portfolio
Master of City and Regional PlanningCornell University
GIS + Urban Planning2011- 2015
CHRISTINE MA
ABOUT Christine
Christine is a self-motivated urban planner and GIS ana-lyst. With over four years of experience using GIS in the field of urban design and planning, she has focused pri-marily on gaining insights and identifying solutions using spatial analysis, network analysis, geoprocessing, geocod-ing, and other ArcGIS tools.
An expert communicator, Christine has a proven ability to visualize data and present it in an understandable way that keeps citizens and stakeholders engaged. She views GIS as a vehicle for public conversation in urban planning.
Christine holds a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University.
1. network analysis
The most important aspect for fire
de- partments and emergency services
is response time.
GIS analysis of the response statistical
data provides the ability to create
service areas, calculate fire station
service vol- umes, examine attributes,
and visualize the data.
The findings of this project illustrate 4
minute service areas and the service
vol- umes for each fire station by using
vari- ous network analysis methods.
Analyzing 2012-2015 confirmed fire
data alongside census block group data
illus- trates areas of concern by using
hot spot analysis and other
Geoprocessing tools.
City of Minneapolis Fire Stations Service
Analysis
Project
City of Minneapolis Fire Stations Service Analysis
Key words
Nerwork Anlaysis, Emergency Response TIme, Service Area, Location
Allocation, Hot Spot Analysis
My Role
Independent Work
Project Scope
City of Minneapolis
Datasets
- Streets
- Fire Stations
- Fire Stations Service Area
- Census Block Groups
- Parks
- Water Bodies
- City Limit
Tools Used
- Service Area Analysis
- Location Allocation
- Spatial Analysis tools
- Spatial Statistic tools
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9
8
7
6
5
4
2
1
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
17
18
19
Parks
Water bodies
Streets
City Limit
Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp., NRCAN, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand), MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
Minneapolis Fire Station Service Analysis
Legend
'4 Fire Stations
Fire Department Districts
FacilityID
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
±0 0.3750.75 1.5 2.25
Miles
3
Coordinate System: NAD 1983 UTM Zone 15N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1983
Figure 1:
Current Fire Station Service Zones
Mapper: Christine Ma
Date: 08/27/2015
The City of Minneapolis Fire Department has about 414
firefighters assigned to 19 stations located throughout the
city. Each station responds to calls within its own response
area illustrated in the map on the left.
This map of the City of Minneapolis identifies the
current city streets, current fire station locations (red point
sym- bols), and the current fire station service areas.
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9
8
6
5
4
3
2
1
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp., NRCAN, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand), MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
Minneapolis Fire Station Service Analysis
Legend
'4 Fire Stations
4mins Service Areas
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
4mins Service Gap
Streets
Parks
Water bodies
City Limit
±0 0.3750.75 1.5 2.25 3
Miles
Coordinate System: NAD 1983 UTM Zone 15N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1983
Figure 2:
4-Minute Service Area and Gaps
Mapper: Christine Ma
Date: 08/27/2015
This map uses Service Area Anlaysis within Network
Anlaysis. It identifies the 4 minutes service areas based on
City Street Dataset. As we can see, these 4 minute service
areas mostly confirms the exisitng fire station zones.
A field was added within the Street Dataset to calculate a
drive-time cost attribute in ArcGIS Network Analyst:
[Leng th_Field_Mete rs] / 1609 * 60 / [Spee d_Field_MPH]
There are two major gap areas, however, that do not meet
the 4 minute criteria, indicated by the orange striped zones.
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7
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9
8
6
5
4
3
2
1
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp., NRCAN, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand), MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
Minneapolis Fire Station Service Analysis
Legend
'4 Fire Stations
City Limit
Parks
Water bodies
Streets
±0 0.3750.75 1.5 2.25 3
Miles
Coordinate System: NAD 1983 UTM Zone 15N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1983
FacilityID Responding Fires
1 38
2 38
3 40
4 58
5 106
6 57
7 90
8 51
9 30
10 33
11 39
12 48
13 40
14 62
15 53
16 20
17 47
18 20
19 128
Figure 3:
Confirmed Fire Location Allocation
Mapper: Christine Ma
Date: 08/27/2015
This map was made with Location Allocation Analysis
within Network Anlaysis. It illustrates service volumes for
each of the 19 fire stations based on their locations, 1000
confirmed fire incidents in 2013 and city street dataset.
