Carl Steinitz, professor emeritus in landscape architecture and planning and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design first described a framework for geodesign by asking a series of six questions. The first three questions are intended to assess and describe the existing condition of the study area. These are the assessment portion of the study. The last three questions are intended to describe the study area as it could be—evaluating design alternatives and their impacts to arrive at a an informed design solution. This is the intervention portion of the study.
These six questions are asked three times; in three iterations, to gather and refine information about the study area (iteration 1), define methods or strategies for solving a problem (iteration 2), and finally perform the study and implement a preferred solution (iteration 3). Steinitz refers to these six questions as “models”, which describe the overall planning process.
While this may seem like a linear process, Steinitz emphasizes that it never is. The team will undoubtedly encounter setbacks, stumble upon new information, and respond to stakeholder feedback that will require looping back through portions of the framework to incorporate new knowledge.
Chapter 3 of A Framework for Geodesign summarizes the questions and iterations of the framework. It is important that you read this chapter thoroughly to gain a solid understanding of the framework’s overall purpose.
Steinitz summerized his framework at the 2013 ESRI Geodesign Summit. In this case, the application of the framework was intended to be a model for educational programs. However most of the lecture is focused on the fundemental organization and rationale for the geodesign process. Please watch to hear the explanation from the creator of the framework himself: https://youtu.be/COw1GyS1g3k
Without further ado, let’s take a deep dive into the first iteration models. The models, or questions, of the first iteration are aimed at understanding the context (think elements, interconnections, and function) of the study area (system). For clarity, the geoprocessing and design steps associated with each model are listed in parentheses next to each model heading.