Geob 372- Introduction to Cartography

Lab 7: Proportional Symbol Maps

Cities of India: Perceptual Scaling

Cities of India: Absolute Scaling

Lab 6: Choropleth Maps

Potential Business Areas in Vancouver

Lab 5: Map Projections

Ontario vs Germany: Size Comparison

Lab 4: Map Scale, Spatial Reference Systems, Position Determination

Lab 3: Lettering

Map of British Columbia

Lab 2: Point, Line, and Area Symbols

Map of Canada

Lab 1: Introduction to Adobe Illustrator

In Lab 1, we were introduced to Adobe Illustrator and was tasked to draw a tourist map of downtown Vancouver. I used Adobe Illustrator while using a reference of downtown Vancouver from Google Maps. Through this introduction, I have learned to use all the properties of Adobe Illustrator to develop a concise map and developed an effective map of Downtown Vancouver with some common tourist areas.

Downtown Vancouver Tourist Map

 

My Map: Where do Syrian Refugees Go Map?

 

Geob 372- Introduction to Cartography

Geob 270- Introduction to Geographic Information Science

Having a strong interest in Geography, it was important for me to learn the GIS skills which would be useful for my job in the future. GIS has taught me valuable skills such as data collection, organization, map creation, and an overall analytical display of information that allow me to exhibit my results and findings. One of my proudest highlights was integrating all my knowledge from lab 1 to lab 5 and apply it on my group project when creating the map.

In our project, we decided to provide new locations on where to build a new safehouse for drug users in Vancouver, British Columbia. Due to constraints (lack of data on overdose locations), we determined income and marginalized communities (including First Nation communities and minority groups) as the two most relevant factors for involvements with illegal drugs, hence increasing association and likelihood of drug overdoses. Furthermore, we chose our locations based on being within a 500m radius of a healthcare facility and at least 500m away from any educational institutions. From our results we chose three suitable sites, Site A to Site C where Site A being the most suitable out of the three. Our goal was to provide a new safehouse to help protect this vulnerable population from spreading diseases, and dying due to overdose as safehouses can act as a lifeline for these. However, we do not hope for safe houses to become the sole solution to this growing epidemic.

In terms of project management, I have organized our team and distributed the different tasks, and made sure that the work was divided up evenly. Furthermore, I have provided my insight and guidance throughout the whole group project. I have learned a lot about the ways in city of Vancouver are managing the drug situation in Vancouver as there are already two safehouses which are Insite (the first legal supervised drug injection site in North America) and Powell Street Gateway, and there are many drug support groups in Vancouver which are free of charge. Overall, I was pleased that I developed a better understanding on how a developed city such as Vancouver is taking different approaches towards drug issues such as providing supervised injection sites.

Doing this project taught me some interesting GIS analysis techniques, such as doing weighted sum analysis where I sum up the three data layers (income, minority groups and First nations, which all had a rank of 1 to 5 where 5 is the most suitable for our project) to obtain a spatial layer where there are scores ranging from 3 (minimum score which was the least suitable) to 15 (maximum score which was the most suitable). This project also led me to build better teamwork skills, as well as more efficient project management approaches and techniques, such as using Google docs where I can provide my points and my teammate would help me correct and improve my sentences, instead of everyone coming up with points all at once. One of the issues we faced was to decide on which factors we should use for our analysis which significantly slowed down the first stage of our group project in data acquisition and creating the map, hence, we decided to choose our factors based on what data we could acquire from the internet through UBC Network such as CHASS Data Center, DataBC and UBC Department of Geography etc. Since there is a dearth of data regarding specific location of opioid overdoses in the Vancouver area due to privacy restrictions, we had to find other factors that are relevant in predicting where overdoses can potentially occur. “Other factors” can be a range of variables from age, gender, ethnicity, family life, support networks, income and much more. Overall, we are confident in our findings and analysis of our project, we believe that our project is exceptional as it provided new suitable locations for a new safehouse for drug users which is quite controversial as safehouses are still a highly controversial topic and could potentially create a negative stigma for a certain area. However, our findings provide a platform or guidance in which Vancouver could make a structural adjustment to help improve the quality of life for these individuals.

Our Final Project Report: Geob270 Report

Our Map: Potential Supervised Injection Sites for Vancouver

 

Lab 4

Manipulated Visual Outcomes of housing affordability by using various data classification methods to show the ethical implications of each data classification methods in maps.

