Abstract
Starting in 1987, team members at the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design developed a pilot suite of three computer software programs for urban management: PROJECT, AFFORD, and PALMS (Parcel-Based Land Management System). These programs were data simulation models designed to assist international public officials in assessing physical factors and financial resources for housing development and land planning.
Documents below include an AFFORD user manual, a PROJECT user manual and description, and a PALMS progress report, with maps and slides. Supporting documents include three student reports from the 1988 Design Studio, addressing the use of computerized systems: “Information Systems in the Developing World,” “Feasibility of Housing Surveys,” and “Long Term Human Activities and Ecosystem Responses.”
Timeline: 1989-1993
— 1989 — Mona Serageldin created “AFFORD,” a computer simulation model designed for public planning agencies, for making data assessments on physical standards and financing terms for the production and delivery of housing for limited income groups.
— 1987-1988 — François Vigier created “PROJECT,” a computer simulation model for programming and phasing large-scale public projects (housing developments, roadways or service corridors, regional rehabilitation). The model allowed the user to easily explore data interactions — among physical, economic and financial variables — to determine the feasibility of projects.
— 1991 — Jonathan Corson-Rikert created “PALMS” (Parcel-Based Land Management System) as a geographic information system database — and an applications library consisting of commonly encountered urban management decisions for planners.
More context on the Unit’s work with GIS can be found in: “Geographic Information Systems: The Spatial Dimension of Urban Information Management,” by François Vigier, Jonathan Corson-Rikert, and Joy Hecht, 1989 (Project ID: 1989_07_002). This essay reviewed the emerging field of GIS as of 1989 and the potential applications for urban planning.
Although not included below, Mona Serageldin and Sherif Lotfi also created a fourth program, “COMPUTE,” in 1993. This analytical model assessed the economic impact of urban land development projects in terms of four key indicators: employment generation, leverage ratio, NPV, and IRR, with a sensitivity analysis.
| Project Year: | 1987-1993 |
| Project Type: | GIS Computer Software Program Documentation |
| Geographic Regions: | Global / None Specified |
| Reports: | — — — Student Reports: |
| Authors: | François Vigier; Mona Serageldin; Peter Rowe; Daniel L. Schodek; Mara Graham; Joy Hecht; Michael W. Binford; Kristina Hill |
| Sponsors: | Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture; Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design |
| Categories: | Education; Climate Change |
| ID: | 1988_12_001 |
Related I2UD Projects
Related by: Early GIS Computing
- Design Studio 1988: “Urban Infrastructure Planning and Programing in Developing Countries,” Chapters 1-7, Seminar Curriculum (Project ID: 1988_00_004)
- “Geographic Information Systems: The Spatial Dimension of Urban Information Management,” GIS Research Paper by François Vigier, Jonathan Corson-Rikert, and Joy Hecht (Project ID: 1989_07_002)
- “Computerized Urban Management Methods: PROJECT, AFFORD and PALMS,” Early Computer Software for Urban Management, 1987-1993 (Project ID: 1988_12_001)