GIS Mapping and Spatial Analysis for Urban Planning Training Course

Duration 10 days 17 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Urban Planner, GIS Analyst and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-GRS-038

Before you join: Participants should understand common urban planning terms such as zoning, parcels, land use, infrastructure and service areas.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Urban planning decisions depend on evidence that can be located, tested and explained. Planners must identify suitable development land, assess access to services, test transport catchments, manage growth constraints and communicate trade-offs to decision-makers and communities. GIS provides the working environment for combining parcels, demographics, infrastructure, environmental constraints and remotely sensed imagery into defensible spatial evidence. Poor coordinate systems, incomplete metadata or unsuitable analytical methods can produce misleading findings and costly planning decisions.

This course develops the practical GIS mapping and spatial analysis skills used in municipal planning departments, infrastructure programmes, development agencies and private planning consultancies. Participants prepare planning datasets, manage coordinate reference systems, create thematic maps, query spatial relationships and apply vector and raster analysis methods. They use buffers, overlays, network analysis, suitability modelling, density analysis and remote sensing classification to answer planning questions. The course also addresses data quality, metadata, cartographic design, planning indicators and ethical handling of location data.

Teaching combines short technical briefings with instructor demonstrations, planning cases, guided map production, group analysis and structured review. Cases reflect housing site selection, public-facility access, transport corridor assessment, informal-settlement mapping and environmental constraint screening. Participants progressively build a spatial planning evidence pack, then complete a capstone project based on a realistic urban development scenario. They leave with reusable analysis templates, map layouts, suitability criteria and a documented workflow that can be adapted to their own planning work.

The course suits professionals who already work with planning data, maps or spatially referenced records and need stronger analytical capability. It is particularly relevant where planning teams need to move from static mapping towards repeatable, transparent spatial analysis.

What you will be able to do

  • Prepare urban planning datasets using geodatabases, metadata records and coordinate reference systems
  • Produce thematic planning maps using classification, symbolisation, labels and layout standards
  • Apply spatial queries, buffers and overlays to test development constraints and opportunities
  • Conduct network-based accessibility analysis for public facilities, transport and emergency services
  • Build weighted suitability models for housing, infrastructure and land-use allocation
  • Interpret satellite imagery and derive land-cover evidence for urban growth assessment
  • Evaluate spatial data quality using positional accuracy, completeness and attribute checks
  • Present a documented urban planning GIS analysis with maps, findings and recommendations

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce planning maps that explain development options and constraints clearly
  • Assess candidate sites using transparent weighted suitability criteria
  • Test public-service access through network catchments and travel-time analysis
  • Interpret land-cover change from satellite imagery and classified raster outputs
  • Present spatial findings with documented assumptions, sources and limitations

For your organisation

  • More consistent spatial evidence for zoning, infrastructure and development-control decisions
  • Faster screening of sites against environmental, service and access constraints
  • Repeatable workflows for facility planning and capital-investment prioritisation
  • Clearer maps and analysis records for stakeholder consultation and management review
  • Improved traceability of data sources, analytical assumptions and planning recommendations

Course modules

17 modules over 10 days

Participants can frame an urban planning question as a GIS data and analysis task.

  • GIS roles within statutory planning, infrastructure delivery and development control
  • Spatial questions translated into data requirements, methods and decision outputs
  • Vector, raster and tabular data structures used in planning projects
  • Feature classes, attributes and relationships within urban planning geodatabases
  • Planning evidence chains from source data to mapped recommendation
  • Common GIS workflows for site screening, service access and growth monitoring

Participants can select, verify and manage coordinate reference systems for planning data.

  • Geographic coordinates, projected coordinates and units used for urban analysis
  • Coordinate reference system selection based on location, extent and measurement purpose
  • Datum transformations and their effect on overlay accuracy
  • Identify projection conflicts using layer properties and visible alignment checks
  • Reproject planning layers while preserving source data and metadata
  • Measure distance, area and direction using appropriate projected coordinate systems

Participants can prepare planning datasets for mapping and spatial analysis.

  • Import CAD, spreadsheet, GPS and open-data files into GIS projects
  • Clean attribute fields using domain values, aliases and null checks
  • Geocode addresses for facilities, permits and service-demand records
  • Join census indicators to administrative areas using common identifiers
  • Create geodatabases with naming conventions, field types and coded domains
  • Document source, date, scale, restrictions and intended use through metadata

Participants can create readable planning maps for technical and non-technical audiences.