As we can see from the table, several fire stations have far
more fire incidents within their service zone than
average,
e.g. stations 5, 7 and 19. Some stations have much fewer
incidents than average, such as stations 16 and 18.
Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp., NRCAN, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand), MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
Minneapolis Fire Station Service Analysis
Legend
2012-2015 Fire Incidents Density
0 - 5
6 - 25
26 - 50
51 - 75
76 - 90
91 - 120
Streets
City Limit
±0 0.3750.75 1.5 2.25
Miles
3
Coordinate System: NAD 1983 UTM Zone 15N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1983
Figure 4:
2012-2015 Fire Incident Density
This map uses Point Density tool to analyze the density
of 2012-2015 confirmed fire incidents density in City
of Minneapolis.
Mapper: Christine Ma
Date: 08/27/2015
Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp., NRCAN, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand), MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
Minneapolis Fire Station Service Analysis
Legend
Fires by census blockgroup
Number
1 - 5
6 - 10
11 - 15
16 - 25
26 - 45
Streets
City Limit
±0 0.3750.75 1.5 2.25 3
Miles
Coordinate System: NAD 1983 UTM Zone 15N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1983
Figure 5:
2012-2015 Fire Incidents by Census
Blockgroups
Mapper: Christine Ma
Date: 08/27/2015
This map uses the Spatial Join tool to join data of con-
firmed fires from 2012- 2015 and census blockgroups. A
new feature class is created with joined attributes of
num- bers of fire incidents by census blockgroups. It
illustrates the concentration of fire incidents.
Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp., NRCAN, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand), MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
Minneapolis Fire Station Service Analysis
Legend
Hot Spot
Cold Spot - 99% Confidence
Cold Spot - 95% Confidence
Cold Spot - 90% Confidence
Not Significant
Hot Spot - 90% Confidence
Hot Spot - 95% Confidence
Hot Spot - 99% Confidence
Streets
City Limit
±0 0.3750.75 1.5 2.25 3
Miles
Coordinate System: NAD 1983 UTM Zone 15N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1983
Figure 6:
2012-2015 Fire Incidents
Hot Spot Anlaysis
This map uses the Hot Spot analysis tool to analyze
the hot spots and cold spots of the fire indicents
based on census blockgroups.
Mapper: Christine Ma
Date: 08/27/2015
2. weighted overlay
Green stormwater infrastructure includes
a range of soil-water-plant systems that
intercept stormwater, infiltrate a portion
of it into the ground, evaporate a
portion of it into the air, and in some
cases re- lease a portion of it slowly back
into the sewer system.
To determine the suitability of GSI site,
a wighted overlay map was generated by
creating and overlaying raster analyses. A
model outlines the process of running
this site suitability study.
This study is a general analysis with limit-
ed criteria. We can begin to target suitable
locations for further investigation based
on additional information specific to each
measurement.
