planologisch
-.A.. ~-': _ _ _ _ ...4ORIENTATED INFORMATION
SYSTEM
Jan van Est
Frans de Vroege
system
Jan van Est
Frans de Vroege
Delft,
september 1982
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PLANOLOGISCHtIC
STUDIECE 81 b 11ct
heek TU De 1 ftRESEARCH CENTRE FOR
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all. C 3031799 ... V f l l ' V Ç y , IN. DelftPaper presented at the Third Colloquium on Theoretical and Qantita-tive Geography.
Augsburg, 13th - 17th September, 1982.
Jan van Est Frans de Vroege
Planologisch Studiecentrum TNO P.O. Box 45
2600 AA Delft
Delft, September 1982 82/PS/314
Research Centre for Physical Planning TNO The Netherlands
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l. Introduction 1
2. The planning environment 3
3. Data sources and locational references 5 4. Data carrier for data processing 9 5. A spatial-orientated information system:
SALADIN 12
6. Some examples 19
1. Introduction
Planners and policy makers are increasingly faced with problems in spatial development and planning. Those problems are characterized by growing in-terrelationships between various sectors of society and bij development with i n sectors.
The more complexe structure of society and the new approach of process planning made it necess(lfY to gain insight in various aspects of the functio-ning of spatial systems. One needs instruments and tools to understand, to forecast and influence the structure and development processes of the sys-tem at hand.
The crucial element in research, planning and policy-making is the availa-bility of relevant data and information. Although information is the dri-ving force behind planning, the lack of relevant data as well as the lack of operation tools, leaves gaps between the information required and the data available. Due to different classifications, locational-reference, time-reference of data collection and organizational structures, it is hardly possible to provide the req~red information in a short period of time and at reasonable cost.
Various statistical offices are collecting data without coordination. In one region the same data will be collected at various levels of aggregatio~ for different zoning systems. Sometimes the data collection is performed from too narrow or too broad a point of view to be useful for a multipurpose infor-mation system. The independent sharing of responsibility of data collection and data structuring creates incomplete data bases and different figures for the same data items. The result is a 'datalogical' chaos, which explains the huge amounts of time and cost needed tó derive, if possible at all, the required information.
The application of computer techniques in planning and information supply has made a significant contribution to data processing, but also reveals the substantial gaps between the required information and the information supplied. Computeriied information systems have been designed to com-prise available data and some software programs (i.e. statistical and mathe-matical models) to process the data. Of ten, no distribution has been made between data as an information source and the carriers with which the data will be processed spatially. As it is the spatial dimension which appears to be the main factor hampering proper and systematic information supply, this aspect will be further examined.
In almost all cases data are spatially orientated, which means that data are linked to a locational reference. For instance a house can be identified by its address and population density by the number of people in a particular zone related to the area of that zone. Where spatial-orientated data. are used in an information system the spatial dimension has a multipurpose function. Two different locational references are needed, one for capturing the data (i.e. registration of the data source), and one for processing these data (i.e. the linkage to the data carrier). Both locational references have to be considered independently, but only in mutual combination can they pro-vide a useful and effective information system. The definition and applica-tion of the two locaapplica-tional references, that is the inclusion of the spatial dimension in the information system, is a prerequisite for a spatial-orien-tated il'1formation system.
In this paper the necessary conditions for a proper introduction of the spa-tial dimension will be further elaborated. In the second section the plan-ning environment and consequences thereof will be outlined. It turns out that the spatial dimension of data sources and information systems causes the bottle-neck.Therefore requirements to exchange information between all departments and differentlevels of the governmental hierarchy will be given. The spatial dimension of a spatial-orientated information system refers to two aspects, i.e. the locational reference of data sources to register data elements and the locational reference of data carriers to process data. The problems with the registration of data will be discussed in section three, while the aspects of a data carrier will be discussed in section four. In section five the framework of a spatially orientated information system will be outlined, This paper will be concluded with the presenta-tion of a few examples.
2. The planning environment
The structure of the spatial, physical environment is the result of auto-nomous developments and man's interventions. The continuous monitoring, guidance and management of physical planning is a task for the government, directed towards "the best-imagible mutal adaption of space, environment and society". Planning strategies are typically developed and modulated at three levels of authority: national, provincial and local. Although there are hierarchical relations, the lower levels are entrusted to develop their own policies but for the limitations set by a higher level policy.
At each level so-called facet and sector plans are made. Due to the com-plexity and pluriformity of the society, each department develops its own sectorplans:housing, tranportation, economics, energy, etc. These plans are aspects or profiles of the spatial system, which have to be integra-ted in the facet policies of physical planning.
Coordination of these plans, horizontally and vertically, is essential for appropriate policy making. Apart from the difficulties of administrative and political integ!~tion, limits are set by relevant and reliable informa-tion, required and supplied at each level of the governmental hierarchy, as well as by the different sectors within each level.
Planning processes are complex and multi"stage activities, which are more or less dependent on each other. Several planning processes have been de-veloped, see a.o. Van Doorn and Van Vught (1978), Lichfield (1975) and Chadwich (1966). Within each planning process different kinds of instru-ments and tools (i.e. models) are used to understand and to anticipate development processes. Those tools or models can be very simple or very com -plex, but their common purpose is to describe the problem at hand, and to generate, analyse and evaluate alternative plans (Lee, 1973). Regarding possible stages in planning processes, there are th ree key activities: des-cription, analysis and evaluation, which explicitly require structur~l
(data) information (Nijkamp, 1982).
For each of the activities data or information are needed.The specific in-formation needs may vary among the planning problems. However, the collec-tion and processing of data and informacollec-tion can be shown generally as in the following figure:
The scheme shows th at an information system for planning needs elementary data, which must be transformed to approperiate data input in order to serve in the modelling operation. This can be a simple or statistical descrip-tion of the planning problem concerned, or the applicadescrip-tion of a very com-plexe mathematical model to analyse alternative plans. The resulting out-put is only readable by the experts and should be translated in under-standable tables and thematic maps for planning officers and policy makers. From a methodological point of view the information system should be able to handle all kind of tool operations. The first and the last part of the pro-cess shown, are of interest in the context of this paper. Now, the most
im-portant question is how to introduce the spatial dimension in the two stages of an information system in order to satisfy the coördination con-dition. This refers to the storage of data with respect to data sources
and to the transformatión of the data involved to input data as well as to
3. Data sources and locational referencing
Relevant and reliable data and information are required for the necessary coordination at each level of the governmental hierarchy, and within the different sectors at each level. Therefore, it is an inevitable condition that the information concerned can be obtained from and supplied to others in such a way that it is adapted to those who need it. It follows that the data and information involved should be made useful for several pur-poses. In order to satisfy this versatility condition a 50 cal led "common
spatial-oriented language" (GOSOl) has been devised.
The interdependent relationships regarding data collection and information sullpy makes the acceptance of a GOSOl concept of importance as a great number of offices, collecting and processing data and supplying informa-tion, can only communicate with each other through a GOSOl-concept. Thus, it promotes better and greater supply of information for planning and policy purposes.
The acceptance of GOSOl implies that the locational references of a data element, applied at different spatial scale levels are related to each other. The data collection, which can be carried out at various scale levels and at different levels of aggregation, should be performed uni-formly from micro to macro scale level: a consistent data capturing.
along the "micro-macro data line". As an example it means that the number of inhabitants of a region - whatever the collection procedure - should be equal to enumeration of individual resident people in that region. Spatial - orientated data elernents, e.g. houses, alvlays have a locational reference, because they are connected to the earth's surface. It follows th at such an element is linked to a spatial unit, like addresses, zones, cities, regions, etc. For every spatially orientated data element, there is a basic spatial unit. It is defined as the unit of origin of the element concerned; that is the unit within which the element itself exist, the address for a house and the cadastral number for arealestate property. The basic spatial units are the micro levels of data elements. By aggr.e~
gation of these basic units higher scale levels can be defined, such as the number of working places in a region or the population of a country. A data file, containing numerous data elements at a particular spatial sca 1 e 1 eve 1, can be set up i n a number of ~Iays. Such a fi 1 e, however. wi 11 only fit in the GOSOl-concept. if it satisfies the necessary and suffi-cient condition, that, ultimately, a corresponding file can be derived
through enumeration of the micro data. The COSOL-concept is meant to
es-tablish a consistent and uniform micro-macro data line.