Lab 5

Acquired, examined and analysed data to conduct an environmental impact assessment within the proposed ski hill area to determine the severity of impact that the ski resort project would have on that area.

 

Memo: Environmental Assessment of Garibaldi at Squamish Project

The Garilbaldi year-round mountain resort is set to be constructed in Garibaldi at Squamish. As a resource planner, I have created an environmental impact assessment to provide information on potential effects on vegetation and fish and wildlife habitat, and provide a series of recommendations to prevent or reduce any significant environmental, social, economic, heritage and health effects in proposed project area.

Firstly, I assessed the elevation in which the actual snow cover would be available to the ski resort, where areas below 600m would not potentially have enough snow to support the Ski Resort. In my results, 32% of the land were under 600m in elevation which meant that 68% of the project area elevation were above 600m. Therefore, it was economically viable for the proposed Garibaldi Ski Resort to be constructed and operated.

Next, I accessed the sustainability and the environmental risk of the Garibaldi Ski Resort. I had to examine the data where all the ecosystem species that existed in the project boundary area, the TEM (terrestrial ecosystem mapping), Old growth forest, ungulate habitats, red-listed species and fish bearing streams; which I created a map that would identify and locate the protected areas and at risk of the Ski Resort. These were the resulting area percentages of total project area that would be impacted by the construction of the Ski Resort:

• 8% of old growth forest
• 9% of ungulate habitats
• 8% of red-listed species
• 4% of fish bearing/ riparian areas around streams

Adding up together, these percentages sum up a total wildlife area of 67.9%. However, the total project protected area is 53.7% which is smaller than the total wildlife area of 67.9%. Hence, this meant that the protected area are not large enough to ensure the safety of all the ecosystem in the proposed project total area. This shows an environmental risk in which the surrounding ecosystem that are not part of the proposed project area might be negatively affected and potential environmental damage.

The two greatest environmental concerns are: 1) the unpredictable impacts that the project could potentially damage the environment, as the total wildlife area is more than half of the project area hence causing more harm to that area then benefits. 2) The loss of old growth forest will drive some species to extinction as some species may only thrive in old growth forest conditions, and removal of tree/vegetation support may increase the risk of landslides hence more cost would need to be allocated to landslide mitigation measures. The best way to mitigate all environmental impacts which is to not construct the resort in the project area and to just leave current environment as it is, that way, there will be no damage to endangered species, fish bearing areas, ungulate habitats and old growth forests.

Personal Take on the Garibaldi at Squamish Project proposal

When working on environmental projects, sometimes an individual has to become involved in proposals that they do not ethically believe in. I think the project should not be allowed to continue because of the evident data showing that the ecosystems are potentially at risk to environmental due to impacts that the project may caused. I have voiced these concerns in my memo as well.

Hillshade of Garilbaldi at Squamish

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Garibaldi at Squamish Environmental Assessment

In this lab, I learned how to create a Housing Affordability Map  to compare Vancouver and Ottawa.

Quantitative Data Classification 

Vancouver Housing Cost: Continuous Data Classification Methods

Here I was given a question on which classification method would I choose and why if I were a Journalist or a Real Estate agent. As a Journalist, I would choose Manual Breaks classification method because it helps visualize which areas are the most and least expensive in terms of cost classification or break values that are round, even and is easily understandable by the general audience. As a real estate agent, I would choose the equal interval classification method because it helps visualize that the cost of housing is even across Vancouver with only a few dark tracts. Which helps prospective home buyers think that they are getting a good deal especially in the UBC neighborhood as it is known for its good location and reputation. The ethical implications is that any group or individual can use any classification method that showcases to their audience on what they want them to see in a way that suit their motives. In the case of the real estate agent, the buyer does not visually see how much UBC properties deviate from the standard, as these properties are more expensive than most of Vancouver.

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Housing Affordability

Housing Affordability: Ottawa and Vancouver

Affordability measures the ratio of median income to housing costs, which is a better indicator of housing affordability than housing cost alone because it factors into account the ability of the buyer to purchase a home of a certain with their given income.

The 11th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey determined the following housing affordability ratings as: 3.0 and under as Affordable, 3.1 to 4.0 as Moderately Unaffordable, 4.1 to 5.0 as Seriously Unaffordable and 5.1 & over as Severely Unaffordable. The purpose of this ratings is to monitor the rates of affordability and to alert policy makers regarding the decreasing of affordability in cities. This rating system can be trusted  as it covers 378 metropolitan markets in nine countries and it is recommended by the United Nations and major World Banks for assessing affordability.

