How Did Metro Boston Grow?2000-2010

11.521 – Spatial Database Management and Advanced GISFinal Presentation

Group Members: Amy Jacobi, Eric Schultheis, Nse Umoh, Rob Goodspeed, Samira Thomas

Prof. Joseph Ferreira

Presentation Outline

• Project Goals• Process• Methodology• Results• Conclusions

PROJECT GOALS

Project Goals

• Evaluate growth patterns in the metro-Boston between 2000 and 2010.

• Compare observed growth in the last decade with the MetroFuture scenarios: Let It Be and Winds of Change.

• Understand the effect of observed growth on greenhouse gas emissions by private vehicles.

PROCESS

Process Map

Land Use Polygons

(1999 & 2005)

Census Block Populations

‘Non-Residential’ Block Finder

Allocation ModelAllocation to 250m Grid

MetroFuture Scenarios (TAZs)

Results

Allocation to TAZ

Allocation to Residential Areas

Allocation to Sensible GeographiesInput Data Evaluating

Growth in metro-BostonAllocation to 25m

Grid

Geop

roce

ssin

g

VMT(205m Grid)

METHODOLOGY

Conflicting Topographies: An Example Area

Conflicting Topographies

Conflicting Topographies

The Grid(s)

Resolving Conflicts with the Grid (25m)

Allocation to Residential Areas

• Identify residential and institutional land uses.• Identify blocks that do not intersect residential land use

areas.• Land use allocation

– Sliver Finder• Integrate Census Blocks (2000, 2010) and residential land uses• Calculate areas, perimeter, and area/perimeter ratio• Eliminate features with areas less than 400 sqm and area/perimeter

ratio less than 1

– Population/housing unit allocation model (Access)• Paloc= P * (A + L) / 2• A = land use area % of total area of Block, L = land use area %

of residential area in Block

Model to Identify Block that do not Intersect with Residential Areas

Model to Allocate to Residential Areas

ArcGIS Models: Allocating to Residential Areas

Allocation to Residential Areas

• Merge allocated residential areas with ‘missed’ blocks forming an allocated areas polygon file.

• Calculate the number of 25m grid centroids that fall in each allocated areas polygon.

• Identify allocated areas polygons with no 25m grid centroids.

• Convert the allocated areas polygons to 25m grid celss.• Aggregate allocated 25m grid cells to 250m grid cells

(add in population missed by 25m grid method).• Aggregate allocated 25m grid cells to TAZs (add in

population missed by 25m grid method).

Allocation to Sensible Geographies

ArcGIS Models: Allocating to Sensible Geographies

Model to Merge Habitable Area and Populated Blocks with no Residential Area.

Model to Allocate to 25m Grid and then Aggregate to 250m Grid (due to resolution of 25m grid, metro-Boston area must be divided into 32

slivers and model run for each sliver )

Allocation to Sensible Geographies

Comparing 11.521 & MassGIS Allocations

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS