Nathan Robinson

RP651-Dr. Mark Hamin

Thematic Chronology

Aerial Photography: Its Influence and Application to Planning

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Introduction

Since its development in the late 19th century,

aerial photography has had a dramatic effect

on urban and regional planning by offering

new perspectives on the built and natural

environment. Aerial photography, through its

interpretation and influence, has changed the

way planners think about and solve problems

by vastly increasing the amount of

information readily available to decision-

makers. This paper will explore the most

influential aspects of aerial photography to the

field of planning from the early 20th century to

present times.

Early Applications of Aerial Photography

Although the first aerial photographs were taken from balloons in the mid to late 19th

century, it was not until World War I, and the stability and predictability offered by the

aircraft that aerial photographs began to significantly impact the field of planning

(Newhall 49, Light 126). In building upon the military technology that were utilized in

WWI for aerial reconnaissance and mapping, private firms began to market aerial

photographic surveys to states and municipalities as a tool to properly assess land for

taxing, delineate zoning districts and plan in the regional context (Light 126-127). These

                                     First  Aerial  Photograph  Taken  in  the  United  State,  Overlooking  Boston  to  the  east,  James  Wallace  Black                                  

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aerial surveys and accompanying “mosaic maps”, not only provided enhanced

information, they were also much more efficient use of time and money resources than

ground surveys.

Systems Planning

Following the First World War, the United States government made massive investments

in aerial photography and its interpretation for military reconnaissance and intelligence.

The availability of funding helped spurn growth in academic research in aerial

photography and photointerpretation (Light 99). The result was higher-quality photos,

improved mapping capacity and interpretation advancements that were utilized in World

War II (Branch 4).

In the aftermath of WWII the transfer of technology from military to civilian applications

had significant influence on planning. Melville C. Branch, in his book City Planning and

Aerial Information, referenced advanced interpretive techniques, that when applied to the

analysis of urban infrastructure from aerial photographs, could be used to glean

information regarding social and neighborhood characteristics and population dynamic

within certain areas of the urban environment. Branch felt the availability of this

information would be essential to the inventory and analysis of the urban environment

and could be used to shift the planning paradigm away from the “emotionally idealistic,

unimpressive…attitude of evangelisms” that he claims characterized the 50 years of

planning in the United States before World War II, and towards “quantification,

management, the behavioral sciences, and scientific method. (Branch 12, 99).”

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In the early 1950’s and 60’s, academics within the planning field followed Branch’s lead

as research in advanced aerial photointerpretation led to housing studies that related lot

size, density and street condition to socio-economic status. In the 1950’s and 60’s aerial

photographs of Boston and Philadelphia were used to help city planners identify urban

blight and focus potential redevelopment projects (Light 128).

The 1960’s and 1970’s are widely regarded as the era of system planning, where urban

problems could be deconstructed into component parts (transportation, land use) to

increase the efficiency of the system (Taylor 64). This “top-down” approach to planning

was influenced by the available technology and information of the era. There is not doubt

that the “top-down” perspective of aerial photography was instrumental in supplying

much of the information that led to the systems planning “top-down” methodology.

Early Geographic Information Systems

In 1962 landscape architect Ian McHarg provided the

intellectual spark for the Geographic Information System

when he used the overlay method to display different

layers of the landscape. He is solution was born from the

nature of a planning problem, the location of a highway

through an ecologically sensitive area (Schuurman 5). In

the late 1960’s the New York State Office of Planning

Coordination contracted with Cornell University’s Center

for Aerial Photographic Research to conduct an aerial

survey of the state that would be combined with ground surveys to develop the first

                           McHarg,  In  Design  with  Nature  

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Geographic Information System (GIS), known as LUNR (Land Use and Natural

Resources Inventory) (Light, 138-139).

While the computer technology at the time was nowhere near advanced enough to

incorporate the aerial photographs into the system, the researchers from Cornell teamed

up with Harvard Graphics Laboratory to create thematic maps that showed the spatial

relationships between physical and socio-economic information (Light, 141). The land

use information that was collected from the thematic maps was synthesized into a data

format that could be incorporated into Harvard’s computerized overlay data (Schuurman

5). While these events only scratch the surface in the historical development of GIS,

they highlight two if its modern foundations, the use of layering spatial information to a

fixed location in a computerized database. This early application of GIS would serve as

the framework for the modern technology that planners use today.

