Spatial Modeling for Sustainable Residential Infill in Texas Peri-Urban Communities

Abstract

Very limited studies have examined infill development in the context of suburban areas or small towns, and only a few studies have broadly analyzed the parcels potential for infill in the inner city context. This paper develops a quantitative and visual model with a ranking system for infill developable sites using geographic information systems (GIS) technology. The model, which is only applied to vacant parcels, evaluates these parcels in accordance with eight criteria. Using a numeric coding system for selected urban sustainability and smart growth metrics and a weighting value, a GIS raster model was generated for the vacant parcels. With the summing up of the composite scores and a compartmentalization of parcel’s quality, a final ranking system for parcel’s suitability for infill development is generated. Unlike the preceding assessments, this method yields a larger amount of developable sites with different infill quality according to a four-level scale and offers both visual and quantitative outputs. The results provide planning officials with a feasible and traceable tool to share with the public, to utilize to support future decisions regarding land development and rezoning, and to adopt by both by urban and peri-urban communities.