Geodesign: A Tale of Three Cities

In this paper we discuss the application of the Steinitz (A framework for geodesign: changing geography by design. ESRI, Redlands, CA, 2012) Geodesign Framework in the context of three cities including (i) South East Sydney, (ii) the emerging Western City of Sydney and (iii) Canberra. In all three of these case studies we have used the Geodesign Hub platform to develop a series of future city scenarios. A common theme with each of these cities is they are all experiencing population growth. Another common theme is that each city required integrated land use transport planning given new transformational infrastructure including light rail, mass transit and in the case of the Western City of Sydney a new airport being built. The research conducted is reflective and based on case studies in the context of studio work undertaken by three different Geodesign classes run across two universities. The research reflects on the strengths and opportunities of the Geodesign Framework in supporting the planning and design of future cities in the context of (i) data and technology, (ii) process, and (iii) outputs. Future work will examine the pedagogical experiences of students in working with Geodesign methods and software as we train the next generation of city planners and designers.