Jack Dangermond discussed his vision for GeoDesign as part of the Plenary of the ESRI User Conference. He related the tragedy of the rapid change of our planet, largely as a result of unguided and uncoordinated human activities. Jack asserted that we’re becoming more fragmented, depleted, polluted, eroded, extinct. We need a future that is purposely designed with conscious action.

GeoDesign is a systematic methodology for geographic planning and decision making that is connected with an interactive design process where we can design and get instant feedback of different planning scenarios. ESRI is creating tools that allow for the sketching of land use, with aligned impact evaluation of the sketch. The impacts are visible in a dashboard, with immediate feedback. The new tool was shown using Microsoft’s touch table for group planning as well as web-based tool for citizen feedback.

GeoDesign considers the geographic questions with a rapid adaptive process that was first outlined by Dr. Steinitz at Harvard. The methodology that is just beginning allows us to evaluate the consequences of change. While the tools have broad implications for the sustainability of our planet, they also can be applied to any geospatial application area with considerable impact.

Jack closed his thought on GeoDesign by aligning with vision with President Obama’s goal to integrate science much more deeply in our decision making. Information-based decision making that brings science into our processes is exactly what GeoDesign offers.

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