April 9, 2007

New ESRI Press Book Explains How Smarter Analysis Equals Smarter Land-Use Decisions

University of Florida Professors Teach Spatial Analysis Technique That Creates Future Land-Use Scenarios

Redlands, California—A new book from ESRI Press will help land-use planners, architects, and others predict how development will change the landscape over the long term. Smart Land-Use Analysis: The LUCIS Model shows how geographic information system (GIS) technology can improve the way we plan today's development for future generations.

Written by University of Florida professors Margaret Carr and Paul Zwick, Smart Land-Use Analysis discusses the difficulty of monitoring development over time and describes an analysis process that uses spatial modeling to predict land-use trends.

This indispensable guide for land-use planners, analysts, and students explains a new land-use conflict identification strategy (LUCIS). Developed by the authors, the LUCIS model uses ESRI's ArcGIS geoprocessing framework, particularly ModelBuilder, to analyze suitability and preference for urban, agricultural, conservation, and other major land-use categories. The model helps users build land-use scenarios and determine potential future conflict among the categories.

"Land-use decision making is particularly important as we accommodate our growing population and often compromise our environment," ESRI president Jack Dangermond writes in the book's foreword. "LUCIS will help us understand the unintended consequences of incremental decision making."

The first part of Smart Land-Use Analysis explains the historical development and foundational principles of LUCIS. The second part leads readers though a case study of nine counties in Florida, with a step-by-step breakdown of how LUCIS was applied. Part three discusses additional applications for LUCIS and potential future ramifications of urban sprawl.

Assignments test readers' understanding of concepts and software functions. A supplemental DVD provides case study data and the LUCIS geoprocessing model. This package will help users explore an original, proven method that enables intelligent land-use decision making. Smart Land-Use Analysis: The LUCIS Model can also be used in the classroom for postsecondary courses on urban planning, landscape architecture, environmental studies, and GIS.

Smart Land-Use Analysis: The LUCIS Model (ISBN: 978-1-58948-012-4, 292 pages, $49.95) is available at online retailers worldwide or can be purchased at www.esri.com/esripress or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, contact your local ESRI distributor. Visit www.esri.com/distributors for a current distributor list. ESRI Press books are distributed to the trade by Ingram Publisher Services. Call 1-866-400-5351 or visit www.ingrampublisherservices.com.

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About ESRI Press
ESRI Press publishes books on GIS, cartography, and the application of spatial analysis to many areas of public and private endeavor including land-use planning, health care, education, business, government, and science. The complete selection of GIS titles from ESRI Press can be found on the Web at www.esri.com/esripress.

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Matthew DeMeritt, ESRI
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