How is GIS used in landscape architecture?

I think the work of Ian McHarg (a landscape architect) is still relevant. Design with Nature was a major influence on development of GIS.

Edit: Also, the GeoDesign Summit (which starts tomorrow in Redlands) might result in some on-line resources. Several of the presenters are Landscape Architects.


I have a good example of the use of GIS in Landscape Architecture, namely for urban green areas. If you colect, say by remote sensing, the locations of trees inside urban areas, also called ornamental trees, and you add alfanumerical information to each one, by field survey, all this inside a GIS environment, you have a powerfull tool to manage, project and mantain urban green areas. For example, you may find out that all the trees in a given street have grown to the point of interfering negatively with people's life and plan an intervention to prune then. I can think on a lot of other examples. :) regards


A quick Google search turns up some interesting finds:

  • Landscape Architecture and Evolving GIS
  • The Landscape Architecture Data Model - A Case Study in GIS Data Modeling

And as always, look through the references, as they can always lead to even better finds.