Introduction Conceptual Outline Methodology Data Collection Spatial Analysis Results Design Problems
Design Problems
The problems with this project were both methodological and operational. Some of the methodological problems are discussed in the conceptual outline, but this section mostly focuses on the operational problems encountered during the analysis.
A cartographic model was originally created, but had to be abandoned because it did not provide usable results. A Macro Model was also created during this process, also abandoned due to the problems. Some of the operations were then processed individually rather than in a macro model to find method that created suitable results. A Macro Model could have been created once the problems were resolved, but due to time restrictions could not be fully completed.
One of largest problems that took time and thought to resolve was creating an analysis for the demand/service ratio. The initial idea was to create a continuous nominal scale for both demand and service, then overlay then to determine the ratio. This proved problematic, as it created a large range for the ratio (Over 10, 000:1). This problem was solved by reclassifying the demand and service layers into 5 separate classes, and overlaying them instead. It was much more effective with the reclassification and produced more tangible results.
Another problem encountered after overlaying the demand/service ratio layer with residential-only land use layer. This created excessive amount of segmentation and clustering, and neighbourhoods with surplus demand could not be discerned. To solve this problem, the cells in the layer were grouped (as shows in the Spatial Analysis section) and only groups with large areas were (over 100 cells) were determine to be neigbourhoods of a significant size.
Aside from operational problems, the use of dissemination areas to analyze demand may not be the be the best possible method and provide the most accurate results. A census dissemination area generalizes a whole neighbourhood and does not differentiate between the separate land-uses. Although by using the residential-only layer this problem was somewhat reduced, it still does not provide accurate results for residential density calculations.
The results created were moderately accurate. The neighbourhoods in South Nanaimo do in-fact require service upgrades. This has been recognized by Nanaimo Regional Transit and is being resolved. The transit demand neighbourhood in North Nanaimo will have to be investigated further to evaluate the findings of this analysis. The one known failure of this analysis is the finding of the neighbourhood in North-East Nanaimo as a transit demand neighbourhood. From previous experience and knowledge in Nanaimo, this area is quite rural and has very little demand. A future direction for a similar project may using MCE or cost distance to determine the best possible routing using high density neighbourhoods, commercial nodes as a factors, and some of the census socio-economic factors from this analysis.
This design of this website was created with simplicity in mind due to several reasons. An original website was created and was noted as being "hideous" by friend in Visual Arts. This only proved my lack of artistic ability and inetpness at creating a visually aesthetic design. When this website design was created, it was left simple for the sake of not being "hideous" and also due to time restrictions.