Ithaca Green Stormwater Infrastructure Site Suitability
Project
Ithaca Green Stormwater Infrastructure Site Suitability
Key words
Reclassify, Weighted overlay
My Role
Independent Work
Project Scope
City and Town of Ithaca
Datasets
- Tompkins County Municipal boundary
- Watershed
- Land use
- Ithaca DEM
Tools Used
- Slope
- Polygon to Raster
- Reclassify
- Weighted Overlay
Elevation to Slope
GSI site Preferences
Digital Elevation ModelLegend
Town of Ithaca
City of Ithaca
DEM
ValueHigh : 534.5
Low : 116.4
±Coordinate System:
NAD 1927 UTM Zone 18N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1927
Author: Christine Ma
0 0.5 1 2 3 4Miles
Slope Suitability
Legend
Town of Ithaca
City of Ithaca
Ithacaslope
<VALUE>
1 Flat
2
3
4
5 Steep
±Coordinate System:
NAD 1927 UTM Zone 18N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1927
Author: Christine Ma
0 0.5 1 2 3 4Miles
- Best Slope is 7% or less- Close to watershed- Prefered land use: Recreation, Pulic, Institutional
Land Use
Slope Slope Grid
Euclidean Distance
Hydro
Euclidean Dist
Output
direction raster
Reclassify (2)Dist to hydro
ReclassWeighted Overlay
GSI Site
Suitability
P
Hydrology
Elevation DEM Reclassify slope_rcl
GSI Suitability Model
Hydrological Proximity Suitability
Legend
Town of Ithaca
City of Ithaca
Hydrology Proximity
<VALUE>
5 Furthest
4
3
2
1 Closest
±
0 0.5 1 2 3 4Miles
Coordinate System:NAD 1927 UTM Zone 18N
Projection: Transverse Mercator Datum: North American 1927
Author: Christine Ma
Land Use Suitability
Legend
Town of Ithaca
City of Ithaca
Land Use
General
Agriculture
Barren or Disturbed
Commercial
Inactive Agriculture
Industrial, Transpo
Public/Institutional
Recreation
Residential
Vegetative Cover
Water
Wetlands
±Coordinate System:
NAD 1927 UTM Zone 18N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1927
Author: Christine Ma
0 0.5 1 2 3 4Miles
General GSI Site Suitability
Legend
Town of Ithaca
City of Ithaca
Suitability
Value
1 Most Suitable
2
3
4 Least Suitable
±
0 0.5 1 2 3 4Miles
Coordinate System:
NAD 1927 UTM Zone 18N
Projection: Transverse Mercator
Datum: North American 1927
Author: Christine Ma
Application and Reflection:
Different weighting of the criteria has a large in-
fluence on the final suitability map. More research
on GSI and its site allocation prefernces need to
be done to determine a more effiicent model.
The skills and concepts learned in this exercise
could be applied to a multitude of similar
prob- lems within the field of site suitable
analysis.
Beyond determining GSI site suitability, this type
of analysis could also be used to determine best
locations for habitat suitability, new affordable
housing project. GIS and suitability analysis can
be used in numerous fields and applications.
3. georeferencing
“Georeferencing” is the term used for
allocating spatial reference information
to a data set.
There are a great deal of historic maps
and images available in formats that can-
not be immediately integrated with other
GIS data. In these cases, I explored Geo-
referencing Tool in ArcGIS to compare
the past and the present.
Georeferenced Historic New York City
Project
Georeferenced Historic New York City
Key words
Raster Image, Georeferencing, GIS
My Role
Independent Work
Project Scope
New York City
Datasets
- NYC Street.shp
- Upper Manhattan 1920.jpg
- Manhattan and Bronx 1916.jpg
- Lower Manhatan and Brooklyn 1840.jpg
Time
09/2015
Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp.,NRCAN, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand),MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
Georeferenced New York City
±0 0.5 1 2 3 4
Miles
Author: Christine Ma
Date: 9/2/2015
This map contains three georeferenced maps of New
York City from 1840, 1916, and 1920.
3. georeferencing
This project focuses on the
sustainable adaptive reuse of
HemisFair Park, the 1968 World’s Fair
site in San Antonio, Texas.
Ever since the success of the World’s
Fair, the city of San Antonio has
consid- ered multiple redevelopment
plans for the park, however many of the
historical structures from the event have
remained
vacant and underused. Today, these struc-
tures are recognized as buildings with
historical significance and will be retained
on site.
Our project provides recommendations
for how HemisFair Park can be redevel-
oped and how these historical buildings
can be sustainably adapted to suit the
needs of the city today while
maintaining their historical significance
as part of a former World’s Fair site.
Georeferenced Hemisfair 1968 in San Antonio
Project
Georeferenced Hemisfair 1968 in San Antonio
Key words
Raster Image, Georeferencing, GIS
My Role
Team Lead
Project Scope
Hemisfair Park, San Antonio
Datasets
- Buildings.shp
- Street.shp
- Hemisfair 1968.tiff
- Hemisfair Park Future Plan.jpg
Tools used
Georeferening toolbar, Edit toolbar
Time
09/2014- 12/2014
Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, Earthstar Geographics,CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, AerogMride,tIeGrNs, IGP,
swisstopo, and the GIS User Community
Georeferenced Hemisfair 1968 Site
±0 37.5 75 150 225 300
This map georeferenced a scanned site map from the of-
ficial Hemisfair 1968 brochure. Then this map was digi-
talized to show the buildings, open space, water and other
features of the site as it existed in 1968. The digitalized
land use map was then used to compare with current
land use to discover patterns and learn from the past.