The functioning of a data file in an information system is through the
storage of those data, as far as the locational reference is concerned.
Limitations at the commencement of a data file cannot be removed later, they
will effect the quality and therefore the usefulness of an information
system.
It is a misunderstanding tó think th at an information system can be based
on data at any particular and desired spatial scale, without taking into
account the aggregation as well as the colletion procedure of those data.
On the contrary, it can easily being argued that spatial-orientated
informa-tion systems should always be data-based, originating from the micro level,
in order to be able to disaggregate the data, if necessary.
The argument is based on three reasons. Firstly,it can be stated that if a
higher scale level is to be preferred, the micro data, e.g. a housing stock
file, has to be assigned to a new zoning system. If the data are assigned
otherwise,inconsistencies will result. With the new zoning system an
infor-mation system is obtained which might use data, fr om say postcodes or
neigh-bourhoods or grids, or other zones. However the choice of a particular
zo-ning system, as a base for an information system, limits, the flexibility of that system.
Homogeneous zoning systems are always subject to alterations, due to changes
in the spatial and physical structure. The flexibility condition is there-fore very important, because data for a slightly different zoning system
can hardly be derived within reasonable cost. Once a particular zoning
sys-tem has been chosen, particularly in the case of administrative zoning
sys-tems, the point of no retrun has been reached and the information system
involved has only limited use.
The only way out of the dilemma of scale levels is to choose for a particu-lar scale level with COSOL-data files. Also the argument of a grid-system
as an independent spatial structure system is not a solution. Whatever the
width of the meshes are it is always an aggregation in itself and moreover,
the spatial structure within the meshes is lost!
Secondly, the aggregation to a higher spatial scale level automatically
cov-ers a number of micro relationships. The aggregation of households and houses
surpasses the relationship of particular types of households residing in
•
in the 1971 Census in the Netherlands. In this case also the application of COSOL-files could have provided a solution.
Thirdly, the communication between information systems is hampered, because of difficulties in exchanging information between different zoning systems. Only if one zoning system is a subset of another, can the larger benefit from the smaller one. However, different zoning systems for the same region are normally characterized by overlapping zones. It follows th at exchange of communication can only be achieved by going back to the information source itself: the micro level.
In the Netherlands very of ten the postcode, neighbourhoods (i.e., CBS-zo-ning division) and grids (500 meter squares) are used as basic spatial units of information systems. National government is interested in an ex-change of communication between these zoning systems. As it has been ar-Fig. 1. The elements and structure of the geographic base register
of addresses. GRID
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ROOD L---I.=-_ _ --+---J POSTCODE----~/
AREA /gued th at a direct exchange procedure is not possible, a file has been set up to assign all the zones involved to all known addresses. So far, the ad-dresses of the housing stock have been dealt with. The remaining work con-cerning business addresses is in preparation.
The assignment was prepared without a computer and was therefore expensive in terms of time and money, because no data carrier was available for doing most of the work. Here, a distinction should be drawn between data source and data carrier. In the case of an application of a grid system or CBS-zoning division, the mesh of the grids or CBS-zones are functioning as a data carrier instead of a data source. All intrinsic characteristics of the microdata are thereby lost. To take advantage of the mentioned distri-bution, modern geocoding methods, now available, can be applied to simplify the task and thus lighten the burden.
In conclusion: information systems, designed for particular purposes, can make use of any particular spatially scaled data level, as long as the data structure fits within the COSOL-concept. To create a communication exchange system for occuring zoning systems frequently is only helpful if it is based on the micro level of the data. This implies that, in order to save time and money, modern geocoding methods should be applied in general and data carriers should be used in particular. It is, then, possible to satisfy the needs for data collection and information supply, that is for horizontal and vertical coordination. This principle lies at the root of a spatial-orientated information system.
4. Data carriers for data processing
In the previous section the use of locational references of data sources has been explained. It was concluded that application of the COSOL-con-cept along the micro-macro line is a necessary and sufficient condition for horizontal and vertical éoordination with respect to data collection as well as information supply. However, the satisfaction of this condi -tion does not amount tb a spatial-orientated informa-tion system. The intro -duction of the spatial dimension requires an extra condition.
The locational reference of a data element, e.g. the address of a house, states only where that house might be situated. Although not exactly from a mathematical point of view - there is nothing mentioned about coordinate referencing - it indicates an absolute location. "Absolute location" is men-tioned here, to show the contrast bet~leen relative locational reference by means of topological relations. Without other and extra information it is not possible to state th at two different addresses belong to the same (building) block.
The address only indicates th at there is a particular location, but for a map of the region involved th at location can never be found. In other words, the locational reference of data elements is not a sufficient con-dition to enlighten the spatial structure. This is a crucial statement, because that is exactly the task of the spatial-orientated information system. There are a number of spatially referenced questions to deal with. Amongst others they relate to the distribution of public facilities, acces-sibility measures, catchment areas for schools, shopping centres and hos-pitals, inventories about particular characteristics for urban renuwal areas, census tracks, traffic zones, locational planning zones, etc. For clarification two examples will be refered t~. Firstly, the problem of "making up an inventory about the number of houses with particular sani-tary facilities, the areal distribution of the houses and the facilities concerned. Which households are residing in these houses"? Secondly, the question about "what are the catchment areas of bus stops of a particular busline and how can energy be saved by increasing the di stance between bus stops without decreasing accessibil ity to the busl ine"?
To deal with spatial referenced questions requires the availability and detailed knwoledge of a topographical map as well as the socio-economic data involved. Computerized data files alone do not give information about a mar. This implies that a topographical map, i.e. the spatial structure,
is independent from the data files involved and should therefore be incor-porated in the information system. It means that an extra and special 10-cational reference is required to describe the structure of a map. There are geocoding methods to identify spatial locations through points, lines or segments, and polygons. Points are used as locational reference for objects, e.g. addresses, road accidents and centroids of zones. Seg-ments are used for representation of (geographical) networks, such as road networks and boundaries of zones. The polygo.ns are then used to identify the contours of zoning systems, very of ten described through closed seg-ment chains.
The potential use of segments to describe zonal subdivisons is important. Practically all administrative zoning systems are defined by using segments. However, the problem is that those existing zonal subdivisions of ten faiT to satisfy the requirements and information needs of researchers, planners and policy makers. This problem is solved if all segments have been absor-bed in the information system, so that a new and arbitrary zonal subdivi-sion can be "defined and automatically derived. Apparently, the segments play an important role, as they are used for describing the spatial struc-ture, i.e. a map, as well as flexible zonal divisions.
The problem is that the three geocoding aspects have always been used in-dependently. Information systems were designed on point orientated data files (e.g. the address) without taking into account the spatial structure (e.g. the map). However, the geocoding aspects are not independent of each other; they are geographically and structurely related. An address is situ-ated along the side of astreet, which could lie in one or more zonal dis-tricts. This is a situation, from a geocoding point of view, whereby a point reference belongs to a particular side of a segment, which in turn lies within a polygon.
The location of a point may now be identified by means of the relation-ship between points and segments. From a methodological point of view, this implies that the points, as it were, are suspended from the segments. Through this relationship data of the information source and the spatial structure are actually connected; the segments now function as information carriers.
The introduction of information carriers offers a number of advantages. From an administrative point of view, the registration of places, objects and events, it is now possible to locate data and information along a side
of a segment. For instance, addresses, car parks, or road accidents can be spatially located. From a data processing point of view it is now pos-sible to put the segments to work, which means th at laborious efforts, probably taking several man-months, can be reduces to a few hours of work. It is the simultaneous actions, of the various data sources and the infor-mation carriers which results in an inforinfor-mation system which is really spatially orientated.
5. A spatial-orientated information system
5.1. Ib~_fr~~~~Qr~
The concepts of information (system) and data (file) are of ten used.
Usually they are considered as synonyms, which is not correct. Infor
-mation is based on or derived from certain data. Therefore informa-·
tion has to be seen as an end product for which data are the basic
mate-rials. Data are being collected and stored in data files. This is not
an end in itself, because these data schould be processed in some way.
