Leading Authority on GIS Is 2006 Clarkson Chair

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Michael Batty, one of the world's leading authorities on geographic information systems (GIS), is the 2006 Will and Nan Clarkson Visiting Chair in Planning in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning.

Batty will present this year's Clarkson Lecture in Planning at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 15 in 301 Crosby Hall on the UB South (Main Street) Campus.

The talk, "The Virtual City: New Technologies for Planning and Participation," will be free and open to the public.

Batty directed the UB site of the National Science Foundation's National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis from 1990-95, and today is Bartlett Professor of Planning at University College London, where he directs the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.

His research involves the development of advanced computer technologies, specifically graphics-based and mathematical models for cities, that are used to simulate the impact of development policies in urban and regional planning. Recent work has involved applications of fractal geometry and cellular automata to urban structure.

In his Clarkson lecture, Batty will explore "the idea that we can fashion our understanding of cities and plans for their future in virtual environments.

"We will show how we can visualize the city in 3-D and use this as a skeleton to file diverse information about the city -- to display it in different ways and to communicate it to very different audiences," his abstract says. "We also will show how different kinds of models -- from iconic to symbolic -- can be embedded within such virtual environments and how such environments can be fashioned into forms that are most relevant to specific users, participants, problems and planning."

Prior to joining the UB faculty, Batty was professor of city and regional planning at the University of Wales, Cardiff, from 1979-90, and from 1983-86 was dean of the university's School of Environmental Design.

He has lectured at universities in many countries and received millions of dollars in grants along with various honors for his work. Among the latter are the 1999 Sir George Back Award from the Royal Geographical Society for "contributions to national policy and practice in planning and city design."

He also received the Association of Geographic Information Award for Technological Progress (1998) and for Innovation (2002). He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 2001 and was named a Commander of the British Empire for his service to geography as part of the Queen's 2004 birthday honors list.

Batty is the author of scores of journal articles and book chapters, and author or editor of 14 books, most recently "Cities and Complexity" (MIT Press, 2005), "GIS, Spatial Analysis and Modeling" (with David Maguire and Michael Goodchild, ESRI Press, 2005) and "Advanced Spatial Analysis: The CASA Book of GIS" (with Paul Longley, ESRI Press, 2003).

He also edits the journal Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, which has one of the fastest growing readerships of any journal in the field of urban planning and design.

The Clarkson Visiting Chair is endowed by Will and Nan Clarkson and awarded semiannually to a distinguished scholar or professional in the disciplines of architecture, planning and design. The award recognizes excellence in pursuit of scholarship and professional application within these disciplines.