Reconsidering Scale: Using Geographic Information Systems to Support Spatial Planning Conversations

ABSTRACT

How do planners compose plans that fit complex environmental systems? How do they align mismatched ecological and governance landscapes? We studied a small group of practitioners planning for groundwater sustainability to explore these questions. We recorded and transcribed their talk as they worked with geovisualization tools to diagnose and resolve future water shortages. Our findings showed how these planners crossed scales and levels as they reconsidered the relationships between groundwater supplies and consumers. While they recognized the urgency of aquifer overdraft, they complained about a lack of fine-grained hydrogeologic data, which they rely on for managing local water shortages.

KEYWORDS:

• Scale
• scale mismatch
• spatial planning
• geographic information systems
• planning support systems (PSS)
• discourse analysis

Acknowledgments

The authors would also like to thank other members of the research team, especially Lissa Domoracki, April Schneider and Curtis Witek who assisted with the collection, analysis and visualization of data presented in this paper. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their time, effort and constructive feedback.