Resilience Insights

Select the Base Scenario tab.

Click the Build iconin the Mode bar. Alternatively, you can access the Base Canvas editing controls by activating the Base Canvas layer and selecting the Build tab in the Layer Details pane.

Accessing the Base Canvas editing controls

Select one or more features on the Base Canvas to reclassify. You can select features using the manual selection tools, or apply filters and/or joins to select features based on particular criteria. Details about your selection, including the number of features selected and their associated land area (in acres), will appear in the Selection control.

As an example for using filters, you could apply one to the Land Use Type (L4) column to identify parcels with "Blank Data"—indicating that the source data did not include sufficient information for a land use classification. It may be useful to review these features. Similarly, you could use an L4 filter to identify parcels classified as "Vacant." (In these cases, the Zoom to selection tool [icon] can help in finding the features on the map.)

For our example, we'll create a manual selection using the Point Selection [icon] tool. While redevelopment of these parcels has in fact been planned but not yet completed, for the purposes of our example we'll assume that it has been, and we want this to be reflected in the Base Canvas.

A selection of parcels to be reclassified

Click the Building Types button to open the type selection window. For our example, we're selecting a Building Type since our project uses a parcel canvas. The Building Type selection window will appear.

Building Types selection window

Select a type to reclassify with. The menu entry for each type indicates the residential and employment densities. You can click the expand arrow icon in the upper right corner to see more details. For our example, we'll select the Medical Office Building Type, a custom type created to align with plans for the site.

Review the values corresponding to your selection. The value options indicate the dwelling unit (DU), population, and employment counts associated with the selected features using either the new type, or as originally designated in the Base Canvas. You can use this information to decide whether to reclassify and update the values, or reclassify in type designation only.

We can see that, using the new Building Type, the selected features would accommodate 138 employees, and no dwelling units or population. The original base values include two dwelling units, five people, and zero employees.

Select Updated base values to reclassify the land use of the Base Canvas and update values. For our example, we do want to update the base values. If you instead wanted to reclassify the land use of the Base Canvas without updating values, you could select Original base values. This would update the land use designations for the L1, L2, L3, and L4 columns according to the selected type, while maintaining the original values from the Base Canvas for DU, population, employment, and all other associated development characteristics.

Click the Reclassify 3 features button. A confirmation dialog appears. If you confirm, the features will be reclassified accordingly. The reclassification will be reflected in the scenario canvas summary charts, on the map, and in the scenario layer data table.

Editing the Base Canvas affects all scenarios because growth is allocated relative to the Base Canvas. Each time you reclassify features, Analyst updates all scenarios to reflect new values for the base, increment, and endstate as summarized in reporting charts and represented in the scenario layer. Depending on the number of features you are reclassifying, the scenario updates may take some time.

Editing the Base Canvas also renders any prior analysis runs as out of date. You will need to re-run analysis after reclassifying features and updating their values. The status as to whether results are current or outdated is indicated for each module in Analysis and Report modes.

Use the Undo or Redo controls to make sequential changes. The undo and redo arrows apply to your sequence of past actions, independent of the features that are currently selected. If at any point you need to return features to their original base condition, use the Revert to base control described in the next set of steps.

Select any features on the map that you want to revert to the original base values. The Revert x to base button will indicate the x number of features in your selection that have been reclassified in any prior actions.

For our example, we'll revert the features that we reclassified previously.

Click Revert 3 to base. This will reset the features to their original base condition, including land use classifications and base values. Any features that have not been reclassified previously will be unaffected by the revert action.

When complete, the effects of reverting features will be reflected in the Base Canvas Summary Charts, as well as any scenarios.

Again, editing features in the Base Canvas affects all scenarios because growth is allocated relative to the Base Canvas. Each time you reclassify or revert features, Analyst will update all scenarios to reflect new values for the base, increment, and endstate as summarized in reporting charts and represented in the scenario layer. Depending on the number of features you are reverting, the scenario updates may take some time.

Editing the Base Canvas also renders any prior analysis runs as out of date. You will need to re-run analysis after reverting features. The status as to whether results are current or outdated is indicated for each module in Analyze and Report modes.

Create a new scenario. Click the icon to the right of the scenario tabs and select the Base Scenario or any existing scenario as the basis for your new scenario.

Creating a new scenario

Alternatively, click to expand the menu for either the Base Scenario tab or the tab of the existing scenario you would like to copy. Select Create scenario (if creating a scenario from the Base Canvas) or Duplicate (if creating a scenario as a copy).‌

Your new scenario will be created and a tab for your new scenario will appear when finished. You'll also see a confirmation message at the bottom of your screen.‌

Whether created as a clone of the Base Canvas or as a duplicate of an existing scenario, your new scenario will maintain all the data layers of the original scenario, with the exception of any analysis output layers. Analysis output layers are generated the first time you run a module for a scenario.‌

Rename your new scenario. By default, new scenarios are given names with sequential numbers. Click to expand the menu for the tab of your new scenario, then select Edit Details. Enter a scenario name and description in the window that appears.‌

Activate the Scenario Canvas layer for your new scenario. The Scenario Canvas represents your scenario. When you create a new scenario from the Base Scenario, the Scenario Canvas is created as a copy of the Base Canvas.‌

Symbolize the Scenario Canvas layer on the Land Use Type (L4) column. This column contains the Building and/or Place Type classifications for the Base Canvas.

Enter Build mode. Click the Build icon in the Mode bar. Alternatively, you can enter Build mode by activating the Scenario Canvas layer and selecting the Build tab in the Layer Details pane. The Build controls appear in the Layer Details pane. You're now ready to follow along with any of the examples below.‌

Scenario building controls

Select a parcel on the Scenario Canvas to paint. Pan and zoom to a parcel and select it using the pointer tool. While you can paint multiple features at once, for this example we'll work with a single parcel.

Select a Building Type representative of the planned development. In this case, the selected type will be applied in name only since we'll go on to manually specify the residential and employment attributes to be painted. Selecting a type will set the L1 to L4 land use categories of the feature, which are important for mapping and working with a scenario.

Click the Building Types button to open the Building Types selection window. The menu entry for each type indicates the residential and employment densities. You can click the expand arrow in the upper right corner to see more details. Select the Mid-Rise Mixed Use type and the window will close.

Building Types selection window

See the program summary corresponding to your selection. The Summary section shows the population, dwelling unit (DU), and employment counts for the base, followed by the counts that would result if the parcel were painted with the selected type. The net growth or loss between the base and future scenario allocation is also shown.

The program preview for our selection shows that painting the selected parcel with the Mid-Rise Mixed Use type would result in 83 residents, 49 dwelling units, and 40 employees.

Program summary for the paint selection

As you change the residential and/or employment area attributes in the steps that follow, the program summary will change. You can expand the view to see dwelling units by type and employment by sector by clicking Show details.

Click the Change residential attributes button. We'll first enter information about the residential portion of the planned mixed-use development. A menu of housing types will appear.

Selecting a housing type to add

Select the Multifamily housing type. The Allocate residential area by type window will appear with an entry row for multifamily units.

Select Apply per feature from the drop-down menu. We'll specify a number of dwelling units to be painted on the parcel. When multiple canvas features are selected, “Apply per feature” paints the same number of units on each, regardless of land area. “Apply per acre” paints units by density on the developable land area of the selected features.

Enter a number of units and unit size. Enter 28 units at 845 net square feet each. The total floor area associated with your entries, in this case 23,660 square feet, is shown to the right.

Entering residential attributes

The Summary section will be updated to show the 28 dwelling units entered so far, and their associated population. Population is calculated using the project-wide variables for the average multifamily household size and overall residential occupancy. These variables are set on the Library Settings page in Manage mode. Population cannot be edited independent of dwelling units for individual features.

Also notice that the density indicator in the land use type card gets crossed out to indicate that the original residential density for the type no longer applies. Since we haven't yet changed the employment attributes, the original employment density of the Mid-Rise Mixed Use type still applies.

Click the + Add dwelling unit type button and select Multifamily to add another entry row. You can add rows for other types of dwelling units, or for units of the same type with different sizes. For our example, we'll create multiple multifamily entries to reflect a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments with average sizes of 845 and 1,150 net square feet, respectively.