A collection of data for its own sake leads to the so-called data bank
syridrome.
A data file is nothing more than a collection of an amount of features
of objects and/or subjects arranged in a certain way. For an informa-tion system the arrangement must be so that the data file can be
proces-sed in such a way that the required information can be derived from
thi s fil e.
In the previous section it has been explained th at the data is the
source of the information but it is not an information system by
it-self. The address or the 1 ocati on descri pti on can not be i denti fi ed spatially without a map or a plan. The external information of the spa-tial structure has to be included in the system explicitly. A spaspa-tial- spatial-orientated information system can only be developed by integration of both the (topographic) map as well as the information source.
A spatial-orientated information system is an information system based on the simultaneous action of various information sources and the
informa-tion carrier. The revoluinforma-tionary idea of such a system is that toe inde-·
pendence and thus the features and characteristics of the individual data can be maintained, because data processing is carried out by means of segments. As aresult, the speed of data processing is increased and the numbers of possibilities for spatial analyses and applications will be enlarged; the segmented geographic base file will function as a
survey file and as a geographical key 50 th at mutal tuning,
consen-sus and transferability of data and information becomes possible and
Fig. 2. A representation and registration of the spatial system (elements, activities) in a spatial-orientated information
system. (Souree: DATUM).
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o ti ~ rt ... o ;:IA spatial-orientated information system is composed of a combination of two subsystems. On the one hand the registration of spatial activi-ties or facts like a housing file and on the other hand the represen-tation of reality (the map or plan); see figure 2. The represenrepresen-tation of reality is being characterized by all kinds of structures which are based ·on the network relations of the segments. In the information system four structures can be destinguished:
a. street structure, in which the street plan is being represented and in which streetnames can be enlisted (see figure 3);
b. mapping structure, showing node points of the segments, including co-ordinates to make cartographic representation possible as well as cartographic processing;
c. road-network, in which technical characteristics of the segments are assembled;
d. relational structure, in which the relationships between the seg-ments and spatial entities, like quarter and district subdivisions, are established.
Fig. 3. The spatial structure on the micro-level: the street plan.
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These four structures together form a segmented geographical base file in which the structure of the spatial system is enclosed. This struc-ture is represented in a schematic way in figure 4.
Fig. 4. The spatial structure in schematic form.
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hh
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hh
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hh
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segment with land-use0
segment with nodes60
node numbel" h-
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blaak numbel" w shopsThe encoding of the network is based on the encoding of the segments according to the two-sided line method (see: van Est and Smit, 1980). A representation of this principle, the DIME-method (US Bureau of the Census, 1976) is shown in figure 5.
Fig. 5. Representation of a segment with geographic characteristics on the two-sided line method.
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218
55
32
137.
MainstreetI
1197
25
From node 137
To node 128
Co-ordinates from node X137 ' Y137
Co-ordinates to node x128, Y128
Road name Mainstreet
Type of road residental
Left hand b 1 ock 32
Addresses on the left side 218-282 Right hand block
Addresses on right side
Left hand zone Right hand zone Code for streetwidth
25 197-231 55 55 4
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streetFrom figure 5 it appears th at beside zonal numbers also a classification for the streetwidth is recorded. By means of this code a distinction in kinds of segments like highways, waterways, railways and so on is possi-ble, but moreover a distinction in the types of individual roads has now been made. Because of the interest in a more realistic representation of a schematic network, this code has been entered in the base file.
m
this way other attributes can be added directly or indirectly by means of a reference key.As information carrier a segmented geographic base file enables a data file (for instance a housing file) to be attached to the segments and as aresult to be compared, and 'linked to other data. Thus all data can be
processed until the required information is obtained. Several ap-plication programs are desired to execute the data processing. The basic idea of a spatial-orientated information system was developed in the United States of America (the DI ME-concept) and by now it is applied in many countries. The main features of these many applications are that they are all based on the idea of the segmented geographic base file and these coun-tries developed their own application programs. In the Nether-lands, moves towards the application of spatial-orientated infor-mation systems have now started. From the point of view of the Dutch Research Centre for Physical Planning there is. enough reason to pay attention to these problems. Af ter the setting up and testing of a segmented geographic base file for the municipality of Eindhoven and the inner area of Amsterdam, various applications we re developed. In doing so, use was made of programs from Sweden (NIMS), England (TRAMS) and the United States (DIME) as well as self-designed programs. By selec-ting the relevant parts from alle packeges; and wh ere necessary, adjusting them to the situation in The Netherlands there now are several software packages for various applications, capable of extension for further applications.