Affordability is not a good indicator of a city’s livability because it does not factor in employment availability, poverty rates, and access to quality healthcare and education. In order to determine the livability of a city, these factors as well as others must be included with housing affordability so proper livability assessment can be made.

 

 

Percentage of City of Vancouver’s Total Area that is Affected by a Potential Tsunami

16% of the city of Vancouver would be in danger if there is a tsunami hits. To calculate this, I found the areas of ‘Vancouver_Danger’ and ‘Vancouvermask’ layers by going to their attribute tables respectively. Thus, I calculated the geometry of the area in square meters.

Total danger area of Vancouver =20302078.291704 meters – Summing up the category of ‘Sum of Danger Area in m²’ from table above

Total area of Vancouver =131033339.950334 meters – Going to the attribute table of ‘Vancouvermask’ layer in ArcMap

Percentage of the city of Vancouver total area affected by potential tsunami= (20302078.291704/ 131033339.950334) x 100%= 15.49383% ~ 16%

Education and Healthcare Facilities that are Affected by a Potential Tsunami

In order to find these facilities, I used Intersect tool in ArcToolBox, going to Analysis Tools > Overlay > Intersect. Then, I combine the  ‘Vancouver_Danger’ layer with the ‘Vancouver_health’ and ‘Vancouver_education’ layer separately. Then, I opened the Attribute tables of the two newly intersected layers to see the names of the healthcare and education facilities that could be affected by a potential Tsunami. Here are the list of the education and healthcare facilities within the Vancouver Danger Zone:

Education facilities within the Vancouver Danger Zone:

1. ST ANTHONY OF PADUAECOLE ROSE DES VENTS
2. HERITAGE 3R’S SCHOOL
3. VANCOUVER MONTESSORI SCHOOL
4. FALSE CREEK ELEMENTARY
5. EMILY CARR INSTITUTE OF ART & DESIGN (ECIAD)
6. HENRY HUDSON ELEMENTARY
7. ST JOHN’S INTERNATIONAL
8. ST FRANCIS XAVIER
9. INSTITUTE OF INDIGENOUS GOVERNMENT (IIG)

Healthcare facilities within the Vancouver Danger Zone:

1. FALSE CREEK RESIDENCE
2. BROADWAY PENTECOSTAL LODGE
3. COAST WEST COMMUNITY HOME
4. YALETOWN HOUSE SOCIETY
5. VILLA CATHAY CARE HOME

Vancouver Tsunami Risk Map

Projection Obstacles

In lab 2, we learn how to repair misaligned and improperly referenced spatial data. Coordinate system information (such as area, angles, direction, and distance) are crucial when working with spatial information but, improperly referenced data is a common occurrence. When this spatial data is projected into a different coordinate system, this may cause problems in how it is displayed when added to the map (Misaligned layer). To fix this, you would have to use ArcToolbox and use the Data Management Tools to change the layer’s projection into the right coordinate system.

Landsat Data Advantages

Landsat is a remote sensing program that has been continuously scanning earth since 1972.  It uses sunlight as its energy source and measures the response of objects and surfaces on Earth. Landsat satellites are able to use different wavelengths to produce images of the objects and surfaces of the Earth.

Landsat data is used to measure land change due to natural disasters, for example the effects of the tsunami on the coastal vegetation before and after the tsunami. A research question for geographical analysis would be like this: ‘What was the effects did a natural disaster such as Tsunami have on the coastal vegetation in a specific location?  The location you would choose would be the specific location in which the Tsunami happened in (e.g. The 2004 Indian ocean Tsunami in Acheh, Indonesia). The interval in which you would used would be 2 weeks before the tsunami, the period after the Tsunami, and 10 years after the tsunami. It is important to take into account of seasonal changes when looking at the data, for example, for the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami data, you would have to look out for monsoon seasons.

 

 

Lab 1

Gained fundamental knowledge of GIS components (such as vector, raster and queries etc.) and ArcMap software to improve my understanding towards Geo-spatial analysis to be used in future lab assignments and research.

Lab 2

Learned how to manage and change projections while repairing improperly referenced spatial data using ArcToolbox application within ArcMap to manipulate different coordinate system in order to get a more accurate analysis on geospatial data.

Lab 3

Practiced working with spatial and tabular datasets, both raster and vector and identify areas of Vancouver that was affected by a potential tsunami. As a result, I created a map that display healthcare, education facilities, roads and landuse area in the city of Vancouver that are at a potential risk of tsunami if one was to occur.