Browse Content: Tool, community character & design

“CommunityViz is advanced yet easy-to-use GIS software designed to help people visualize, analyze, and communicate about important community planning decisions.”

Flickr is a popular online image and video hosting website that allows users to upload and share media. The site is also popular with bloggers as a way to host images that they embed in blogs and social media.

Sound mapping encompasses a range of projects and techniques used to capture and contribute to the aural character of a place. In most cases, sounds are recorded from various locations, and are tied to those places with maps or listening stations.

Guided Visioning is a process that allows participants to open their minds and create a vision of the future of their community and the necessary steps to manifest it.

Sacred Site Mapping is a process pioneered by Randolph Hester in Manteo, NC. This process identifies the "sacred spaces" of a community through mapping, inquiry and validation, combining observation techniques with information gathered from citizens.

A form-based zoning code allows local governments to regulate the physical form of new development, as opposed to only specifying its use. This encourages mixed use and development that is consistent with local character.

Pioneered in Snoqualmie, WA, the Character Impact Assessment process is used to assess the potential impact of development proposals on community character. The process is based on an adaptation of the Environmental Impact Statement process.

Photo simulations depict potential planning and design changes through realistic digitally-manipulated photographs. They allow people to compare before-and-after scenarios and understand how planning decisions will appear in the landscape.

The Community Capitals Framework is a conceptual model for evaluating the overall health of a community and its capacity for community and economic development. The framework is based on successful communities that focus on seven types of capital.

The Placemaking process involves identifying community sites that need revitalization, determining a vision for the site, and crafting a new place that will fulfill that vision. The Placemaking approach can be effective on various levels of scale.