Creating multiple entries for different unit sizes

Entries are automatically saved; to remove an entry row, click the Delete icon .

Click the X button at the top right of the Allocate residential area by type window to close it.

Click the Change employment attributes button. Now, we'll enter information about the employment area of the planned development. A menu of employment sectors will appear.

Select the Retail employment sector. The Allocate employment area by sector window will appear with an entry row for Retail employment.

Allocate employment area by sector window

Select the Building floor area from the drop-down menu. You can enter employment information based on gross building floor area or numbers of employees. We'll enter floor area information since we have information about the planned retail and office space of the building.

Select Apply per feature from the drop-down menu. When multiple canvas features are selected, Apply per feature paints the same amount of building floor area and number of employees on each, regardless of land area. Apply per acre paints floor area and employees by density on the developable land area of the selected features.

Enter an amount of planned Retail building floor area. Enter 1,300 gross square feet. The corresponding number of employees will be shown to the right. The relationship between floor area and employees by sector is determined by an underlying distribution of employees by subsector, and variable assumptions for gross floor area per employee. We'll see these values soon.

Select the Medium building density category from the Density drop-down menu. The Low, Medium, and High building density categories are the same as those used in creating Components. Each category is associated with a different set of variables for floor area per employee, by subsector. These variables are set on the Library Settings page in Manage mode.

Click the Expand icon at the right end of the entry row. The distribution of Retail employees and building floor area by subsector will be shown, along with variable values for square feet per employee. In our example, we have a 50/50 distribution of employees between the Restaurant and Retail services subsectors, and an allocation of 500 square feet and 800 square feet of gross floor area for each, respectively.

Viewing employment attributes by subsector

The distribution of employees by subsector is based on the default values set on the Library Settings page in Manage mode. While you cannot change the subsector employment distribution through the painting dialog, you can set the defaults in Library Settings prior to painting to populate the dialog with the intended values. The subsector distributions are static defaults, not variables, so changing them will not affect other painted features or land use types.

From the Library Settings page, you can also set the variables for gross floor area per employee. Variables are dynamic, so any changes to them affect all associated land use types, painting actions, and edits to the Base Canvas that involve changing employment values. The variables do not apply, however, to the base employment or building area values of unedited or unpainted features. See Use Library Settings for details on setting the variable values.

Once you specify new employment information, the Summary section will be updated to show the employment and building floor area associated with your entries. Also notice that the density indicator in the land use type card gets crossed out to indicate that the original employment density for the land use type no longer applies.

Click the + Add employment sector button and select the Office employment sector. We'll specify Office building area next. Enter 1700 square feet for the Office sector, again using the Medium building density category.

Entering attributes for multiple employment sectors

Entries are automatically saved; if you need to remove an entry row, click the Delete icon .

Click the X button at the top right of the Allocate employment area by type window to close it.

Review the program summary corresponding to your attribute entries. The summary contains population, dwelling unit (DU), and employment counts for the base, followed by the counts to be painted. The net growth or loss between the base and future scenario allocation is also shown. To see dwelling units by type or employment by sector, click the Show details buttons.

Program summary of attributes to be painted

Click the Paint x features button. The feature will be painted accordingly, and reflected in the scenario canvas summary charts, on the map, and in the data table for the scenario.

Select parcels on the Scenario Canvas to paint. For our example, we'll use filters on the scenario canvas to select vacant residential parcels that we'll paint with infill development.

Select a Building Type to assign to the painted parcels. Click the Building Types button to open the Building Types selection window, then select the Very Small Lot SF Detached type. The vacant parcels we selected fall within the lot size range of this type.

See the program summary corresponding to your selection. The summary shows the population, dwelling unit (DU), and employment counts for the base, followed by the counts that would result if the parcel were painted with the selected type. The net growth or loss between the base and future scenario allocation is also shown.

The program preview for the paint selection shows that painting the selected parcels with the Very Small Lot SF Detached type would result in 28 total dwelling units, as compared to the 41 units that there would be with a single unit on each parcel.

