November 25, 2003
By Tshepiso Mogotsi
NEED detailed information about the density of Joburg's inner city or the street routes around Soweto? This information, collected and processed by Johannesburg's Corporate Geographic Information System, is now available online.
Anyone needing data from Joburg's Corporate GIS, ranging from zoning demarcations to density profiles and parking requirements, can now log on here.
There had been enormous demand for public access to the council's data, says Corporate GIS head John Floyd. "For that reason we set up an Internet Mapping Site to satisfy the needs of our clients."
GIS is a computer technology that combines geographic data such as the locations of man-made and natural features on the earth's surface with types of information, like names or addresses to generate visual maps and reports.
GIS has a variety of uses, including:
- Planning developments like schools, libraries and hospitals;
- Deciding where to allow urban growth;
- Assess crime prevention strategies and planning where to build police stations; and
- Deciding on land use.
Besides supplying data that can be used by the council in making decisions affecting the city, the GIS information can be used by developers planning infrastructure and services, students studying architecture or urban planning, and ratepayers who need to know the zoning restrictions in their residential areas.
CGIS offers two types of data: raster data, which shows an image based on a grid of "pixels" such as in satellite or aerial photographs, and vector data, which is usually in the form of some sort of graph.
The Internet site has two levels of access: free access, which provides basic information and a subscription service, which offers more detailed information. The subscription site is still under construction and will be up and running early next year.
"Subscribers will pay a deposit via the ABSA credit card payment facility on the Internet and then access the GIS maps via the Internet Mapping Site," says Corporate GIS manager Chris Wray.
"Each time a standard GIS action is performed on the site, such as zooming in on a map or a query on the database, a small amount will be deduced from the user's account. If a map is printed the cost will be higher."
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