Lab 1: Timeline JS
Introduction
As a student pursuing a masters in city and regional planning at Pratt Institute, I am particularly interested in the relationship between information visualization tools and the planning profession. Specifically, what is the historic evolution of the tools which urban planners rely on today? And how long until this tool becomes universally mainstream in the planning profession, similar to the current uses of age pyramids and demographic curves? Through this module we learned about a broad variety of visualization and mapping tools and how they have evolved over the decades. For this lab I choose to highlight the history of specific visualizations and tools that contribute to the urban planning decision making process. In particular, the tools I focused on are choropleth maps, demographic curves, age pyramids, and geographic information systems (GIS). It is important to understand the history of visualization tools and practices in order to best take advantage of them in the present day.
Discussion
Urban Planners use a variety of tools to inform their decision-making process. Many of these tools are taken for granted in the current day. But without the development and history of such tools, our job would be much harder. Some of these tools include age pyramids, demographic curves, choropleth maps, and geographic information systems (GIS).
In my own experience, when investigating a new study area, the first tools I use to get a baseline understanding of the area are a combination of population demographic curves and age pyramid visualizations. Next, I look at preexisting choropleth maps and I often use GIS to investigate and create maps and visualizations showing trends in the area. These maps are often choropleth maps, which are color-coded regional maps using color to highlight geospatial ranges of data.
GIS is a valuable tool, but many smaller regions such as municipal planning departments still have limited access and understanding of the tools uses and usability. How long until this tool becomes universally mainstream in the planning profession, similar to the current uses of age pyramids and demographic curves? Perhaps looking at this history timeline will help inform this question.
Materials
The primary tool used was Timeline JS. Instructions for how to use this tool can be found here: https://timeline.knightlab.com. The tool is designed to be user friendly and the website has detailed directions.
A timeline can be created simply by filling out the google sheets template provided. Google sheets is a spreadsheet provided by the google suite. It functions similarly to the widely used Microsoft excel.
Methods
Learning about Timeline JS:
To learn about Timeline JS I watched the how-to video on the website and read through the instructions there. These resources were very useful for understanding how to use the software. They provided a template and I filled it in easily then published the timeline. Each row is a different slide and has a column for the title, date, media, source etc (instructions: https://timeline.knightlab.com/#make).
Obtaining Data:
To create my Timeline JS I used several research sources. I learned about many of the early developments along my timeline through our modules and resources. Specifically, the infographics history chart found here (https://history.infowetrust.com). The later events I found through a history of GIS from ESRI (https://www.esri.com/en-us/what-is-gis/history-of-gis).
Putting it all together:
After learning how to use Timeline JS and conducting research on my topic, I put the information I learned into the template provided from Timeline JS. However, after publishing the timeline I found some errors. For one, the images were not displaying. To fix this issue I had to trouble shoot by starting over in a new template document and transferring over the information I had put into the first template. When transferring the links for the media images column I was particularly careful to highlight the appropriate box and then paste the link into the text box above the spreadsheet rather than directly into the box in the spreadsheet. I’m not clear as to why the issue occurred or why this trouble shooting worked, but after taking these extra precautions my images appeared as they were supposed to in my Timeline JS. I also found a website called Hex Color Tool which allows someone to choose a color and the tool will display the 6 digit CSS code for each unique color. I used this tool to obtain the codes needed in the last column of the Timeline JS template which controls the background color of each timeline slide. The Hex Color Tool can be found here: https://www.hexcolortool.com/42034B#033149.
My finalized template can be viewed here.
Results
The Timeline JS I created can be found here
This timeline shows the developments of major tools used by modern Urban Planners in the field today. It begins with the creation of the first choropleth map in 1819, created by Baron Pierre Charles Dupin. The second entry is in1828 with the development of demographic curves, first created by Adolphe Quetelet. In 1829, Adriano Balbi created the first Comparative Choropleths, showing Crime Maps through color coded densities. The next timeline event occurred in 1874, when Francis Amasa Walker create the first Age Pyramid. We jump to the second half of the 20th century for the rest of the timeline events. In 1959 there is an example of a comprehensive city map created without the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools. From 1960 – 1969 GIS is developed and by 1981 these tools are made more accessible to the public through the creation of ESRI as a software manufacturer.
In the past 50 years since the creation of GIS, it has revolutionized the urban planning field.
Reflection
I had some issues creating the timeline but overall, I am happy with how it turned out. I think it is useful to see the development of these tools in their historical context. Before making this timeline, I was surprised the GIS has been around for so long yet many smaller planning offices have not taken advantage of this important tool. However, knowing now, from this timeline, that other common placed tools in the planning profession, such as demographic curves and age pyramids were created in the 1800s, it shows that more time is needed for GIS to become uniformly common place across the planning profession.
I hope to use my expertise in GIS and urban planning to help advance both fields and the use of GIS tools throughout the urban planning field.
Sources
Hex Color. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2021, from https://www.hexcolortool.com/42034B#033149
History of GIS: Early History and the Future of GIS. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2021, from https://www.esri.com/en-us/what-is-gis/history-of-gis
Map of DataViz Firsts:. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2021, from https://history.infowetrust.com/