Applying GeoPlanner for ArcGIS in Urban planning

Abstract

The science of urban planning emerged clearly after World War II, in the wake of the massive destruction of European cities. Because Iraq suffered from the results of more than three decades of wars and wrong policies, the urgent need for urban planning has emerged to address the consequences of war as well as large population growth with the lack of services and infrastructure. In addition, the use of traditional and old methods in planning has increased the problems of cities, it is therefore necessary to find modern scientific methods to discover the causes of problems and to develop appropriate solutions. These methods should use modern techniques such as GIS techniques and remote sensing, to enable the study of the present state of cities and the problems they suffer.  At present, GIS has evolved tremendously and has been used in many fields, including field of urban planning, where GIS is the cornerstone of urban planners because it simulates reality, explores points of vulnerability and gives timely solutions at low cost. There are different GIS applications according to the stages and levels of sectors and functions of the various urban planning. With increased ease of use and reduced GIS prices, GIS has become the practical and reasonable system for planners and an important component in supporting planning systems. Recent developments in the integration of geographic information systems with planning models, visualization, and the internet, make GIS more useful in urban planning. It is known that data collection is difficult and costly task   in the planning process. Today it is possible to obtain a lot of data required at no cost through the websites specialized in GIS. This research highlights the process of collecting and filtering processes, analysis and presentation of geographical data as well as a data collection method of specialized websites, easily and free of charge, using GeoPlanner for ArcGIS Application which is one of GIS applications online. I found GeoPlanner for ArcGIS application has been the appropriate tools and assistance in the urban planning process, because its tools can explore, collect, analyze, process, and provide information in a variety of easy to understand formats capable of performing complex and difficult tasks such as Nassiriyah city problems.  I think that this research is the first paper which highlights GeoPlanner for ArcGIS application in Iraq and Arab countries, therefore I wrote the details of how we can use it.