The definition of GeoDesign is still being developed. A few often quoted ones include:
“Geodesign is changing geography by design” (Steinitz 2010). Steinitz’s Landscape Change Model (with 3 passes of 6 stages including Representation Model, Process Model, Evaluation Model, Change Model, Impact Model, Decision Model) is often cited as a typical workflow of the GeoDesign process.
“Geodesign is a design and planning method which tightly couples the creation of design proposals with impact simulations informed by geographic contexts” (Flaxman 2010)
“Geodesign is a set of techniques and enabling technologies for planning built and natural environments in an integrated process, including project conceptualization, analysis, design specification, stakeholder participation and collaboration, design creation, simulation, and evaluation (among other stages). (Wikipedia)
There is also a “creation” focused view of GeoDesign (Miller 2009): GeoDesign is design in geographic context, consisting of the creation or modification of an entity (e.g. a building, an urban master plan) or a process with spatial and temporal dimensions.
From the SDS perspective, GeoDesign has a broader sense and a narrower sense. In the broader sense, GeoDesign (with a capital “D”) is a process of creating solutions for geo-spatial problems, involving design and decision making activities at various stages of the process. Typical stages of this process include
- design goal identification and design requirement development
- design process mapping
- condition assessment including data development and domain knowledge process model development
- suitability assessment
- design (with iterative, creative design activities supported by fast feedback on the design through constraints, function, performance checking models)
- impact and performance analysis of the alternative designs
- design alternative selection
- etc.
This sense is similar to Steinitz’s definition above.
In a narrower sense, geodesign (with a lower case “d”) focuses specifically on the design phase of the above mentioned GeoDesign process, focusing on the creative design activities (such as drawing) and the associated feedback methods and technology that allows rapid design iteration and modification. This sense is similar to Flaxman’s definition.
The GeoDesign process often involves stakeholder participation and collaboration.
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