INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF URBAN GREEN AREAS Paolo Viskanic

INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF URBAN GREEN AREAS Paolo Viskanic (paolo. viskanic@r 3 -gis. com) Daniel Degasperi (daniel. degasperi@r 3 -gis. com) Merano and Milano (Italy)

Content • • • Who is R 3 GIS? Why a Green Area Management System? Geodatabase and Data model Jobs, inspections, workflows Citizen information Conclusions

• • Founded 2003 Main office in Merano (BZ), second office in Milano 12 Collaborators, (6 in software development) Quality Certification ISO 9001: 2008 Member of the Open Geospatial Consortium Funding member of the Foss Academy Operating through partners in Italy, Austria and Germany

FOSS ACADEMY PROJECTS ENVIRONMENT AND AGRICULTURE UTILITIES ACTIVITIES TRAINING GREEN AREA MANAGEMENT PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION TOURISM AND SKI AREAS SECTORS Activities SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CONSULTING SERVICES

Solutions for the public administration

Open Source Technology • Cent. OS or Red. Hat operating system • Geodatabase Postgre. SQL/Post. GIS • PHP, Javascript, HTML • UMN Mapserver/Geo. Server • Analysis: Grass, j. Grass, gv. SIG, u. Dig, QGis • Web. GIS Client: Open. Layers, Gis. Client R 3 GIS contributes to most of these Technologies

Management of urban green areas • • • Public parks and gardens Private gardens Cemeteries Tree-lined streets Transport corridors with trees and vegetation River-bank corridors with trees and vegetation

Why a Green Area management software? • Documentation in the case of damages • Planning and accounting for maintenance activities • Reporting, statistical analysis • Quality control and improvement

Why a Web. GIS? • • • All users access one central database An authentication system enforces security Access by all stakeholders involved Privileges are set according to responsibilities Access in the field on a tablet or PDA

All stakeholders involved

Urban green area management with R 3 TREES 1 2 3 Central Geodatabase Jobs, inspections, Workflows Citizen Information All stakeholders access the data for their area of competence

Data Model requirements • Flexibility (type of managed assets must be configurable) • Hierarchical structure (allows different levels of abstraction) • Compatibility to national standards (National data core, Inspire) • Applicability to different maintenance jobs (each type of job requires different tools, expertise, machines and has a different price)

Data model structure VEGETATION STREET FURNITURE MANAGEMENT

Data model example CITY GEODATABASE VEGETATION URBAN GREEN AREA LAWN GREEN AREA DATA MODEL FLAT LAWN A 101016 LAWN WITH CONCRETE BLOCKS A 101050 LAWN IN ESCARPMENT A 101051 LAWN IN TRAM LINE A 101052 Assets are classified according to the type of maintenance activities they are subject to. This allows for accurate maintenance cost calculations and stimulates update of geometries.

Map Interface

Map Interface • • • Web. GIS interface with standard GIS tools Based on OGC Standards Multilingual Simple geometry editing tools Print functions in different sizes and formats Google Street View integrated Interactive selection, query and Tooltip tools Editing tools with snapping capability Legend and hierarchical layer tree Measuring tools

Data entry Import-Export Tools: checks integrity and topology, stores historical information Editing tools allow entry and management of geometry and attributes directly from the map interface

Urban green area management with R 3 TREES 1 2 3 Central Geodatabase Jobs, inspections, Workflows Citizen Information All stakeholders access the data for their area of competence

Workflows managed: a view examples • TREES: tree database with main characteristics of each plant. Workflows for planting and felling trees and for removing the stump. • VTA: visual and instrumental tree assessments, documentation, traceability • PLAYS: Playgrounds, equipment and periodical inspections. Management of maintenance activities. • GREEN AREAS: GIS inventory of all objects, statistics, historical information. • JOBS: planning, monitoring and documentation of maintenance activities, directly linked to the assets involved • QUALITY: tools to ensure monitoring and action to ensure quality of public areas

Example: Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) Visual Assessment New VTA planned Risk class Approval Instrumental checks Prescriptions and jobs Each tree is subject to periodic assessment to ensure public safety and quality of urban green spaces

Example: Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) Visual Assessment Instrumental Analysis

Job programming and follow-up • • • Programming of maintenance activities Quantities are provided by the GIS Cost is calculated based on quantities The job is programmed in a certain time period Closing activities as they are carried out Job, Operator, time of execution, cost, etc. are connected to actual asset on the ground. historical database

Historical database PLANTED MAY 1985 PRUNING APRIL 1989 THINNING CANOPY MARCH 1991 DEAD WOODING FEBRUARY 1993 VISUAL TREE ASSESSMENT JULY 1993 THINNING CANOPY MARCH 1995 VISUAL TREE ASSESSMENT JULY 1998 DEAD WOODING FEBRUARY 2000 PRUNING APRIL 2001 PRUNING MAY 2003 ………….

Quality control Job carried out and non compliance resolved Quality is checked in the field Non compliance is transmitted to server Job is planned Asset is identified and planned activities are evaluated

Quality control • Non compliances are recorded in the field through Trimble Juno PDAs with Position, photo and attributes. • Synchronisation transfers all data to the server, where it is combined with the GIS and checked against open jobs and previous non-compliances • After checks a job is created and assigned to the contractor responsible for the site

Urban green area management with R 3 TREES 1 2 3 Central Geodatabase Jobs, inspections, Workflows Citizen Information All stakeholders access the data for their area of competence

Publication on the web • Main data are made available to the public • Each change in the management application is automatically applied to the public interface • Public interface is very simple and user friendly • Examples: – Merano (www. ambiente. comune. merano. bz. it) – Rimini (http: //www. antheasit. it/public)

Public map of Parks and Recreation of Merano

Who uses R 3 TREES? Municipalities: About 35 cities in Italy including Milano, Pavia, Forli, Sanremo, Rimini, … Transport companies: Highway Milano-Genova, Tangenziali di Milano, Ferrovie Nord Institutions managing housing estates: Provinces, Insurance companies, Cooperatives Contractors for green area management.

Conclusions A well organised GIS of urban green areas can: • Allow you to share all relevant information with all stakeholders • Document all activities and thus take decisions based on data and gives legal security in case of accidents • Improve management activities by learning from past experience • Ensure save and enjoyable parks and recreation areas in your town.

Thank you for your interest Main office: Via Johann Kravogl, 2 39012 Merano (BZ) Tel. +39 0473 494949 Fax +39 0473 069902 Office in Milano: Via Vallisneri, 2 20133 Milano (MI)