Using these programs, the Research Centre has developed its own spatial-orientated information system: SALADIN (~patial ~nalysis and ~utomatic Qata processing information system). So far, special attention has been given to the registration of address and semi-address orientated data elements and on the execution of thematic mapping.
There are networks of international contacts for exchanging in-formation, software and experience. The Research Centre partici-pates in these contacts. Interest was shown in the facilities of the Dutch SALADIN-system, especially the programs of the double line system, with which thematic maps are executed, in which the streetwidth is used for a better presentation of the spatial structure. This double line system will now be applied at the Transportation Road Research Laboratory in England, the Mersey Stde County (L iverpool) and the Bureau of Statistics in Canada.
The development of the SALADIN-system has been supported by central government in The Netherlands.
The system is available for all governmental agencies, free of charges other than maintenance charges. Further developments are directed to-wards implementation of programs on:
- registration, processing and mapping of data related to energy-release locations;
- registration, processing and mapping of data related to public transport, particularly to bus lines and bus stops;
6. Some examples
In the previous section, it was explained th at the segmented geographic base file, or gbf, is the base upon which the infor-mation system has been built. Such files have been created for the municipality of Eindhoven and the inner part of Amsterdam. The creation of a so cal led gbf for Eindhoven was based on the situation in 1971. Af ter updating the 1980 situation a test-area was selected, a part of which is presented in figure 6. All intersections, or nodes, are provided with numbers and coor-dinates, so that cartographic processing is possible. This num-bering of the intersections is not unique: exchange with any other system of numbering is simple and can be executed automati-cally. Wh en a road classification is added, the structure of an area can be better discerned. In this test four classes were used for the roads and three classes for other infrastructural elements like railways, waterways and boundaries,. The creation of the gbf for Amsterdam was also based on the situation fn 1980, 50 that no
updating was necessary. The Jordaan-district was chosen as the test area for Amsterdam.
6.2. ~_~~ÇQ~9_g~~~r~~iQ~_~~~~~~_fQr_~b~_r~gi~~r~~iQ~_Qf_rQ~9:~ççi9~~~~ i~_~b~_~~~b~r!~~9~
The road-network is an important element within the spatial and phy-skal environment. For policies in this field, elaborate and accurate in-formation is needed. One of the desired aspects of that inin-formation concerns road safety. The occurence of an accident is being conside-red as a negative result of the traffic and transportation system. The increase in road safety is focused on prevention of these acci-dents, c.q. decrease of the seriousness of these accidents. Through the registration, collection processing and analyses of data on road accidents, information on road safety can be obtained.
This information leads to:
1. insight in road safety developments in the past, 2. an explanation of the causes of these developments,
o 2SOm
Segmenten blad 16 Eindhoven :It
Sektor IRIS PSC/TnO
fig. 7. Road accidens on intersections, manoeuvres description.
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••••• AANTAL ONGEVALLEN OP K~UISPUNT 973 IS Z ••••• 1)
.•...•...•...•...•..•...
• R~G~R:qo\\~a VOR~R:173\40 2)
GEr.EVEN~ OV~R DE 8ETRO~KEN OBJEKTEtj EN P~RSONEH :
9ETROKKE~E \ RIJDEND VOE~TUIG VA~ KNPT 9,q VIA 973 NAAR 972 3)
6ETROKKE~E 2 ~IJDEND VOE~TUIG VA~ KNPT 986 VIA 97] NAA~ .'4
---• REr.N~:qqI2~? VORNR:\7]2JO
GEGEV~NS ov~~ DE ijET~OK~EN ORJEKTEN E~ PERSONEN :
qETRO~KENE 1 RIJDEND VOE~TUIG VAN KNPT 986 VIA 973 NAAR .72
9ETROKKE~~ 2 RIJDENO vOE~TUIG VAN KNPT 974 VIA 913 NAAR ~86
---1) Number of accidents on intersection '973' is '2'
2) lnformation about objects and persons involved
3) lnvolved element 'I': running vehicle from node '986' via '973' t~· '972'.