Digitalized Hemisfair 1968 Site Plan
- Land Use Comparison
1968 Land Use
Current Land Use
b. Pedestrian to Vehicular SpacesVehicular area has increased significantly from 2.7% in 1968 to 16.76% today. Due to the increase
in the vehicular areas in the site, this has caused a decrease in the amount of land dedicated to
pedestrian use, reducing the ratio of designated pedestrian areas from 40% in 1968 to 15% current-
ly. With the increase in vehicular spaces and roads designed for cars, a shift can be seen from an
emphasis on a pedestrian oriented park during the Fair to a more vehicular oriented environment,
in which most of the pedestrian spaces are replaced by parking lots and roads suitable for auto-
mobile transport.
c. Fewer Water Features
Water spaces also comprised about 6% in the site during the Fair. However, all the water
features have been replaced by either pathways or vehicular roads today. One water
space that exist today is part of the river in the river walk in the northern area of the park.
Comparison Matrixa. Similar Buildings RatioThe ratio for buildings are similar between the past and the present site, at 31% and 36% respec-
tively. Although it can be seen from the two maps that some of the buildings have been kept,
tiny buildings that occupied the western part of the park during the Fair have been replaced by
parking in the current cite.
Georeferenced Hemisfair, 1968 and the future
- Aerial View: Past, Present and Future
The images above show the georeferenced aerial views of the site
during the Fair, the park today, and the georeferenced future proposed
site by the Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation. The fu-
ture site plan is one of the many proposed redesign plans for the park.
The future plan proposes an expansion of the convention center to the
east and converting the western portion to create space for a civic park.
This idea is from the master plan in 2004, showing the phase 2
planning process in “Hemisfair Civic Park Vision and Program Plan”.
Proposed Future Plan
4. GIS in Urban Design
This set of projects ues Geogrphic In-
formation System to inform design
decisions by providing data and tools that
help designer to better understand and
visualize the changing environment.
Grown Ithaca:
Ithaca Gun Site Redevelopment
Project
Ithaca Gun Site Brownfield Redevelopment
Key words
Nerwork Anlaysis, Emergency Response TIme, Service Area, Location
Allocation, Hot Spot Analysis
My Role
Independent Work
Project Scope
Ithaca Gun Site
Datasets
- Streets.shp
- Buildings.shp
- Parcels.shp
- DEM
Time
09/2014- 12/2014
SITE ANALYSIS
- The growth of start-ups and the available funding in Ithaca coupled with the lack of a strong support network for the start-up lifestyle.- The vibrant fine arts scene without very many venues hosting theater and performing arts- The enthusiasm for local and organic food but only one existing community garden in the city of Ithaca- A foodies’ city in the truest sense, but with a site at the center of a 15-minute-walking-radius food desert- The town of trails, vistas, and gorges, but with views obscured and trails disconnected by the site
Theater ArtFood
Start-UP Recreation
SYSTEM SITE PLAN
SECTIONS
4. GIS in Urban Design
This geodesign project overlays transpo-
ration, land use, and landscape datasets
to build a framework to understand local
ecological and economic development.
Ecological Framework
- Natural System accommodating Economic Development
Project
Mentougou District Design and Comprehensive Plan
Key words
Geodesign, Economic Development
My Role
Project Manager
Project Scope
Mentougou District, Beijing
Datasets
- Streets.shp
- Buildings.shp
- Tree inventory.shp
- DEM
Time
12/2010- 09/2011
Context
The Ecological business island is
surrounded by water and it is close
to nature.
Accessibility
The Ecological business island has
great access to convenient traffic and
it can be reached on foot.
Function
The Ecological business island was ori-
ented by the city’s major functions.
Development
The Ecological business island holds the
life of citizens with full vigor.
Ecological Business Island
My Vision
There are many elements to consider to set up frameworks
for development: Economy, Ecology, Transportation and
Culture, etc.
In this project, I studied the landscape systems and struc-
tures that interact with economic development using GIS
and illustration tools to better understand and visualize
the future of Mentougou.
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