  • Map purpose determines scale, extent, classification and visual hierarchy
  • Choropleth classification using natural breaks, quantiles and equal intervals
  • Apply proportional symbols to compare population, capacity and development intensity
  • Colour schemes distinguish land uses, constraints and priority areas
  • Label parcels, roads and facilities without obscuring critical map content
  • Compose print and digital layouts with legend, scale bar and source note

Participants can identify parcels and areas meeting defined planning conditions.

  • Attribute queries filter parcels by zoning, area, ownership and status
  • Spatial selection identifies features intersecting districts, corridors and protected areas
  • Buffer analysis tests setback requirements around roads, rivers and utilities
  • Dissolve and multipart operations consolidate planning constraint zones
  • Overlay results distinguish fully constrained, partly constrained and available land
  • Record query logic for repeatable development-control screening

Participants can combine planning layers to assess competing land-use conditions.

  • Intersect operations combine parcel boundaries with zoning and constraint layers
  • Union analysis identifies all spatial combinations across overlapping planning designations
  • Clip and erase tools prepare focused datasets for local area plans
  • Calculate affected areas and proportions for policy compliance assessments
  • Overlay matrices compare proposed development against environmental and infrastructure conditions
  • Interpret sliver polygons and topology errors created by overlay operations

Participants can identify and correct spatial data issues affecting planning analysis.

  • Topology rules prevent gaps, overlaps and duplicate parcel boundaries
  • Validate land-use polygons against must-not-overlap and must-not-have-gaps rules
  • Positional accuracy assessed against authoritative basemaps and surveyed control points
  • Completeness checks identify missing attributes, records and geographic coverage
  • Logical consistency testing detects invalid codes and impossible planning classifications
  • Quality statements communicate data limitations, confidence and suitable uses

Participants can assess access to services using road-network analysis methods.

  • Network datasets represent road links, turns, speeds and travel restrictions
  • Service areas map travel-time catchments around schools, clinics and stations
  • Origin-destination cost matrices compare demand locations with available facilities
  • Shortest-path analysis tests emergency routes and public transport connections
  • Accessibility indicators measure populations within defined walking or driving thresholds
  • Interpret network assumptions including one-way streets, impedance and missing links

Participants can analyse the spatial distribution and concentration of urban phenomena.

  • Kernel density estimation maps concentrations of incidents, permits and businesses
  • Point density compares event frequency using consistent analysis cell sizes
  • Hot Spot Analysis identifies statistically significant clusters and spatial outliers
  • Standard deviational ellipses describe directional trends in urban expansion
  • Spatial autocorrelation tests whether observed values cluster beyond random patterns
  • Interpret density surfaces without overstating precision or causal relationships

Participants can build and explain a weighted suitability model for a planning decision.

  • Suitability criteria defined from policy objectives, technical thresholds and exclusions
  • Standardise input layers using reclassification scales and common suitability scores
  • Weighted overlay combines access, slope, utilities, hazards and land availability
  • Constraint masks exclude protected areas, flood zones and incompatible uses
  • Sensitivity testing examines how alternative weights alter priority locations
  • Document criteria, weights, data sources and decision rules for review

Participants can use raster and elevation data for development suitability assessment.

  • Raster cell size selected according to source resolution and planning decision scale
  • Digital elevation models derive slope, aspect and terrain relief
  • Slope thresholds screen areas for construction feasibility and drainage risk
  • Raster calculator combines classified surfaces using map algebra expressions
  • Resample and align rasters before multi-criteria analysis
  • Identify terrain limitations affecting road alignments and development footprints

Participants can interpret satellite imagery to identify urban land-cover change.

  • Satellite image resolution assessed for parcel, neighbourhood and city-scale questions
  • True-colour and false-colour composites reveal built surfaces, vegetation and water
  • Spectral signatures distinguish impervious surfaces, bare soil and vegetation
  • Normalized Difference Vegetation Index measures vegetation condition and change
  • Supervised classification assigns land-cover classes from training samples
  • Change detection compares classified imagery across two planning periods

Participants can compare mapped land-use scenarios against planning objectives.

  • Existing land-use inventories structured using consistent planning classification codes
  • Scenario layers represent proposed housing, employment, parks and transport corridors
  • Calculate land-use mix, density and developable-area planning indicators
  • Compare scenarios against population projections and infrastructure capacity assumptions
  • Conflict analysis identifies incompatible adjacencies and competing spatial claims
  • Prepare scenario maps that distinguish adopted policy from preliminary options

Participants can prepare GIS outputs for planning communication and stakeholder review.

