The Short Course on “GIS – Principles and Applications in Human Settlements” is a unique and intense 5-day programme for working professionals from diverse backgrounds working on different aspects of human settlements. It is blended with essentials of theory on Geographic Information Science and Systems and followed by hands-on exposure to practice with exclusive case studies.
This course has been successfully completed. Visit our Facebook album for images from the sessions.
Course Director:
 Dr. H S Sudhira Lead Faculty, IIHS.Dr. H S Sudhira is a faculty member at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS). He has obtained his Ph.D. for his thesis on “Studies on Urban Sprawl and Spatial Planning Support System for Bangalore, India” at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. His PhD thesis has been endorsed by Urbanisation and Global Environmental Change (UGEC), an IHDP Core Project. Dr. Sudhira has been a summer Research Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore during 1998 and 2000. In addition, he has received the Indian Institute of Science Fellowship for Research Scholars (Jan 2005 – Dec 2007) and the NUFFIC Fellowship, the Netherlands. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India has awarded Dr. Sudhira with a Foreign Travel Grant, 2007. He has worked on studying the evolution and growth of towns and cities, their land-use and land cover changes, planning practices, governance structures and mobility. With a strong desire to carry out independent and grounded research, he has established Gubbi Labs, a private research enterprise that works on a host of domains ranging from sustainable ecosystems to livable settlements. He is a volunteer with India Literacy Project. When he is not mapping people and places, he pretends to watch birds. |
Guest Lecturers:
- Dr. Ashwin Mahesh Ashwin Mahesh is the CEO of Mapunity and an Adjunct Faculty at the Indian Institute of Information Technology. He is part of the Center for Public Policy, IIM Bangalore and an Urban Research Strategist at the Office of Adviser to Honorable Chief Minister on Urban Affairs, Government of Karnataka. He will speak on Opportunities with GIS in Urban Planning.
- Arun Ganesh
Not given any fairy tale books in his childhood by his parents, Arun spent his formative years flipping through his sister’s geography atlas, tracing shapes of countries, memorizing place names and understanding the relationships between mountains, rivers and cities. Not surprisingly, he developed a deep interest in cartography and visual information design at an early age, creating large scale plans of fantasy cities on the backside of drafting sheets from his dad’s office. The four years spent pursuing Electronics & Communication Engineering from Anna University gave him ample free time to develop his cartographic skills further, by contributing heavily to wikipedia and the openstreetmap projects. After an accidental entry into the post graduate Information & Interface Design program at the National Institute of Design, he is now on a mission to share his love for geography and the environment to others using maps as a communication medium. - Dr. Ashish Verma
Dr. Ashish Verma is a Ph.D. from IIT Bombay and currently serving as Asst. Prof. of Transportation Engg. at Dept. of Civil Engg. and Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation, and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India. Before joining IISc, he has served in IIT Guwahati, and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). His research interests are in; sustainable transportation planning, public transport planning and management, optimisation of transportation systems, application of geoinformatics in transportation, driver behaviour and road safety, traffic management etc. He is also a certified road safety auditor (through IRF-ARRB certification course). Dr. Verma has authored about 50 research publications, 1 book, and 1 NPTEL web-course. He is a member of the editorial board of JUPD, ASCE and guest editor of special issue “Challenges in Transportation Planning for Asian Cities”, of the same journal, published in March 2010. He also guest edited a special issue titled “Sustainable Transportation System for Cities of Developing Countries: Challenges and Issues” for the journal “Current Science” of Indian Academy of Sciences (published in May 2011) and currently working on another special issue titled “Economics of Sustainable Transportation in India” for the journal “Research in Transportation Economics” of Elsevier Science. He is the founding President of the recently founded Transportation Research Group of India , which is a registered society and has the mission to aid India’s overall growth through focused transportation research, education, and policies in the country. More details about him can be seen on his home page. - T.R. Champaka T.R. Champaka is an Urban Planner with Groupe SCE India Pvt. Ltd. and has worked with them on the Master Plan Bangalore 2015, the Revision of the Structure Plan for the Bangalore Metropolitan Region, City Development Plan of Jalgaon, the Implementation of a complete GIS/MIS solution for water & sewerage management and the Spatial Information Infrastructure for Reconstructing Monitoring (SIIRM), Sri Lanka. She will speak on GIS in the Preparation of Structure Plan for Bangalore.
Session 1
Introduction to GI Science and Systems: The session will attempt to introduce the learner to appreciate geographic phenomena and then goes about to arrive at a working definition of a GIS. It will also note the different modes of representations of real world phenomenon like maps and models.
Session 2
Geographical data types and representation: In this session the learner will be exposed to ways of representing geographic phenomenon. It then will introduce the learner to certain concepts of topology, spatial relationships, scale and resolution.
Session 3
Data processing systems: The session will demystify the notions of GIS and views GIS as a mere software. It will then note and emphasize the role of database management systems.
Session 4
Data entry and preparation: The different modes of spatial data input are introduced in this session. Concepts of geodesy and map projections are also introduced as a precursor to methods of data preparation.
Session 5
Geospatial data analysis: This is a crucial session that will enable the learner to appreciate the several analytic capabilities of GIS.
Session 6
Geo-visualisation: This session will address the important aspect of presenting geospatial data and analysis – geo-visualisation and essential map cosmetics.
Session 7
Web GIS and Mash-ups: In this session the learner will be introduced to harness Google Maps and other popular web-based mapping applications. This will also equip the learner with essential hacks and work-around to present/source geospatial data and analysis online.
Session 8
Issues of data quality, sharing and metadata: The last lecture session will attempt to emphasize the importance of data quality, issues concerning its sharing and need for maintaining metadata.
Case Study Sessions
The Case Study sessions will have at least three uniquely designed case studies with different entry points – transportation, land-use planning and resources management. Depending on the learner profiles, they will be assigned to each of these themes and are expected to work in teams. On the last day, all teams will have to present their work.