Program summary for painting with a selected type

As you change the residential attributes in the steps that follow, the program summary will change.

Click the Change residential attributes button. A menu of housing types will appear.

Select the Single-family small lot housing type. The Allocate residential area by type window will appear with an entry row for single-family small lot units.

Select Apply per feature from the drop-down menu. We'll specify a number of dwelling units to be painted on each parcel.

Enter a number of units and unit size. Enter 1 unit with a size of 1,200 square feet. This will paint the same average unit size on each parcel in the selection. (If you wanted to more closely match unit sizes to lot sizes, you could apply filters and paint using narrower parcel size ranges.)

Entering residential attributes

The Summary section will be updated to show the 41 dwelling units and associated population. The population is calculated using the project-wide variables for the average single-family small lot household size and overall residential occupancy. These variables are set on the Library Settings page in Manage mode.

Click the X button at the top right of the Allocate residential area by type window to close it. Your entries are automatically saved.

Click the Paint x features button. The features will be painted, with changes reflected in the scenario canvas summary charts, on the map, and in the data table for the scenario.

To make any changes, use the Revert x to base, Undo , or Redo controls. Reverting effectively returns features to their base condition. Undo and redo are applied to your sequence of past actions, independent of the features that are currently selected.

As you continue to select and paint features, track scenario development progress using the scenario canvas summary charts. This is useful if you are building scenarios to meet control totals for new growth.

Enter Report mode and select Summary Statistics to view comparative statistics for your scenario. The charts in this mode allow you to compare scenarios with each other.

Enter Analysis mode and run analysis modules as needed. You can run analysis to gauge impacts, for example land consumption, as you develop a scenario. Note that once you make land use changes any prior analysis runs will become outdated; the status as to whether results are current or outdated is indicated in Analysis and Report modes.

Open or create a new project containing a large development site to work with. For our example, we'll look to the proposed Sunnyside Yard Master Plan—a plan for 140 acres of development above a passenger rail yard in Sunnyside, Queens.

Open the Edit tab for the Base Canvas. The Edit tab of the Layer Details pane contains the feature gridding controls. From here, you can also remove features.

Feature gridding controls located on the Base Canvas Edit tab

Select canvas feature(s) to be split into grid cells. Use the manual selection tools to select one or more parcel or block features. You can work a single feature, or multiple features at once. For our example, we'll split up the two existing parcels comprising the Sunnyside Yard area.

Selecting two parcels on the Base Canvas to be split

Click Split into grid. The Split into grid window will appear.

Previewing the grid layout

Configure the grid layout. The grid configuration settings allow you to control the size, angle, and horizontal and vertical offsets of the grid layout.

Click Apply to grid the feature into cells as shown. The original feature will be split out into new features. The new features will register on the map and show up in the data table.

Applying the grid layout

Each new feature will retain the land use classifications of the original feature, with population, households, dwelling units, jobs, and building attribute values distributed among the new features in proportion to their land area.

When complete, the effects of splitting features will be reflected in summary charts for the Base Canvas and any scenarios. If you split a feature that had previously been painted in a scenario, the feature will be replaced with the new gridded features as depicted in the base, with paints maintained.

Gridding features also renders any prior analysis runs as out of date, so you will need to re-run analysis afterwards. The status as to whether results are current or outdated is indicated for each module in Analyze and Report modes.

Continue gridding features as needed. Newly gridded features can themselves be gridded into smaller features. You'll see a depiction of nested splits in the painted example that follows.

Use the Undo or Redo controls to make sequential changes, if needed. Undo and redo apply to your sequence of past feature gridding, feature removal, and painting actions, independent of the features that are currently selected.

You may choose to undo a gridding operation so you can change the grid layout, or otherwise restore the original feature geometry. If you do so after having painted any new gridded features, be sure to check how the features are affected in your scenarios. Paints applied to any gridded features may be extended to the entirety of the original feature if a gridding operation is reversed. If this is not intended, you can re-paint features or revert them to their base condition.

Edit the new gridded features in the Base Canvas, if needed. The gridding operation distributes existing population, households, jobs, and development among the new gridded features to maintain the totals from the original feature. You can use the Base Canvas editing controls to make any desired adjustments to the land use designations and/or development characteristics of the new features as depicted in the Base Canvas.

