Los Angeles and Esri Unveil Pioneering Urban Planning Hub
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Los Angeles and Esri Unveil Pioneering Urban Planning Hub

Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles and Esri president Jack Dangermond have unveiled the City of Los Angeles’ new GeoHub, one of the USA’s most complete collections of urban map data. The GeoHub builds on Mayor Garcetti’s third Executive Directive, which created Los Angeles’ first open data portal. By making more than 500 types of map data available to residents, city workers and private industry, the GeoHub helps residents better understand their communities and helps City departments better coordinate construction, road paving and public safety efforts.

On its own, data gives important insights into how the city works, and now Los Angeles is putting open data to work, said Mayor Garcetti. The GeoHub provides real-time access to all the data needed in one convenient place, allowing to improve everything from pothole repair to 311 call times, make smarter urban planning decisions, and make it easier for emergency responders to get to their next location. This is back to basics at its best.

The Los Angeles GeoHub was created in collaboration with Esri, the world’s leader in geographic information systems (GIS) technology.

Additional tools

By pooling key data sets, and mapping their locations, City departments are now equipped with additional tools to get their work done more quickly and efficiently. For example, by providing a complete picture of what’s happening on the streets of Los Angeles – including real-time traffic data, road obstructions, the inspection status of nearby buildings, business activity, and even the nearest fire hydrants – GeoHub can help firefighters, sanitation workers, utility workers and all City personnel better understand the neighbourhoods they serve.

Built on Esri’s ArcGIS platform, GeoHub pools map data layers from more than 20 different departments, allowing users to create living maps and build custom applications to solve pressing challenges and optimise city services.

Follow the lead

Esri is thrilled to partner with Mayor Garcetti and the City of Los Angeles to launch a data insight model that includes powerful collaborative and do-it-yourself mapping tools, said Esri president Jack Dangermond. The company hopes that other communities around the world will follow mayor Garcetti’s lead and enable public works, transportation, health services, and other agencies to share location data and analysis in real time. That kind of data accessibility and transparency boosts community engagement. It also creates trusted networks that link local government to its businesses and its citizens.

Flagship applications

To show the power and range of the hub, the City is developing three flagship applications: Streetwize, which shows all of the permitted activity on the City’s public right of ways; The Road to 2400, which tracks the Bureau of Street Services’ progress on paving at least 2,400 lane miles (about 3,850km) per year; and Vision Zero High Injury Network, which can help improve pedestrian safety by providing users with key information – including where schools and high speed streets intersect.

The L.A. GeoHub is an important pillar in mayor Garcetti’s broader strategy of using technology and data to delivery transparency, efficiency, and community engagement. Explore the L.A. GeoHub at http://geohub.lacity.org.

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