Community and Regional
Planning Program
The University of Texas at Austin School
of Architecture
Experimental Project: Perception of Neighborhood Boundaries in ArcView
(original research project done by Jim Regan-Vienop, CRP, UT Austin)
ArcView Tips Table of Contents
This page shows 4 of the stages of a research project to create a
"qualitative" GIS database of neighborhood boundary perception. The
examples used here come from the Old West Austin neighborhood, Austin, Texas.
This project was originally completed for several Austin neighborhoods
by Jim Regan-Vienop in 1997 in the Community and Regional Planning Program,
UT Austin. Screen images from ArcView illustrate the process.
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Stage 1
Based on interviews and map sketches done in a meeting with 18 neighborhood
residents, Jim digitized each resident's perception of the boundaries of
Old West Austin. The result is a polygon theme for each resident.
ArcView screen image of vector data
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Stage 2
Each of these polygon themes were then rasterized.
ArcView screen image of rasterized
data
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Stage 3
Each raster grid was then reclassified to show a value of 1 if a cell
is inside a resident's percieved neighborhood boundary, and 0 is outside
that boundary.
ArcView screen image of one reclassified
grid theme
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Stage 4
All 18 reclassified grids were added together (using Spatial Analyst's
Map Calculator command) to create one composite
grid showing values ranging from 1-18. The higher value cells show
where there was the most agreement that the area represented was part of
the Old West Austin neighborhood. The visual image gives a "fuzzy" picture
of the neighborhood core and margins.
ArcView screen image of the composite grid
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11October 1998
The School of Architecture at
UT Austin
Comments to: Barbara Parmenter
