I plan on using both Timeline JS and ArcGIS for my project. Timeline JS is a simple tool for making timelines that can also be taken to embed in a website. I am hoping to create timelines for both New York City and Los Angeles that denote when they hope to reach various sustainability goals. There are many overall goals to be reached (noted in comprehensive plans by the city governments), like carbon neutrality for example, as well as many checkpoints for reaching those overall goals. It would be great to display these goals in a cohesive way that helps us understand the times in which these cities will be making their greatest strides towards sustainability. Having timelines to compare each city’s track for reaching sustainability can also help us to understand what kinds of actions need to be taken to ensure that these goals are met. We might also come to wonder if the dates for these goals are attainable, and if they will be worked on actively.
ArcGIS will be useful for visually showing some of the environmental concerns for New York City and Los Angeles. We can come to understand the severity of air and water pollution, issues of congestion, or issues of sprawl/land use by use of mapping. It can simultaneously give some geographic context for why these issues arose and/or how they might be exacerbated. Air pollution in LA, for example, is worsened because of the fact that LA is in a valley, and so the smog tends to settle and stay put. ArcGIS can also be used to highlight sustainable features either already in place or ones that are going to be put in place. Highlighting various sustainable attributes will identify trends in what is being done as far as mitigation of environmental problems. Having visual layouts can also help us compare and learn from each other when it comes to continued growth and moving into the future.
Timeline JS and ArcGIS offer many tools that help bring together the whole scope of the project, and bring to light factors that help us in understanding our progress in urban sustainability Having visual displays to compare is a unique way of furthering the area of urban sustainability, and understanding what we know and don’t know.