Using GIS to Connect Communities

Using GIS to Connect
Communities
Lea Hong, Hawaiian Islands
State Director

“The principal motif seems to be a mapping
of the Snake River Valley. The most
conspicuous line being the course of the
Snake River, and is readily recognizable and
quite accurate, compared to the Land Office
and other maps…~ E.T. Perkins Jr. to J.W.
Powell, 14 January 1897

The way we communicate is changing fast!!!

What we do
Founded in 1972, The Trust for Public Land is the leading
nonprofit working to conserve land for people. We protect the
places people care about and create close-to-home parks—
particularly in and near cities, where 80 percent of Americans
live.

Conservation Transactions
Small to Large (in acreage)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Leadership in GIS & Conservation Planning Applications
Geospatial Data
Translation
Geodesign
Frame Objectives &
Metrics into GIS-
Based Decision
Support
Tell Our Story
Track Progress
by Metrics
Taking Data Into
the Field

TPL Connecting Communities Through GIS
 Greenprinting
 Parkscore and Park Planning
 Climate Smart Cities

Providing services and support at all levels and
scale

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© Copyright 2004 The Trust for Public Land
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What is a Greenprint?
A Greenprint is a plan for meeting local and regional conservation priorities.
Community members collaborate to identify the types of land that best serve
their goals — and to create strategies for protecting those places with interested
landowners. The plan includes a detailed set of color-coded maps and action
strategies.

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1. A community conversation is held about priorities.

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2. Data is collected and translated into a GIS model. “Priority
maps” are created for each conservation value.

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…Priority maps are expressed in terms of conservation
value ranging from low to high (tan to red) across the
region.
Increase
Recreation
Protect
Cultural/Historic
Places
Protect
Water
Quality
Protect
Agricultural
Lands

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3. Criteria are weighted according to community goals
to create a composite map showing where values overlap.

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• Assign relative weightings that
reflect community or regional
values.
• Create alternative scenarios
by modifying relative
importance.
• Combine the building blocks
into a composite conservation
priority map.
50%
10%
10%
30%
Composite
Protect Cultural Places
Increase Recreation
Protect Natural Places
Protect Water Quality
3. Criteria are weighted
according to community goals.

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4. Maps are created that reflect community priorities.

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5. Stakeholders create a plan for realizing their Greenprint.

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The O‘ahu
Greenprint
Project
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Mission
PC: Tina Aiu

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The “Community Conversation”
• Island Leadership Team (steering committee)
• Questionnaires (in-person and online) (910)
• Civic meeting presentations
• SpeakOuts (12)
• Interviews (25)

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Demographics of Respondents: Residency
Place of Residence
Number of
Responses Percentage
O‘ahu 707 93%
State of Hawai‘i (other than O‘ahu) 28 4%
US Mainland 23 3%
US Territory 2 0%
Outside of USA 2 0%
Total number of Responses 762 100%
Development
Plan Area
Number of
Participants
% of
Participants
Population
(CY 2000)
% of Population
(2000 Census)
Central Oʻahu 95 13% 148,186 17%
East Honolulu 58 8% 46,735 5%
ʻEwa 40 6% 68,718 8%
Koʻolauloa 12 2% 14,546 2%
Koʻolaupoko 184 26% 17,999 13%
North Shore 16 2% 18,380 2%
Primary Urban
Center 271 38% 418,333 48%
Waiʻanae 31 4% 42,259 5%
TOTAL 707 876,156

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Demographics of Respondents:
Ethnicity and Gender
Ethnicity/Race
Number of
Responses Percentage
Native Hawaiian 296 26%
Other Pacific Islander 52 6%
Hispanic or Latino 55 5%
Native American 29 3%
White 335 30%
Black 17 2%
Asian 287 25%
Other 60 5%
Total number of respondents that
indicated ethnicity/race
812
Gender Number of Responses Percentage
Male 288 41%
Female 421 59%

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Protect Water Quality and Quantity
Protect Natural Habitats
Protect Agricultural Lands
Preserve Cultural and Historic Places
Protect Coastal Regions
Increase Recreation & Public Access Opportunities
Preserve & Enhance View Planes
Community Conservation Values

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Uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to make
informed, strategic decisions about land conservation
and resource protection priorities.
Translates regional values into objective metrics for
modeling conservation priorities across the landscape.
Mapping Approach

