The second module of 11.207/11.208, Introduction to Computers in Public Management, will consist of four days of lectures and laboratory exercises. There will be a single homework assignment. This course will acquaint you with additional computer-based methods that are becoming widely used in the planning world. Specifically, you will learn how to build and use databases (data input and output, querying, and relational database design) and create clear, factual maps from demographic data. We will teach these by means of numerous examples and hands-on experience. Through class discussions and guest lectures, we will also engage your thinking on the issues and competence involved in analyzing large volumes of tabular and geographic data to address real world planning questions or issues. You should work individually on the exercises and turn in the maps and lab assignments to the lab monitors. If we are short machines and some of you have to work in pairs, be sure that each of you spends some time controlling the mouse/keyboard while the group does the exercise! For the homework set, small-group discussion of the concepts and general procedures needed for the homework questions is okay (and encouraged). But each individual must turn in their own individual homework set based on 'hands-on' work that they did personally. Timely completion of the problem set is required to avoid any reduction in the homework set grade.
LECTURE 1: Introduction To 11.208 And Thematic Mapping
(8:30 - 10:00 AM)
Introduction to thematic mapping
Producing and printing thematic maps
Reading:
- Hutchinson and Daniel, Chapter 1: "Introducing ArcView" and Chapter 3: "Getting Started: Projects and Views."
- "Elements of the Map", Chapter 2 of How to Lie with Maps (M. Monmonier, 1991)
"Loosely Coupled PC Programs as a Framework for Spatial Analysis" (E. Bossard and H. Zhang, 1993)
LAB EXERCISE A
(10:00 - 11:30 AM)
Building and printing a simple map from database tables and boundary files
LECTURE 2: Crime Case Study and Elementary Database Management
(1:00 - 2:30 PM)
Case study in analytic mapping
Getting data into a database (data import, entry)
Simple queries on a database (selecting fields and records, simple aggregation)
Getting data out of the database (data export)
Reading:
- "Spatial Patterns of Property Crimes and Socio-Economic Characteristics" (J. Ferreira, 1986)
- "Data, Computers and Planners" (S. Lewis).
- "Database Management Tools for Planning" (J. Ferreira, 1990).
MSQuery Manual: Introduction and Excerpts
LAB EXERCISE B
(2:30 - 4:00 PM)
Essential database operations: data input, simple queries, output.
LECTURE 3: Making Sense Of The Census, Part I
(4:00 - 5:30 PM)
The 1990 Census of Population and Housing
Tools to extract census data
Using census data: normalization, comparisons over time
Reading:
- "Introduction to 1990 Census Products,"
"Census '90 Basics" (U.S. Census Bureau)
OPEN LAB TIME
(5:30 - 6:30 PM)
LECTURE 4: Introduction To Relational Databases, Part I
(8:30 - 10:00 AM)
Introduction to the relational model
Intermediate queries: aggregation functions (grouping), multi-table queries
Reading:
"Introducing SQL", Chapter 1, pp. 74-104, 124-137 of A Visual Introduction to SQL (Trimble and Chappell, 1989)
LAB EXERCISE C
(10:00 - 11:30 AM)
Build and run queries on survey data and urban management records
LECTURE 5: Making Sense Of The Census, Part II
(1:00 - 2:30 PM)
The 1990 Census of Population and Housing
Tools to extract census data
Using census data: normalization, comparisons over time
Reading:
Hutchinson and Daniel, Chapter 6: "Data Queries," and pp. 78-81 ("Joining Tables," "Joining vs. Link")
LAB EXERCISE D
(2:30 - 4:00 PM)
Extracting Census data from STF files
LECTURE 6: Principles Of Relational Databases, Part II
(4:00 - 5:30 PM)
Problem Set handed out prior day.
Elements of database design
The relational model of data including "One-to-many" relationships among data tables
Introduction to Structured Query Language (SQL)
OPEN LAB TIME
(5:30 - 6:30 PM)
LECTURE 7: Database Management In Planning
(8:30 - 10:00 AM)
An overview of planning uses of database management, both now and in the future.
Reading:
Chapter 7 in: High Technology and Low-Income Communities: Prospects for the Positive Use of Advanced Information Technology, Edited by Donald A. Schön, Bish Sanyal, and William J. Mitchell, MIT Press, 1998.
LAB EXERCISE E
(10:00 - 11:30 AM)
Lab session emphasizing Census data and applying the relational model
LECTURE 8: Preparing Effective Maps
(1:00 - 2:30 PM)
Tips on preparing maps that communicate accurately, clearly, and persuasively
Reading:
- Hutchinson and Daniel, Chapter 5: "Displaying Data."
- "Are Maps Sending Society in the Wrong Direction?" (D. Wood, 1993)
"Data Maps: Making Nonsense of the Census", Chapter 9 of How to Lie with Maps (M. Monmonier, 1991)
LAB EXERCISE F
(2:30 - 4:00 PM)
Enhancing the accuracy, clarity and persuasiveness of the map
OPEN LAB TIME
(4:00 - 6:30 PM)
LECTURE 9: Spatial Analysis And Internet Overview
(8:30 - 10:00 AM)
Introduction to Internet and GIS mapping resources
Web mapping resources
Reading:
"Geographic Information Systems for Local Planning" (J. Levine and J. Landis, 1989)
LAB EXERCISE G
(10:00 - 11:30 AM)
Integrating orthophotos with census data
DEMONSTRATION: Exhibition Of Planning Software And PSS Research
(12:00 -1:30 PM)
Demonstrations of software tools for mapping and spatial analysis
LECTURE 10: Course Summary
(2:00 - 3:00 PM)
Introduction to geographical information systems and course summary
(Refreshments will be served)
PANEL DISCUSSION
(3:00 - 5:00 PM)
Panel discussion with instructors and alumni/ae: How are databases, mapping and spatial analysis used in planning? What should planners know? Where to from here? Future directions.
Reading:
- "Be Data Literate--Know What to Know", Wall Street Journal (P.F. Drucker, 1992)
- "Beyond Geographic Information Systems: Computers and the Planning Professional" (B. Harris, 1989)
- "Informate the Enterprise: an Agenda for the 21st Century", National Forum (S. Zuboff, 1991)