Modern GIS

The rapid development of computer technology in the last 15 years, from processing

power and storage capacity, to the information era in the age of the internet has been

instrumental in the development of commercially viable GIS software available to

planners. The technological achievements have led to astonishing advancements,

allowing those with the software the ability to manipulate and analyze spatial,

environmental, economic, demographic and visual data like never before (Schurrman, 5).

For planners, information access has been advanced by federal, state, and regional

programs designed to develop data that can be integrated into GIS. In 1999 legislation

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was passed in Massachusetts creating the Office of Geographic and Environmental

Information, which was mandated to create a state GIS for the development and

distribution of “geographic and environmental information in order to improve

stewardship of natural resources and the environment, promote economic development

and guide land-use planning, risk assessment, emergency response and pollution control

(www.mass.gov/mgis).” It is clear from the enabling legislation that the expectations for

the application and capacity of GIS as a problem-solving tool are vast.

Web Access and User Generated Mapping

While modern GIS software increased access to spatial data for planners, the barriers to

entry, through cost and ease of use, makes the software inaccessible for the majority of

public citizens. This is beginning to change however with access to software programs

like Google Earth and web platforms like Google Maps and Wikimapia that allow any

citizen with a computer to access spatial and other data at the local and global scale.

What is most exciting and interesting about these platforms is that they encourage, and

increasingly, are dependent upon, user and community based content (Helft). A recent

article in the New York Times highlighted the importance of user generated mapping

technology, noting that Google Maps no longer uses professional cartography services in

the development of it maps, as it finds user generated content and updates through GPS

devices to be more accurate and dynamic (Helft).

The implications of GPS technology and online mapping for the field of planning are

vast. It is easy to imagine that a community could enlist its citizens to use GPS devices to

map issues related to planning throughout the community. This medium of

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communication, providing barriers to technology were overcome, could vastly increase

the participatory influence of planning in practice. Citizens would no longer have to

spend hours at public hearings waiting for their voices to be heard, grassroots planning

efforts could take the form of interactive maps highlighting a community’s most

treasured assets and resources, as well as its biggest concerns.

Aerial Images in the Illustrative Context

While much of this paper has discussed the

use of aerial imaging as a tool to create and

disseminate information, it is important to

note that aerial photography is also an

amazing illustrative tool that helps

professionals, but more importantly the

public, understand historic settlement

patterns, how they have changed over time

and the impact on both the natural and

cultural landscape. In their book Above and

Beyond, Campoli et al use aerial photographs

to paint a vivid picture of how development

patterns and differing land use regulations

lead to significantly different manifestations of the built environment with various

implications for cultural and natural landscapes.

Above  and  Beyond,  Temporal  Change  

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Conclusion

Aerial photography has had an enormous influence on urban and regional planning by

allowing insights, perspectives and interpretations into the built and natural environment

that have ultimately served as an illustrative, and diagnostic tool for the field. This is

evident on several levels, from growth of systems planning that evolved from early

interpretations of aerial photographs of urban areas, to simple visual representations of

the landscape from above. The wealth of information available from aerial photographs

played an instrumental role in the development of Geographic Information Systems, and

the integration of accessible, user-friendly web based mapping platforms with GPS

technology has the potential to change the way planners and communities identify and

deal with problems.

Work Cited

Branch, Melville C. City Planning and Aerial Information. Cambridge: Harvard UP,

1971. Print.

Campoli, Julie, Elizabeth Humstone, and Alex Maclean. Above and Beyond. Washington,

D.C.: Planners, 2002. Print.

Helft, Miguel. "Online Maps: Everyman Offers New Directions." THe New York Times.

16 Nov. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/technology/internet/17maps.html?_r=1&hp

Light, Jennifer S. From Warfare to Welfare: Defense Intellectuals and Urban Problems

in Cold War America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins UP, 2003. Print.

"MassGIS Legislative Mandate." MassGIS. State of Massachusetts. Web.

<www.mass.gov/mgis>.

Newhall, Beaumont. Airborne Camera: The World From the Air and Outer Space. New

York: Hastings House, 1969. Print.

Schuurman, Nadine. GIS: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Print.

Taylor, Nigel. Urban Planning Theory Since 1945. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Publications, 2004. Print.