FRANCISCA MUNOZ JENIKKA PREMANATHAN SIOBHAN DAWKINS Site Selection: Regional Mall

Introduction The purpose is to narrow down suitable and unsuitable sites for a Regional Mall in York Region based on:  Physical  Economic  Social  Distance By using a variety of GIS processes an procedures

Outline - Inventory of constraint themes/proximity themes - Procedures used for selection/modelling - How the ultimate map of the proposed selection site(s) was changed by applying each criteria

Constraints Proximity Wetlands- 120m,140m & 160m buffers Water bodies - 120m,140m & 160m buffers Forest- 27m buffer Roads Freeway and Interchange: 40m & 30m buffers Industrial – 1km,2km & 3km buffers CBD- 1km,2km & 3km buffers Slopes- Non- Existent 2 Slopes- Flat 0.2, 0.5, & 1.2 Freeway and Interchange: 20m,500m, & 1km buffers Commercial – 0.5km, 2.5km & 4 km buffers Inventory of Themes

Exclusion Criteria Buffer around criteria where the location of a Regional Mall would not be ideal:  Wetlands  Watercourses  Industrial (Land use)  Forested Area  Central Business Districts  Highways and Interchange Exclude:  Steep or “No Data” Slopes  All Land use that is NOT “open area”

Watercourses: Exclusion Buffer Before Buffer120 m140 m160 m

Wetlands: Exclusion Buffer Before Buffer 120 m160 m 140 m

Forest: Exclusion Buffer Concern: We do not want a whole tree or its branches to fall on the potential area for the Regional Mall. A buffer of 27m is done around Forested area. 27 m was determined by averaging the average heights of all tree species known in Ontario. We calculated this because this would be the distance in which the average tree would take up in case of its collapse.

Industrial : Exclusion Buffer Three buffer rings were produced: o Yellow 1 km o Orange 2 km o Red 3 km - Region Malls should not be located near industrial areas. -“Near” is not defined enough to enter as a parameter in the GIS buffer distance. -- We looked at examples of various malls and their distance relevant to industrial sites (next slide)

Industrial : Reasoning We identified a mall we were familiar with and the area surrounding it. Here we identified with Oakville Place, and the distance between it and the nearest industrial sites was measured using the measure tool in Google Earth (crow-fly distance in km), this distance was 1 km. Then we measured the distance between Oakville Place and the Ford Plant (which is considered a large-scale industrial plant), we would use this distance as the maximum buffer distance around industries sites (3km). Our middle buffer distance would be half the distance of the largest buffer ring (2 km). So using this existing example of a malls location in relation to industrial sites around it, we can also use these findings and apply them to our criteria.

Slopes : Exclusion Slopes were selected for greater than 2 because it would be classified as too steep of land Slopes less than 2 would be easier to level out and make flat compared to slopes greater than 2 Slopes that were less than 0 were not selected because the slope data does not exist.

Roads: Exclusion - Can not locate a Regional Mall on existing Roads. -These buffers will determine the distance that should be between the Freeways/Interchanges and the potential locations for a Regional Mall. -In order to determine a buffer scenario for the distance to buffer around our selected freeways and interchanges, we use Vaughan Mills as an existing example to help determine the size of our buffer ring. -From the freeway, the distance to the boundary of Vaughan Mills is generally around 40 m. Around the interchange/ramps the buffer distance was generally around 30m.

CBD : Exclusion Buffer Defined the buffer rings as: -Yellow 1 km -Orange 2 km -Red 3 km -Regional Malls must not be located near CBDs, and again the question of defining buffer distance arises like it did for the Industrial criteria. -We used the same method using a known example in reality and measured distances. -Chose a buffer distance of 2 km because it is not completely necessary to be too far from the CBD (3 is maximum distance), the mid-point is sufficient distance in which to buffer in case of potential CBD growth in the future

Land use : Exclusions All land uses that are not open area will be excluded from our potential site locations. This includes: Waterbody Resource and Industrial Residential Parks and Recreational Government and Institutional Commercial'

Proximity Criteria These are criteria in which a Regional Mall would benefit from being within distance of using buffering:  Freeways and Freeway Interchanges  Commercial (Land use)  Flat Slopes

Roads: Proximity Buffer 20m,500m & 1km We created proximity buffers around Freeways and Interchanges because it is logical to locate a Regional Mall in close proximity to these highly accessible routes. The closer they are in proximity, the more accessible they are to visitors, and the ability to attract new visitors who are driving by on the highway becomes greater. We chose the 500m buffer because: -if a regional mall were located within 20m of a highway or interchange, it would be too close leaving the size of the mall to be too small to support a regions commercial/retail needs. -1 km is a bit too far from the freeway and exits, but it could easily work as well. The only downside of this is that there becomes a reduced visibility of the mall the further it is away from a freeway. -So if a mall were located within 500m of freeways and their exits it would be close enough to see from the highway, allowing for an increase of traffic to the mall (pull factor) without compromising the size of a mall itself.

Commercial: Proximity Buffer Commercial Buffers: Red – 0.5 km Orange – 2.5 km Yellow – 4 km Attracts more potential customers when commercial areas are near Regional mall Commercial areas can be Power Centers, Banks, Gas Stations, Office Buildings, Restaurants, Pharmacy, Movie Theatre etc… Chose 0.5km buffer for Commercial in order to Minimize travel cost, time and distance for customers Location must be convenient for customers Regional Mall should be located where there is an increase in customer traffic The cost of site is inexpensive near commercial areas in the suburbs

Slopes: Proximity (within) Slopes Ranges: Red – 0.2 Orange – 0.5 Yellow – 1.2 -Regional Mall should be built on smooth and flat land -Therefore, the chosen range is 0.2

Proximity Intersect Here we intersected all of the proximity criteria, so it would produce areas that have: Slope = 0.2 AND Are Within 500m of Commercial AND Are Within 500m of Freeways and Interchanges

Final Maps Overlay Union: Suitable (white) & Unsuitable (black) Overlay Union & Proximity Overlay Union & Proximity

Potential Site Location: Example 1 Potential Site Locations With Proximity Buffers Slope = 0.2 & Freeway is within 500m Slope = 0.2

Example 2 In this example, there are several small areas deemed suitable for a Regional Mall BUT: They are not as close to the highway The areas of land they encompass are too small for a Regional Mall Notice that the proximity Buffer presence has diminished Only positive is the land is flat (0.2)

Example 3: - Want to avoid building on prime agricultural land - Dark Brown Area: This area is known for having high yield of various vegetables sold in Ontario (carrots, turnips, lettuce, cucumbers, etc…) - May be located too far North from Toronto and other large populous - Area underneath would be ideal because it is located near a major highway, that is known for its gateway to Cottage Country (Muskokas), and the proximity criteria have located a large chunk of land that could house a Residential Mall Within 500m of Freeway Flat and Within Distance of Highway

Example 4: Positives: -Close to Lake Simcoe which could potentially attract cottage goers and golfers -Flat land Negatives: -no where near residential areas -Not near commercial -Too far from a major highway, but is near a major road Slope = 0.2

Summary Of processes and procedures in GIS management (Flow-Chart)

Conclusion Considering the constraints and the proximity criteria associated with the locating a Region Mall plays a crucial role in the finding land that is suitable for its development Setting constraints on all individual criteria allows the developer and planners to narrow down the options Not only was it important to develop constraint criteria, but it was also essential to develop proximity criteria to further achieve land most suitable for development By using these GIS processes and procedures, finding the most suitable sites for development could easily be achieved.