Create a new scenario, or work within an existing scenario. If you created a scenario prior to gridding features, the scenario canvas will be updated automatically to include the new features.

Enter Build mode for the scenario.

Paint the new features to represent plans. You can paint newly gridded features like any other in the canvas. For our example, we've painted the newly gridded features with Place Types to broadly represent the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan. The features represent gross land area for city blocks (with an average size just over two acres), large open space areas, and the rail yard. You can see the illustrative plan and the scenario depiction below.

Roll over the header for a group of values in a scenario and click the expand menu button that appears.

Select Reset to defaults. The selected group of parameter values are reset to the defaults.

Resetting parameters to use default values

Click Save to save your edits. Otherwise, click Discard to revert values back to their previous state.

Hover over the header for a group of values in a scenario and click the expand menu button that appears.

Select the scenario from which you want to copy values. The group of parameter values from the selected scenario are copied over.

Copying parameter values from one scenario to another

Click Save to save your edits. Otherwise, click Discard to revert values to their previous state.

Add or upload a layer containing the custom points of interest. Custom POI layers must consist of point features (not lines or polygons). For our example, we'll use the OSM Supermarkets reference layer. Add it to your project using the Layer Manager; see Use Reference Data for details on adding layers.

If you have a point layer from outside Analyst to use, upload it by clicking the Upload Layer button in the upper right portion of the Layers pane. See Upload Data Layers for details on uploading layers.

The accessibility modules will measure access to all points in the selected layer. If you wish to measure access to only a selection—for example, those of a specific type or value range—select features using filters and/or the manual selection tools as needed and save as a new filtered layer (see Filter and Join Data for details). Then, you can choose the saved filtered layer as the custom POI input.

Navigate to the Walk Accessibility module inputs in Manage mode.

Enter parameters for your custom POIs. Find the input parameters in the Custom Point of Interest Attributes parameter section. You can select up to three custom POIs for each scenario. The POIs do not need to match across scenarios. (If you need to measure access to more than three POIs for the base or a scenario, you can duplicate it and specify additional POIs to apply in the duplicated scenario.)

Note that you can also adjust the average walk speed.

Setting custom points of interest in Manage mode

Run the Walk Accessibility module. From Analyze mode, run the Walk Accessibility module for the scenario(s) for which you specified the supermarkets and any other custom POIs. Changing the analysis parameters of a scenario renders any previous analysis as out of date, so if you ran the module previously you'll need to run it again to apply the new parameters.

Explore the accessibility results. The results for custom POIs can be found alongside the other destination access results in the summary charts and the Walk Access to Destinations map layer and data table.

Summarize population, households, or employment within access areas. The Walk Access to Destinations layer contains population, households, and employment counts for each canvas feature. You can apply filters and joins to quantify, for example, the percentage of households within a neighborhood that lacks walkable access to supermarkets.

We can now calculate that 25% of households in the Grant Park neighborhood have 15-minute walk access to a supermarket, while 75% do not. Based on the map view, we can also see that the nearby neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Mechanicsville, Summerhill, and Peoplestown have much lower access, with no supermarkets within a reasonable walking time.

Use the custom POI accessibility outputs in further analysis. You can perform further analysis using filters and joins with other layers to identify where households have low access and fulfill other criteria. For example, the map below was generated by using the HUD Low Poverty Index reference data layer to select households with low supermarket access in areas with low index scores, indicating high poverty. We can see that walk access to supermarkets is most deficient in high-poverty neighborhoods.

Households in areas with high poverty and low walk access to supermarkets

Create a saved selection for the custom point of interest. We'll focus on the North Avenue MARTA station in Atlanta. From the Public Transit Stops reference layer, select the station using the point selection tool , then save the selection as a filtered layer. (See Filter and Join Data for details on saving filtered layers.) We'll call the layer "North Avenue MARTA."

Navigate to the Walk Accessibility module inputs in Manage mode.

