Introduction to az_tool_software
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Aztool is a free Windows software that aggregates building block polygons into tract polygons to meet specific design criteria, programmed in the .NET environment. It requires input files detailing building block attributes and utilizes an XML parameter file for control during execution, producing log and results files. Developed by a team at the University of Southampton, Aztool is part of a suite of automated zone design software and can integrate with GIS data.
Introduction to az_tool_software
- 1. Third video – Introduction to AZTool software
- 2. AZTool: What is it for? • Aggregation of building block polygons into a tract polygons to best meet design criteria • Iterative recombination of building blocks from many random starting points to produce a “best” solution, given a specified number of iterations • One of a range of software implementations for automated zone design that have included Sage, ZDES, ZD2k, AZM
- 3. AZTool history • Developed by David Martin, Samantha Cockings and Andrew Harfoot at the University of Southampton • Originally based on Openshaw’s (1977) Automated Zoning Procedure (AZP) • Some of the functionality previously available as a Visual Basic 6 program called AZM • Programmed in .NET environment – should run on any modern Windows PC, freely downloadable
- 5. Input files (1) • A set of building blocks and associated data. These are specified as .aat and .pat files • The arc attributes describe which building blocks are contiguous • No coordinates are needed, but the contiguity information and attributes of each polygon relevant to the design criteria are required
- 8. Input files (2) • Attributes for each building block might include: • Population (to be used as a target and/or min/max thresholds) • Region (e.g. a larger area within which zones are to be constrained) • Homogeneity variables (e.g. tenure or accommodation type, for designing zones which are as internally homogenous as possible)
- 9. • If needed, the AZTImporter program will generate .aat and .pat files from the widely-used ESRI Shapefile GIS format AZTImporter
- 12. Parameter file • An XML file containing the program run parameters. This can be edited, saved and re-used. • Contains all necessary program control parameters for setup, specification and output • For use in batch mode using a Windows Batch File
- 15. A program run
- 16. Output files • A .txt format log file, reporting progress of the program run and identifying any problems, e.g. with the input data • A .csv format results file, showing the output tract to which each building blocks has been assigned • Zoning results can be re-imported to GIS and used to dissolve boundaries between building blocks
- 17. Output files
- 23. AZTool design constraints • Constraint within higher level regions • Population targets and thresholds • Shape compactness • Intra-area correlation measures • New accessibility/network connectivity measures (April 2016)
- 24. Summary • AZTool free Windows software application which aggregates a set of building block polygons into output tracts to best meet a set of zone design criteria • Input arc and polygon attributes • Run controlled by an XML parameter file • Output log files and tract composition files • Data usually sourced from and imported back into GIS