Urban Spatial Analytics

CUSP-GX-3007.001
Fall 2015
Thursdays, 6:00pm to 8:50pm (Lecture: 6 to 7:15 pm, & Lab Session: 7:15 - 8:50 pm)
Location: Tisch Hall, 40 W 4th St, New York, NY 10012, USA
Room: LC-19
Instructors:
Him Mistry
Manager, Data Services, & Adjunct Assistant Professor, NYU CUSP
Email: himist@nyu.edu
Office phone: 212-998-2427, 718-249-5255 (cell)
Office Hours*: Wednesdays 12-1:30 pm (except 9/16, 11/18 & 11/25) & By appointments.
*Appointments during Office hours are preferred for allocating appropriate time for the consultations.
Teaching Assistant:
Kunal Barde
Graduate Student, NYU School of Engineering
krb385@nyu.edu
Course Description:
Urban Spatial Analytics focuses on developing spatial analysis skills specifically in urban context, which cuts
across various interdisciplinary fields like urban land-use planning, socio-economic development, education,
public health, real estate, criminal justice, environmental studies, transportation, and urban demography.
This course will equip students with Geographic Information System (GIS) concepts to collect, understand,
organize, store, analyze and visualize complex urban geospatial data. Students will learn about combining and
overlaying local urban datasets (like MapPLUTO, Taxi/Cab data, Tree Census, Transportation & other
datasets) with regional and national datasets like US Census, in order to understand spatial relationships and
foster critical thinking in addressing urban issues that informs urban and regional policies.
Students will gain hands-on training on geospatial data management, advance analyses (geo-statistics,
proximity analysis, site suitability analysis, cluster analysis..) , visualization techniques, and applications on
solving real world problems, using ESRI's product - ArcGIS (ArcInfo with advanced extensions) as a primary
software, however students will be exposed to other tools/programming languages like QGIS, CartoDB,
ArcGIS Online, Python and others.
Course Prerequisites:
Experience with windows-based software and basic computer skills.

CUSP-GX-3007.001

Page 1

CUSP - TERM YEAR Fall 2015

Course Objectives:
The purpose of this class is to equip you with GIS tools, specifically ArcGIS software via series of lectures,
hands-on exercises, course readings, assignments, project work and exam. This class will enable you to create
thematic maps, understand various spatial data and research, and conduct advanced spatial analyses.
Furthermore, it will expose you to some geo-statistical analysis, network analysis, model-builders, 3D-GIS and
web-based GIS tools.
Course Textbooks:
Required: This course will primarily use GIS Tutorial 1 Basic Workbook for ArcGIS 10.1 (5th Edition) by Wilpen
l. Gorr and Kristen S. Kurland as a required text.
**Important Note: This course heavily relies on this aforementioned textbook and the data that comes with
it. So please make sure to bring your textbook and the data on the first day of the class & onwards.**
Optional:
- GIS for the Urban Environment (2006) by Juliana Maantay & John Ziegler
- GIS Tutorial 2 Spatial Analysis Workbook for ArcGIS 10.1 by David Allen
- How to Lie with Maps (2nd Edition, 1996) by Mark Monmonier
- Analyzing Urban Poverty: GIS for the Developing World by Rosario Giusti de Prez & Ramn Prez
Other course material will be distributed intermittently and as needed.
Software Requirements:
ArcGIS 10.3 (min. ArcGIS 10.2 or latest). You can get a free ArcGIS copy from NYU Data Services by filling
out the Software Request form. You must have ArcGIS installed on your own laptop (macbook, notebook...)
at the beginning of the first class.
**Please note that ArcGIS is a Windows-based software. Macintosh users must install Windows OS in order
to runArcGIS (see the instructions below).
MAC users can buy and install Windows Operating System via Bootcamp (should be pre-installed for all new Macs ) or via
VM Ware or Paralles. Once you have installed Windows OS on your MAC, you can then install ArcGIS on the Windows
OS part of your MAC. Ask your Academic Coordinator for obtaining Windows OS. For student pricing on VM Ware and
Parallels visit NYU Computer Store:https://www.bookstores.nyu.edu/computer.store/software.prices.html
Grades:
Attendance & in-class participation
Assignments
Mid-term
Final Project

15%
15%
30%
40%

Attendance is crucial as our class only meets once a week, and has a lot of hands-on in-class exercises. Only
one unexcused absence per term will be allowed, with the due responsibility of the student to catch up on
readings, exercises and assignments for the class he/she has missed. Following that, each unexcused absence

CUSP-GX-3007.001

Page 2

CUSP - TERM YEAR Fall 2015

will be one percentage point off your grade. For excused absences, I will need a doctors note or other proof
of an emergency, and I prefer to be notified in advance via email.
All assignments need to be submitted in a timely manner. Unless instructed otherwise please upload/submit
an electronic version (pdf format) for each assignment, on the NYU Classes > Assignments section. Each late
submission will be penalized with 0.5 percent point, with a maximum of 2 percent points per assignment.
The final will be a group project. Guidelines for the project proposals and projects will be delivered later in
the semester. The project proposal should not exceed one A4 size page.
Please do not hesitate to ask questions if you are not clear and/or struggling with concepts instead of waiting
till the last minute.
Statement of Academic Integrity
NYU CUSP values both open inquiry and academic integrity. Students graduate programs are expected to
follow standards of excellence set forth by New York University. Such standards include respect, honesty,
and responsibility. The program does not tolerate violations to academic integrity including:

