Douglas College logo
Douglas College
 > Douglas College Home > Visitors > Institute of Urban Ecology > Biodiversity Research > Past Projects
Institute of Urban Ecology Home
Restoring Habitat
Biodiversity Research
Community Action
Education
PARTNERS: College & Pit Operators Partnership
Resources
Contact Us

Past Projects

The Institute of Urban Ecology has conducted numerous environmental projects in Greater Vancouver over the past ten years. Although the activities have varied according to the specific needs of each project, they have generally fallen under the following categories:

  • Conducting basic research
  • Enhancing environmental education
  • Raising public awareness
  • Developing, implementing and coordinating action plans.

WEL-Use Land Data Base (1998)

A copy of this document through can be ordered through our publications page.

WEL-Use Feasibility Study: Introduction

This study considers the feasibility of Douglas College or another organization developing a web resource which would provide access to environmental land-use geographical information data for the Lower Mainland region.

Web GIS applications are rapidly becoming more common and popular. Technology has progressed far beyond static bitmap images to the point where maps can be queried online or downloaded as GIS -ready datasets. In the Lower Mainland, many agencies seem in the process of developing web GIS or map serving applications.

The study shows that the barriers to creating a system that accesses all or even most datasets available for the Lower Mainland are formidable. Barriers to implementing WEL-Use include: restrictive government data policy, the problems of synthesizing different data formats, and keeping the data current.

Current government policy places significant limitations on public use of many spatial datasets produced with public funds. High data costs are part of the problem, but it is the license agreements that limit end use of data to one or a few users that effectively denies public access to many datasets over the Internet. Thus policy reform is needed for WEL-Use to deliver some of the most useful datasets, such as TRIM base maps, Cadastral mapping, Forest Cover, orthophotos, satellite images, and StatsCan Census data.

The GIS industry has not developed a single standard data format that makes it very difficult to share data across platforms and between agencies. The Lower Mainland illustrates this issue well with at least four different GIS software suites in use. However, Arc/INFO is the most commonly used software and is closest to providing a data standard. One solution to the disparate nature of GIS data in the Lower Mainland would be for an organization such as Douglas College to gather together all available data and make it accessible over the web. Unfortunately few datasets are static, and keeping track of the latest version is a significant issue.

top

Market Survey

The survey, which was sent to land information managers in government agencies (municipal, regional, provincial and federal) and public interest organizations, and the interviews conducted by phone suggest that there is considerable interest in WEL-Use. There is also some interest in participating actively in WEL-Use, although many stakeholders would need more information about the details and benefits before committing any resources. Examples of possible benefits include: fostering increased public participation in, and understanding of, landuse planning and management; increasing the level of data sharing between all stakeholders; and the ability to develop holistic data models for the Lower Mainland.

There is also some concern about duplicating efforts as both the provincial government, through individual ministries and through LandData BC, and the federal government, perhaps through an extension of the DFO site, are developing their own web-applications. However, at the regional and municipal levels WEL-Use would be an important resource, serving as a central switchboard for data.

Smaller agencies such as Bieap-Fremp and non-government or community organizations that may have data but limited resources, for instance GIS capability or Internet servers, would also be natural partners.

top

Case Histories

A discussion of a few select Internet GIS applications similar to the WEL-USE proposal, in delivering data over the Web, through three case histories.

top

Recommendations

Recommendations for the development of WEL-USE, include both technical specifications and organizational structure.

A minimum hardware configuration is a Pentium 200 MHz server linked to a GIS. Internet server software and map server software are both needed. An ftp server, for large file transfers, and a CD writer, for delivering even larger datasets, are recommended. A long-term commitment to maintain and grow the site will be needed for Wel-Use to become a gateway to GIS for the Lower Mainland.

top

Web Sites of Interest

Non-Governmental & Educational Organizations:

Municipal Government:

Regional Government:

Multi-Agency:

Provincial Government:

Federal Government:

Private:

International: