only this time choose Line as your Construction Tool. Trace your corridors and thoroughfares. At the end of each tracing, right-click on your drawing and click Finish Sketch or use F2 key (Figure #16). Change the layer symbology to see your tracing (Figure #17).

Figure #16 Figure #17

Now you can turn off your other layers to see your digitized version of your design (Figure #) . You can add further details as your design develops in different stages.

Figure #18

***Congratulations! You now know how to digitize your design in ArcMap!***

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