The author of this course owes thanks and credit to Bill Miller, former director of Geodesign Services at Esri, for his excellent summary of the history of geodesign. Miller’s historical summary is presented below, with minor modifications and additions made by the author of this course (Geodesign Wiki, Miller, 2017).
The main idea underlying the concept of geodesign, namely that our surroundings condition what and how we design, has been with us since the beginning of time. One could argue that our ability to design—to respond to and adapt to our surroundings/environment to make our lives more comfortable—is what makes us human.
Design influenced by geography has been going on for thousands of years. Ancient Arab cities were designed with narrow streets positioned to take advantage of the movement of the summer sun for maximum shade and natural cooling from prevailing winds. Likewise, proximity to natural resources and trade routes determined where the city was built (McElvaney, 2012).
Deciding where to locate a tribal settlement, choosing materials to use to construct shelters, developing a strategy for hunting wild animals, deciding where to plant crops, or laying out the plans for defending a settlement from intruders are all early geodesign related activities. That is, the successful design of each of these aspects of tribal life depends on 1) having adequate knowledge of the relevant geographic conditions and 2) the ability to work with those conditions by respecting constraints and taking advantage of opportunities presented by those conditions (Miller, 2017).
The corollary is also true, that what and how we design has the power to condition or change the context of our surroundings. In fact, any design-related activity that depends on, or in some way changes, the context of our surroundings can be considered geodesign.
In summary, geodesign as we will learn about in this course, is a new way of framing an old idea. Advances in science and information technology that were not available until recently give power to this old idea, presenting an unprecedented opportunity to design with nature. Jack Dangermond, the founder and president of Esri, poignantly stated, “I believe that designing with nature, or geodesign, is our next evolutionary step.”
Let’s look at a few examples in history to understand where we have been, how we got to where we are today, and where we are headed in the future.