  • Web map layers organised through clear names, scale ranges and pop-ups
  • Configure attribute pop-ups with planning status, area and constraint information
  • Generalise sensitive data before public release or stakeholder sharing
  • Story map structure connects evidence, alternatives, findings and recommended action
  • Static map exports prepared for reports, hearings and consultation boards
  • Accessibility checks improve legibility through contrast, font size and alternative text

Participants can apply governance controls to planning GIS data and analytical outputs.

  • Data governance roles assign stewardship, ownership, approval and update responsibilities
  • OGC Web Map Service and Web Feature Service support data sharing
  • ISO 19115 metadata elements record lineage, quality and distribution conditions
  • Personal data risks assessed for mobility, address and household datasets
  • Version control procedures protect approved plans and authoritative spatial layers
  • Reproducible workflows retain parameters, scripts, sources and processing dates

Participants can scope a GIS analysis project with clear methods, controls and outputs.

  • Problem statements define decision owners, users, questions and required evidence
  • Data inventories assess availability, licensing, currency, scale and quality
  • Analysis plans sequence preparation, validation, modelling, review and reporting
  • Acceptance criteria specify map accuracy, traceability and decision usefulness
  • Risk registers address missing data, uncertain assumptions and stakeholder disagreement
  • Project schedules allocate tasks across data preparation, analysis and review

Participants can build, review and present a complete GIS-based urban development suitability assessment.

  • Frame a development decision using stated policy objectives and site criteria
  • Prepare parcel, infrastructure, environmental and demographic datasets for analysis
  • Apply buffers, overlays, network measures and weighted suitability scoring
  • Produce decision maps, ranked sites and documented analytical assumptions
  • Review findings against data quality limitations and stakeholder requirements
  • Present recommendations, trade-offs and implementation actions to a planning panel

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Urban planning GIS project scoping template
  2. Spatial data quality and metadata checklist
  3. Land suitability weighted-overlay model
  4. Public-facility accessibility analysis template
  5. Planning map layout and review checklist
  6. Documented urban development suitability assessment

Who should attend

  • Urban Planner — needs defensible spatial evidence for plans, permits and development decisions
  • GIS Analyst — supports planning teams with mapping, data management and location analysis
  • Transport Planner — assesses access, catchments, corridors and network connectivity
  • Infrastructure Planner — prioritises facility locations and service coverage investments
  • Environmental Planner — maps development constraints, sensitive areas and land-cover change
  • Housing or Land Officer — evaluates sites, parcels and settlement growth patterns

Skills and tools covered

Spatial data managementThematic cartographySuitability modellingNetwork accessibility analysisRemote sensing interpretationPlanning evidence communication

Tools and standards

QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, PostGIS, ISO 19115

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by demonstrations in GIS software and planning-focused case work. Participants work with parcel, road, census, facility, imagery and environmental datasets drawn from realistic urban scenarios. Group exercises compare analytical choices, such as buffer distances, classification methods and suitability weights. Simulations require teams to advise on competing land-use options using mapped evidence. Each participant develops an application plan for a current planning question and receives structured feedback on maps, assumptions and findings.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand common urban planning terms such as zoning, parcels, land use, infrastructure and service areas. Prior experience reading maps, spreadsheets or planning reports is expected. Familiarity with a desktop GIS interface is helpful, including opening layers and viewing attribute tables, but advanced analysis skills are not assumed. Participants should be comfortable working with structured data and basic calculations. Programming, database administration, surveying qualifications and remote sensing experience are not required. The course explains the GIS methods needed for the planning cases.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should be able to read maps, work with spreadsheets and understand basic planning terminology. Experience opening GIS layers and attribute tables is useful, but advanced analysis, coding and database administration are not required.

Bring a laptop if your delivery arrangement requires one, plus any non-sensitive planning maps, datasets or project questions you want to discuss. Course datasets and software guidance are provided for the taught cases.

It is designed for planners, GIS analysts, infrastructure specialists, transport planners, environmental planners and land or housing officers. It is most useful for professionals who need to turn mapped data into planning evidence.

The methods are taught through urban planning decisions rather than generic mapping examples. Cases focus on site selection, service access, land-use scenarios, development constraints and urban growth monitoring.

You can use the workflows to screen development sites, assess facility coverage, map constraints, compare land-use options and document planning recommendations. The templates support repeatable work with your organisation's own authoritative datasets.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. The first week establishes data, mapping and core analysis methods; the second week develops modelling, imagery, governance and the capstone assessment.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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