Free and Open Source Software for Geomatics Conference FOSS4G 2010 Barcelona

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Title

CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES OF OPEN CAFE SYSTEM - APPLICATION STUDY FOR THE LANDSCAPE PLANNING -

Abstract

Open Cafe System (OCS), developed by Tokyo-based NPO "OpenConcierge", is a integrated FOSS4G platform for activities in natural environmental fields such as landscape planning. OCS is composed of the existing FOSS4G and other opensources, PostGIS, GeoServer, OpenLayers and PHP, and specially dedicated to provision of a geographic information basis for the decision making processes. This time we present the basic structure of OCS and its application to the actual conservation examples of natural and historical environment in Japan, with cooperation of local stakeholders.

We had proposed a a toolkit for the analysis for alternative plans for residential development based on the OCS framework we developed. It provided browser-based interfaces and overlaying and overlap calculating functions for the trees and the buildings in multiple scenarios. It enabled stakeholders to quantitatively compare scenarios easily without professional knowledge on GIS analysis, which had been almost impossible.

Difficulties are found in the unification process of different format types of existing data, as GIS, CAD and field data significantly differ in their purpose of use. We propose that future FOSS4G development should consider about the integration with the non-GIS (namely no geographic coordination) data format, because in many planning cases most of the existing data is prepared in non-GIS format, especially in CAD. Continuous development of OCS and its application to various natural environmental fields will contribute to the expansion of FOSS4G community and transdisciplinary landscape planning.

Authors

Kazuhiko Nakamura - OpenConcierge
Shimon Sugiura - OpenConcierge
Rui Fukumoto - OpenConcierge
Hitoshi Saito - Tokyo Metropolitan University
Kazuaki Tsuchiya - The University of Tokyo
Yu Nakayama - OpenConcierge