There were numerous operations
that I performed on the data before I decided on the location of the new
recreation centre. Each step brought me closer to an understanding
of the layout and the demographics of Port Moody. Many of the operations
which were performed on the data were repetitive, only the data being operated
on changed. To cut down on repetition of steps I have broken the
steps down into the following categories: queries, transform, digitizing,
buffering, data input, intersection and distance analysis.
Data Input
Using the
1991 census data collected from the research and development lab as well
as from the library I entered extra data into the tables of the census
tract shape files. The information that was entered was the total
population of the area, area of the population in square kilometres, number
of people between the ages of 10-19 and 65+, number of people whose income
is <$12 000 and those whose income is =>$50 000.
Queries
The first step to the analysis
of the project was to query the lower mainland census data in the Avdata
file so that all information displayed would be from the City of Port Moody.
The municipality shape file and the census tract shape file were the main
shape files that were in use.
The major roads were queried
out by name through my own knowledge of the area. This will allow
the access to all areas of Port Moody to be visually seen and understood.
Using the "Bus and Skytrain
Timetable" I queried the road names that corresponded with the bus routes
in Port Moody. Once selected the features were placed into their
own theme. This allows for the viewer to see the extent of public
transportation in Port Moody.
I also queried each census
area for the number of people in high and low income brackets that I arbitrarily
set up. For each of these I created separate theme coverages.
Intersection
The lower mainland street
network shape file was too broad for this project. The table connected
to the file did not give the roads a municipality location. Due to
this, a query to cut the roads which belonged in Port Moody could not be
done. To create a theme which contained only the Port Moody roads
I intersected the municipality shape file and the street network shape
file. My output was only the roads in Port Moody.
I repeated the last step
for the roads that were within the three census tracts.
Once I had narrowed my
potential site area down to one census tract, the roads in Port Moody once
more had to be reduced. I intersected the Port Moody roads shape
file and the one census tract creating a theme that contained only the
roads which were found within that census tract.
This last step also had
to be repeated for the bus route shape files and the major road shape file
to create themes that only contained the information needed in the census
tract.
Transform
Before I could query out
the roads in Port Moody, the street network shape file needed to be imported
into ArcInfo to make it accessible in ArcView. The transform command
had to be used to change the projection from geographic projection into
UTM projection so that the other shape files from the census file could
be overlaid on it.
Digitizing
Overlaying the street
network shape file and the census tract shape file I used the map provided
in the "City Guide 99" to digitize the existing recreation centres and
parks creating different themes for each.
I also digitized the location
of the new recreation centre.
Both sets of digitizing
were done through ArcView.
Buffering
One of the requirements
that I set for the placement of the recreation centre is that it had to
be located close to a bus route. I buffered the bus routes using
Geoprocessing Wizard. Assuming that one city block is approximately
100 metres long I set the first buffer for that distance. This would
be the ideal location for the recreation centre. I then set a buffer
at 200 metres as a secondary location site.
Distance
Using the Spatial Analysis
extension I created an analysis of the distance between current park and
recreation locations for the municipality of Port Moody. This would
help to place the new recreation centre in an area that was not too close
to the others.
I repeated this analysis
on the parks and recreation centres in the census tract that was chosen
for the new location.
Once the new location
was decided on I did an analysis for the municipality on all the parks
and recreation centres including the new one. This was to show how
effective the placement was.
Method Problems
As this was my first time
using ArcView for anything other then a layout, I had quite a bit of learning
to do as I progressed through my project. One of the major obstacles
that I faced was a lack of knowledge. After spending as much time
as I did on this project I feel as though I could write a book on the major
problems with ArcView and how to fix them.
Creating this web site
was also a major problem as I feel that I did not have enough background
using it to create a layout that would have complement my project better.
A lack of resources was
also a hindrance when it came to making my project as real and exact as
I would have liked. Data was available on a large scale instead of
the small scale that I wished to use.
For many of my spatial
analysis I created arbitrary numbers. When interviewing the city
official I was hoping for concrete numbers and decision making factors.
Due to the small size of Port Moody the city planners use more abstract
numbers and decision making factors.
Had I been given the chance
to begin my project over again I would have chosen a subject that had a
larger amount of data available. I may have chosen a larger city
or a more general topic for my analysis. Overall I am content with
my project and there is not much that I would wish to change. No
matter what project I was to choose there would be numerous problems that
I would encounter, that is the nature of the beast.
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Conceptual
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