February 8, 2007
By Emily van Rijswijck
HAVE you ever wanted to get really detailed information about your property and the surrounding area – information such as stand numbers, street addresses, use zoning, building lines, an amendment scheme attached to the property, or even census information like the number of adults in the area?
Perhaps an out of town visitor needs a detailed map on the quickest route to a destination without having a map of Johannesburg.
The City's Geographic Information System (GIS) can give you just that - with little effort and a no-cost option. And it offers free training on using its website services to any interested person.
The information is invaluable to professions such as architects, estate agents, banks, developers, town planners and engineers, says Lesley Adams, CGIS's manager of projects and customer services. "The updated information on the aerial photographs is an excellent tool for doing trend analysis and urban planning."
But the CGIS maps are not only for professionals. According to Adams, learners in grades 10 to 12 study GIS as part of their curriculum and make extensive use of the service. And, although the computer programme is user-friendly, many Joburg residents opt for the free training offered by CGIS on using the online maps, she adds.
An aerial view
Free training in how to use the online maps takes place every fortnight, and it is essential to book. The training takes about two hours. Access to the maps is possible by visiting the City's e-services website, which has an online maps (GIS) option.
GIS is computer technology that combines geographical data of an area – both natural and man-made - with additional information such as street names and numbers to generate maps and reports. The site is managed by Joburg's Corporate GeoInformatics (CGIS) unit, which forms part of the Development Planning and Urban Management Directorate.
The map website has two levels of access - free and subscription. Free services include basic information on stand numbers, street addresses, township names and basic zoning. These details are referred to as cadastre information. A routing service is also available where an individual can get a map with directions to any destination within the City of Johannesburg boundaries. Low-resolution aerial photographs of all areas are also available.
The subscription service is available at a cost to the user, and is based on a periodic access whereby a payment is made for access to the maps for the time paid for (either monthly or annually) and different payment options are available, ranging from online to offline payments.
There are two levels of subscription access available:
- Individuals – only a single user may access the website at one time.
- Companies – many users may access the website at any given time.
Subscription services offer full resolution aerial photography, detailed zoning, 2m contours and proposed townships and customised mapmaking tools.
In order to keep the data fresh and up to date, CGIS has various partnerships with relevant concerns within and outside the City of Johannesburg. CGIS has become the core of the City's database.
In the past, "different departments used to maintain their [own] databases, but with the expansion of GIS to all departments we now provide data for all City departments", explained Chris Wray, the deputy director of system administration and development. He was speaking after the department received a special achievement award in geographic information systems at the ESRI Conference in 2006.
CGIS acts as the host of data received from the Joburg Property Company and the Economic Development Department. This includes details about different types of economic nodes, information such as land area and land value, building and ownership information.
The department also works closely with the City's utilities, sharing information with the Johannesburg Roads Agency, Johannesburg Water, City Power, City Parks and Pikitup. The collated information assists in analysis and planning and provides visuals of how areas have changed geographically.
"When you look at an aerial shot of an informal settlement, for instance, you can see how areas have grown according to the visual data taken every three years. This information can then be applied to make trend analyses and planning scenarios," explains Adams.
Map IT supplies CGIS with up-to-date points of interests data once a year, covering schools, shopping centres, museums, police stations, hospitals and much more, while the aerial photographs are updated every three years. The last aerial photographs were taken in 2006.
Other data contributors are AA travel, which supplies AA-approved accommodation information, and Statistics South Africa, which supplies popular census information such as demographic profiles, dwelling types and employment statistics.
The website training dates are published on the website, or you can contact Lesley Adams on 011 407 6203 or via email on Lesleya@joburg.org.za. Alternatively, contact Bernadette Rigney on 011 407 6192 or email bernadette@joburg.co.za with 'website training' as the subject.
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