N
3. a measure of the effectiveness of measures to increase the road safety,
4. insight in the possible developments of road safety in the future.
Road accidents are recorded by local and state police on registra
-tion forms which are uniform throughout the country. Since 1975 the Department of Registration on Road Accidents (VOR) takes care of the central processing. An evaluation has shown the apparent need for a second generation registration system.
The research cent re carried out a test of a new system which is based on a segmented geographic base file developed for the city of Eindho-ven. The spatially orientated information system is capab1e of solving the problems of the recent location and manoeuvre description. The system produces pin or flagmarked maps automatically. Besides, as a computerized tool, it provides information regarding site-selection and statistical analyses, linking accidents data with other data sources and mapping facilities for the benefit of research and analy-sis.
Af ter processing the encoding, an accidents-file has been built up from which information can be obtained. This information can be pro-duced on a plot and/or tabular form.
Figure 7 shows a possible listing of accidents data; this type of listing is also suitable for publication purposes. In addition to the listing, the accidents can be represented graphically by means of so-called pin maps. Figure 8 gives an example, on this map hun-dred and twenty accidents are plotted. The locations of the accidents are indicated by arrows. If an accident occured on a certain side of the road, an arrow is placed on that particular side. In case of accidents at intersections, the arrow is placed in the corner of the intersection where the accident occured. In case of several accidents on one intersection this concept is abandoned; the arrow is th en placed in any corner and is provided with a digit for the total number of accidents. By windowing, a more detailed map of the intersection can be óbtained.
Further classification on a pin/or flag-marked map can be made with colours, or different symbols like stars, squares, circles and other
- 22 -in STRAT~t-i h t occured _ f accidents t a t'on 0 Representa 1 Fig. 8. f Eindhoven). (city~o _ o
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Kaarlblad t6 C1;eC\o,. IAIS PSC/lnoAccidents l.n . "Eindhoven
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symbols. For instance, in figure 8 head-on collisions are indicated with a circle and other accidents with a star.
The result of the test was that the Department of Registration on Road Accidents (VOR) made a second generation registration system based on the mentioned concept, which could be used as a base for a
Cen-tral Road Accidents Registration, Information and Management System.
For further examination of particular data, it is of importance that these data, relating to certain zones, can be obtained according to
various criteria. On the one hand, several attributes of these data
are important, while on the other hand the zonal subdivision (the spatial dimension) has to be discerned. The zonal subdivision can
refer to an arbitrary region, a quarter, a catchment area, a route
and so on. A distinction in permanent administrative and arbitrary
functional zoning systems can be made. Permanent zones, suth as
quar-ters and district divisions, are of frequent occurrence and are gene-rally known, thus it is convenient to include them in the base file. The segments were previous'ly allocated to these zones. For an appli-cation to a zone, the segments need only to be grouped accordingly. For arbitrary subdivisions, like catchment areas, the user himself can define the division. The system will look then for the segments concerned and will execute the relevant grouping. The computerpro-gram is now much more complex; by specification of the boundaries of zones by means of street names, or segments, the area concerned can be identified. Af ter a test on completeness of the zoning system, the inner segments are searched for and the applicatiQn is then exe-cuted. In this way a particular district may be selected. 8y linking the data and segment file, particular attributes can be selected for this specific zone. An example of such an application is presented in figure 9. For information on particular routes the same procedure can be applied.