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Technical Advisory Team
Local expertise in Planning, GIS, Conservation, Water
issues, Climate, Cultural/Historic etc.
• Sam Aruch: Hawaii Conservation Alliance
• Nick Belluzzo: State Historic Preservation Division
• Craig Clouet: Hawaii Geographic Coordinating Council
• Chris Dacus: City of Honolulu Parks and Recreation
• Scott Derrickson: State Land Use Commission
• Patrick Grady: Pacific Island Climate Change Cooperative
• Rob O’Conner: NOAA
• Kamoa Quitevas: OHA
• Jared Underwood: Fish and Wildlife Service
• Barry Usagawa: Honolulu Board of Water Supply

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Protect Water Quality and Quantity
Protect Natural Habitats
Preserve Cultural and Historic Places
Protect Coastal Regions
Increase Recreation & Public Access Opportunities
Preserve & Enhance View Planes
Community Conservation Values

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• Protect prime and important agricultural lands
• Protect farmlands
• Protect lands to grow traditional Hawaiian crops
• Protect large scale agriculture for year-round local
consumption
• Protect open lands formerly used for sugar cane and
pineapple
• Identify traditional lo‘i and fishponds
• Identify agricultural water systems
• Identify lands zoned for agriculture

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Overall Maps
or Various
Combined
Value Maps
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Action Plan
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Action Plan (Highlights)
• Conserve
• Protect important, land, water and
resources as identified on the Greenprint
maps using voluntary land conservation
tools (e.g., purchase, conservation
easements, donations)
• Collaborate
• Empower partners to utilize the online portal and maps
• Raise Awareness
• Continue to conduct outreach to stakeholders and the public to
raise awareness of the Greenprint
• Raise Funds
• Seek out and maintain appropriate methods for financing open
space protection projects in the mapped priority areas

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Parks Provide
“Stacked” Benefits
Environment
• Green
Infrastructure
• Sustainability
• Resilience
Health
• Physical
• Mental
• Spiritual
• Air & Water
Quality
Beauty
• Public Art
• Creative
Placemaking
Economy
• Investment in
public land
• Real Estate
Values
Community
• Social networks
• Engagement

Rates park systems in the 75 largest U.S. cities
(Also provides obesity and other demographic statistics)

Potential “Optimized” New Parks –
Points created using TPL’s “Park Optimizer™” model
5 New Parks in these locations would serve approximately 33,988 new residents

10 million people live within a
10-minute walk of a park, garden or natural
area protected by
The Trust for Public Land

Our Climate Smart Cities
Initiative

Climate-Smart Cities
Connect
Absorb Protect
Cool

Helping Cities Create Urban Greenspace to Connect, Cool, Absorb, & Protect
Partnerships—
Linking Public, Private, and
Academic Leaders within
“Pilot Cities”
Applied Research—
How to Connect, Cool, Absorb,
& Protect Your City?
GIS Data and Decision Support—
Visualizing Climate Solutions and
Prioritizing Project Areas
Demonstration Projects—
Creating Model Greenspace
Designed for Climate Goals

Targeted Strategies for Vulnerable Populations
Research and
Engagement
Public-Facing Apps
GIS

Cool – Add Green to Cool Air by 5-22 Degrees

Finn Hill neighborhood to Google, Inc.
0.38% Mode
Shift
2.07% Mode
Shift Units
Days1 215 215 days of use/year
Average length of bicycle trips2 5.8 5.8 miles
Annual average daily traffic3 650 650 trips per day
Mode shift from driving to biking 0.0038 0.0207
Credit for activity centers near the project4 0.002 0.002
Annual Auto Trips Reduced 810.55 3172.33 trips/year
Annual Auto VMT Reduced 4701.19 18399.49 miles/year
Annual Emission Reductions 4280.09 16751.38 lbs CO2/year
CO2 saving per VMT reduced 0.91 0.91 lbs CO2/mile
Quantifying CO2 Benefits for Connect Solutions

Web-based Decision Support Brings It All Together
Data Library
Priority Modeing

Funding: Show Rationale for Projects w/ 1-Click Parcel Reports

Our Conservation GIS Technology is Being
Embraced Nationwide

Seattle Olympic Sculpture Park (before)

Seattle Olympic Sculpture Park (after)

BEFORE
P.S. 261

AFTER
P.S. 261

MAHALO! Lea Hong, Hawaiian Islands State Director, lea.hong@tpl.org

Using GIS to Connect Communities

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