Enter parameters for the custom POIs. Find the input parameters in the Custom Point of Interest Attributes parameter section. You can select up to three custom POIs for each scenario, so if you were working with multiple individual transit stations you could select them as other POIs.

Run the Walk Accessibility module. From Analyze mode, run the Walk Accessibility module for the scenario(s) for which you specified the transit station and any other custom POIs. Changing the analysis parameters of a scenario renders any previous analysis as out of date, so if you ran the module previously you'll need to run it again to apply the new parameters.

Map the accessibility results. We'll first look at the outputs on the map. Activate the Walk Access to Destinations layer and select the custom POI column for the transit station. Ours is called "Custom POI #1: North Avenue MARTA - Time to Nearest." You can edit the layer symbology to adjust the classes and colors displayed.

Viewing the custom POI walk access outputs

Create a walkshed layer. We can now create a standalone layer to represent the 10-minute walkshed around the station.

Join the walkshed layer to the Base Canvas. Now, we'll select all parcels in the Base Canvas that fall within the 10-minute walkshed. Joining the walkshed to the Base Canvas will allow you to evaluate housing, jobs, and existing land uses in the area.

Join the walkshed with other layers for further analysis. Just as you joined the walkshed layer to the Base Canvas, you can join it to any other layers as relevant for your work—for example, a scenario canvas to select features to be painted; the Parcel Reference Data layer to assess current property values or redevelopment potential; or layers for places of interest, such as bike stations.

The example below shows improvement-to-land value ratios (low values for which can indicate underutilization and redevelopment potential) for residential and commercial parcels in the walkshed of the North Avenue MARTA station.

Assessing redevelopment potential by joining the walkshed to the Parcel Reference Data layer

Upload a point layer reflecting facility locations. Since they are subject to change, data for cooling center locations need to be sourced or developed locally. Upload by clicking the Upload Layer button in the upper right portion of the Layers pane. See Upload Data Layers for details on uploading layers. For our example, we'll upload a layer of community centers that serve as cooling centers in Fresno, California.

Navigate to the Transit Accessibility module inputs in Manage mode.

Enter parameters for the custom POIs. Find the input parameters in the Custom Point of Interest Attributes parameter section, as shown below. We'll enter parameters for the Base Scenario.

Run the Transit Accessibility module. From Analyze mode, run the Transit Accessibility module for the Base Canvas. Changing the analysis parameters of a scenario renders any previous analysis as out of date, so if you ran the module previously you'll need to run it again to apply the new parameters.

Map the cooling center accessibility results. Activate the Transit Access to Destinations layer and select the custom POI column for the cooling centers. Ours is called "Custom POI #1: Cooling Centers - Time to Nearest."

The map below uses the default symbology for custom POI outputs. You can edit the layer symbology to adjust the classes and colors displayed.

Viewing the cooling center transit access outputs

From the map, we can see many access gaps—areas where residents must travel over 30 minutes by transit to reach a cooling center.

View the cooling center accessibility results chart. In the Analysis pane, you can find the summary chart indicating the percentage of residents in the project area within a 10, 20, or 30 minute combined transit/walk trip to a cooling center. We can see that roughly a quarter of Fresno residents can reach a cooling center within 30 minutes, while the rest must travel longer.

Use the data table to quantify population by access range. The Transit Access to Destinations layer contains population counts for each canvas feature. You can apply a filter on the cooling center POI output column to select parcels and associated population in areas with and without reasonable access to cooling centers.

Identify the location of vulnerable residents. In planning for additional sites, it's important to understand where residents may be most vulnerable to extreme heat. Risk factors include poverty; age; underlying health conditions; lack of access to vehicles; limited English proficiency; impervious surfaces; particulate matter concentrations; and more. We'll explore where vulnerable populations lack cooling center access by bringing in reference data.

Locate vulnerable population with low access to cooling centers. To locate population with high vulnerability and low access to cooling centers, we'll select features from the Transit Access to Destinations layer using a filter and a join to the Heat Wave Vulnerability Index - California (CHAT) layer.

Map and quantify vulnerable population with low access to cooling centers. With your filtered layer now created, you can cleanly map the areas where residents are most vulnerable to heat, yet have low access to cooling centers.