Summer 2021
Friday June 11 & June 18
9-11am

Many of the factors influencing commercial spaces in NYC are spatial: during the pandemic retail corridors in business districts are struggling more than those adjacent to residential neighborhoods; new open streets have not been evenly distributed; prior to the pandemic, e-commerce distribution sites are rented in locations that have been carefully calibrated to optimize delivery efficiencies.

This GIS workshop will provide a preliminary introduction to geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial methods for analyzing and designing urban spaces. Methods will be introduced as we examine the current conditions, and speculate on the futures of commercial spaces in New York City through publicly available data. Maps and geographic analysis are key tools for interpreting the built and social characteristics of cities– highly relevant for understanding commercial spaces today. Thoughtful uses of spatial data expose invisible patterns, and can change the way we see and engage with our world. However, maps are never just representations, they are always active in shaping the worlds they describe. With this in mind, the workshop will introduce approaches to gathering, visualizing, and interpreting spatial data as a starting point in the design process.

Students will interrogate the shifting landscape of commercial spaces in NYC through spatial data about demographic characteristics, social factors, and the physical environment. Students will learn GIS fundamentals through developing an in-depth site analysis drawing of a particular retail corridor or example of a commercial type (commissary kitchen, drive through restaurant, distribution warehouse). In a second workshop students will learn to access open data relevant to their chosen site or type of retail and will explore urban scale patterns in multiple variables (land use type, ownership, sidewalk permits, American Community Survey demographic data).

Prerequisites

Please complete both sets of prerequisite steps prior to our first session on 6/11. You will not be able to participate fully in the workshop if you have not completed both steps.

Download QGIS 3.16, the long term release (LTR)

  1. Navigate to this page
  2. Download and install the appropriate version for your operating system

Data downloads (budget sufficient time for this step as you will be downloading ~3GB of data)

  1. download the datasets available here
  2. unzip the compressed file
  3. save the data folder within the directory you plan to use for this workshop

Workshop 01

Step-by-step tutorial for workshop 1 is available here

Workshop 02

Step-by-step tutorial for workshop 2 is available here

Resources

  • All slides used, group exercises, and session recordings are available here

  • Visual References and general project references for many different types of mapping projects

Strategies for troubleshooting & email policy

Learning how to troubleshoot technical issues and locate relevant resources is crucial in your long-term success with GIS methods. With this in mind emails with technical questions must at a minimum contain the following:

  • a clear description of what you are trying to do, and what the problem is
  • a summary of the steps you have already taken to address the issue
  • screenshots (where applicable) that help to explain the problem
  • a link to at least one website you consulted for assistance with the issue before writing the email.The QGIS docs is a good starting place as is GIS Stack Exchange.

For troubleshooting, a good first step if something isn’t working how you expect it to: save your work, then quit and relaunch QGIS.