The route application can also be used for public transport. In figure
10 a thematic mapping of a particular busline, including bus stops is
shown. Apart from this representation, the efficiency and equity pro-blems of public transport operations can be analysed with the
spatial-classification. () X) dl:?lfst~ffeî!wir.;:r.U ( () X) 'r.'Juslrie ( S 1 X) crc,!:<LJare. nLJtsDl'rJr;jve.:: ( () X) bou.ijn'j'Je.rhe.,CJ ( 23 X)
toar.rJe.l, h~le.l- en ~e.sLaLJri'Jmwe.ze.n ( 88 X)
lrê=Jnsc\..!"(- en :;P~"lë=Jgbl~rJriJve;: ( 2 X)
bdnl(- e'l
ve.rze.ke~'nrJsweze::
( 12 X)'/'fI
c\".ler~fJe rJl(::?;!stve:'le~:n'J t S X) ~/ cr:bl~ken,J l 21 B X)
2S0m
Fig. 12. Representation of fire brigade alarms.
~ ____________________ ~I 2SCm
SeL lor 'n's PC;CjT'lO ,21/07'82
*
Br::q'l~En ( 47 '<)+
C;E,r1UCHTEr: ( 9 X) Y ~ULP\..IE:r:1Lf::n·n(; ( bilorientated information system.
In Amsterdam some test were carried out in the Jordaan district. Data files for fire-alarms and business, including commercial loca-tions were avaible. Some cross-secloca-tions were examined. In this exam-ple only thematic maps of the fire alarms and places of business are represented; see figure 11 and 12 respectively.
From the business data file, figure for employment can be derived. For every side of astreet the number of full-time and part-time
wor-kers are counted. The result is represented in figure 13.
Fig. 13. The number of working people, full-time and part-time, at each side of thé street.
7. Literature references 1. Chadwick, G.F.
2. Chadwick, G.F.
3. Van Est, J.
4. Van Est, J. en L. Smit
5. Van Est, en F. de Vroege
6. Lee, C.
7. U.S. Bureau of the Census
8. Nijkamp, P.
28
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Journalof the Town Planning Institute, 1966.
A method for regional planning.
University of Manchester, Dept. of Town and Country Planning, Manchester, 1969.
Data-informatie systemen en geocoding.
Stedebouw en Volkshuisvesting, no. 1, 1975.
Geocoding, de ruimtelijke dimensie van een informatie systeem voor VRO. PSC-TNO, nr. 80/PS/51, Delft 1980. Het kader van een ruimtelijk georiënteerd informatie systeem.
Het jaarverslag 1980, PSC-TNO, Delft, 1981.
Models in Planning.
Pergamon Press, New Vork, 1973. Census Use Study; the Dime geocoding system. Report no. 4.
Washington, U.S. 1970.
Information Systems for Multiregional Planning.
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July 1976, 16 p.
2. VOOGD, J. H.
Concordance analysis; some alternative approaches. July 1976, 18 p.
3. VOOGD, J.H.
Decisionmaking and multifunctionale regional problems;
towards a zonal evaluation method for purposes of regional planning. July 1976, 29 p.
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CADSS: concentration and deconcentration simultation study; a spatial model for policy, design and research,
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by A.S. TRAVIS.
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A comparison of optimization methods for ordinal geometrie sealing
procedures; with a geographical perception analysis of the regional living attractiveness in the Netherlands, November 1978, 55 p. .
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Main trends in migration in the Netherlands; memorandum concelning
the main trends in volume, direction and eomposition of migralion
streams in the Netherlands in the sixties and the beginning Ol the seventies, October 1978, 42 p.
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The use of multidimensional sealing in evaluation procedures; rneth o-dology and application to an industrial location problem.
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Least-squares procedures for a multiplicative spatial distribution
model, November 1978, 38 p. 15. AYODEJI, O.
Some fundamental issues about modelling in regional and urban planning.
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16. ALBERTS, W.
The wind and town planning: a study of the relation of wind effects around buildings to town design.
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Interaction modelling under fuzzy circumstances. July 1979, 30 p.
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Developments concerning the regional plan. (Dutch language).
January 1980, 24 p.
19. OP 'T VELD, A.G.G., and H.J.P. TIMMER/lANS
Temporal changes in the retailing component of the Dutch Urban
System a Markov approach. February 1980, 29 p.
21. DIELEMAN, F. and A.G.G. OP 'T VELD
Quantitative methods in Dutch Geography and Urban and Regional planning in the seventies: Geographical Curriculla and Methods Applies in the
"Spatial Sciences". August 1981, 42 p.
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The spatial dimension of an information system for the MVRO.
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