Plagiarism
Cheating on an exam
Submitting your own work toward requirements in more than one course without prior approval
from the instructor
Collaborating with other students for work expected to be completed individually
Giving your work to another student to submit as his/her own
Purchasing or using papers or work online or from a commercial firm and presenting it as your own
work

Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the Universitys policy on academic integrity and CUSPs
policies on plagiarism as they will be expected to adhere to such policies at all times as a student and an
alumni of New York University.
The Universitys policies concerning plagiarism, in particular, will be strictly followed. Please consult the
Chicago Manual of Style for guidelines on citations. Do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions regarding
writing style, citations, or any academic policies.

CUSP-GX-3007.001

Page 3

CUSP - TERM YEAR Fall 2015

Course Outline (subject to change as needed)

Session
Topics
Week-1
Sep 03

Introduction to GIS (Ch. 1)

Open and Save map documents
Work with map layers
Explore interface and various features of ArcGIS
Readings/tutorials (1-1 to 1-4)
In class tutorials (1-5 to 1-8)
Assignments: 1-1 and 1-2 (Due Week-2)

Week-2
Sep 10

Map Design (Ch. 2)

Thematic mapping
Group layers, dynamic map scaling, and attribute query on point maps
Readings/tutorials (2-1 to 2-3)
In class tutorials (2-4 to 2-8)
Assignments: 2-1 and 2-2 (Due Week-3)

Week-3
Sep 17

GIS Outputs (Ch. 3) & Spatial data (Ch. 4) - 1

Create map layouts and templates
Geodatabase concepts
Readings/tutorials (3-1 to 3-4), & (4-1 to 4-3)
In class tutorials (3-5 to 3-8) & (4-4 to 4-6)
Assignments: 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 4-1 and 4-2 (Due Week-4)

Week-4
Sep 24

Spatial Data (Ch. 5) - 2 Constructs types, metadata and components

Digitization (Ch. 7) - Create, edit and save geo-spatial features
Readings/tutorials (5-1 to 5-3) & (7-1 to 7-2)
In class tutorials (5-4 to 5-6) & (7-3 to 7-5)
Assignments: 5-1, 5-2, 7-1 and 7-2 (Due Week-5)

Week-5
Oct 01

Geoprocessing (Ch. 6)
Extract, clip, dissolve, merger, intersect and union features
ModelBuilder introduction to automate geoprocessing and python outputs.
Readings/tutorials (6-1 to 6-3)
In class tutorials (6-4 to 6-7)
Assignments: 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3 (Due Week-6)

CUSP-GX-3007.001

Page 4

CUSP - TERM YEAR Fall 2015

Week-6
Oct 08

Geocoding (Ch. 8) + Mid-term discussion:

Readings/tutorials (8-1 to 8-2)
In class tutorials (8-3 to 8-5)
Assignments: 8-1 and 8-2 (Due Week-10)

Week-7
Oct 15

Web-mapping introduction: ArcGIS Online & CartoDB

Readings/tutorials (custom)
In class tutorials (custom exercises)
Assignments (TBD)

Week-8
Oct 22

Mid-term exam

Week-9
Oct 29

Spatial Analysis (Ch. 9): + Final Project Proposal discussion

Proximity analysis, Site suitability analysis & cluster analysis
In class tutorials (9-1 to 9-3)
Assignments: 9-1, 9-2 and 9-3 (Due Week-10)

Week-10
Nov 05

Spatial Analysis advance (Ch. 11): + Final Project Proposal discussion

Kernel density analysis, Raster-based site suitability study & creating risk index
Readings/tutorials (11-1 to 11-3)
In class tutorials (11-4 to 11-6)
Assignments: 11-1 & 11-2 & Project Proposal Due date (Due Week-11)

Week-11
Nov 12

Geo-statistical Analysis - 1 + Project Proposal Due date (today)

Concepts: What is spatial statistics? Spatial measurements, understanding
spatial data distributions..
Readings/tutorials (custom)
In class tutorials (custom exercises)
Assignments: TBD: Due date (Due Week-12)

Week-12
Nov 19

Geo-statistical Analysis - 2 + (Guest - possibility)

Measuring geographic distributions: compactness, orientation & direction,
using statistics to identify patterns & clusters, defining weights, & identify
geographic relationships.
Readings/tutorials (custom)
In class tutorials (custom exercises)
Assignments: TBD: Due date (Due Week-13)

CUSP-GX-3007.001

Page 5

CUSP - TERM YEAR Fall 2015

Week-13
Nov 26

Thanksgiving - No Classes

Week-14
Dec 03

3D GIS / Web-mapping (ArcGIS Online & CartoDB) / Network Analysis an introduction + Visualization
Readings/tutorials (custom)
In class tutorials (custom exercises)

Week-15
Dec 10

Final Project presentations

CUSP-GX-3007.001

Page 6

CUSP - TERM YEAR Fall 2015