CommunityViz™ is the first complete, multi-dimensional Planning Decision Support Systems to be released commercially. The concept of the product was to create a tool for planners, designers, and decision-makers that made all types of data associated with planning issues– words, numbers, and images – mutually accountable to each other in an intuitive, interactive, and visual environment that facilitates the creation, comparison, and evaluation of alternative scenarios and strategies. For the first time, users are able to easily create 3D visualizations linked to GIS data, develop alternative scenarios and forecasts based on both physical layout and policy decisions and evaluate their impacts.
The ESC, with the support of the Orton Family Foundation, assembled and led a development team consisting of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Multigen-Paradigm, and Foresite Consulting. The ESC provided conceptual design, functional specifications, project management, systems engineering, design development, and quality assurance services from project conception through beta testing and the first commercial release of the product in the fall of 2001.
Most importantly, by bringing its pioneering expertise in applying information technology to real-world planning applications to the development of the software, the product is now a viable tool being used by planners in many communities throughout the United States.