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Basic Public Space Management

ZD - Public Space Management

How do you manage public spaces and ensure that roads, green spaces, sewer systems, street lighting, structures, and other facilities remain safe and functional? In the Basic Public Space Management course, you’ll learn which structures are managed, which organizations are involved, and how management, inspection, maintenance, and replacement are organized. Throughout the course, you’ll work with QGIS to view various management maps and management data and to gain insight into the relationships between infrastructure and management tasks.

Course duration: 3 days

Taught by:

Merijn Koreman
Dutch

Introduction to Public Space Management

Public Space Management is all about keeping the physical living environment safe, functional, sustainable, and attractive. Every day, residents, businesses, and visitors use roads, sidewalks, green spaces, trees, sewer systems, streetlights, playgrounds, bridges, and many other structures. All of these structures must be registered, inspected, maintained, and eventually replaced.

In this course, you’ll learn which features in public spaces are managed, what data is required for this, and how management is organized throughout the entire lifecycle. You’ll look not only at individual features but also at the interconnections between different management tasks within the same area.

An important component is the organization of management. You will learn about the roles of municipalities, provinces, water boards, Rijkswaterstaat, utility and network companies, contractors, engineering firms, and other organizations. You’ll learn which objects they manage, how responsibilities are divided, and how management information is used for inspection, maintenance, replacement, and planning.

Throughout the course, you’ll work with QGIS to view various management maps and management data. Among other things, you’ll examine maps showing roads and paved surfaces, green spaces and trees, sewer systems, street lighting, traffic structures, playgrounds, waterways, bridges, culverts, and other civil engineering structures. By combining these maps, you’ll gain insight into the spatial relationships between various management objects.

The Basic Public Space Management Course thus combines the fundamental principles of management and asset management with practical Geo-ICT skills. QGIS is used throughout the course as a tool to view, combine, and interpret management information in a spatial context.

If you are not yet familiar with QGIS, we recommend that you take the 3-day QGIS Basics course.

Public Space and the Role of Geo-ICT

Public space consists of a large number of different objects that together form the physical living environment. These include roads, bike paths, sidewalks, plazas, green spaces, trees, sewer systems, waterways, street lighting, traffic signs, street furniture, playgrounds, bridges, and culverts.

Various data must be tracked for these objects. Where is the object located? What type of object is it? What material is it made of? When was it constructed? What is its current condition? When was it last inspected or maintained?

Geo-ICT makes it possible to link this management information to the location of objects. As a result, managers can not only see which objects are present in a given area, but also their characteristics, condition, and maintenance needs. During the course, you’ll view and combine various management maps in QGIS to visualize these relationships.

Objects in Public Spaces

A solid foundation in Public Space Management begins with knowledge of the various object groups. Each object group has its own characteristics, management processes, inspection methods, and maintenance needs.

The course covers, among other things, roads and pavements, green spaces and trees, sewer systems and drainage, waterways, street lighting, traffic facilities, street furniture, playground equipment, and civil engineering structures.

You’ll learn what data is recorded for these assets and why this information is necessary. For a road, for example, the type of pavement, material, year of construction, and condition are important, while for trees, species, age, dimensions, location, and safety inspections can play a key role.

By examining different object groups side by side, you’ll gain a broad understanding of what public space management entails in practice.

Organizations and Responsibilities

Public space is not managed by a single organization. Municipalities play a key role in managing local roads, green spaces, sewer systems, street lighting, playgrounds, and many other objects. In addition, provinces and Rijkswaterstaat manage infrastructure, water districts manage waterways and hydraulic engineering structures, and utility and network companies maintain their own infrastructure in public spaces.

Contractors, engineering firms, inspection companies, and other market participants also play an important role. For example, they carry out inspections, maintenance work, and replacement projects, or support managers with specialized knowledge and data.

During the course, you will learn how these organizations collaborate and why it is important for management information to be up-to-date, reliable, and shareable. After all, a change to a single structure can have consequences for other structures and other managers within the same area.

What will you learn in the Basic Public Space Management Course?

From Inventory to Maintenance and Replacement

Management begins with knowing what you’re managing and where it’s located. Objects are therefore inventoried and registered, after which information is maintained throughout the object’s lifespan.

You’ll be introduced to the entire management chain: inventorying, registering, inspecting, assessing condition and quality, determining maintenance needs, prioritizing, planning, executing, monitoring, and updating.

Inspections play a key role in this process. Based on inspection data and maintenance history, it is possible to determine which objects are still functioning properly, where maintenance is needed, and when replacement becomes necessary. In addition to technical condition, factors such as safety, usage, costs, quality of life, and policy objectives also play a role.

This teaches you that Public Space Management involves not only registering assets, but above all making informed decisions throughout their entire lifecycle.

Using Management Data and Management Maps with QGIS

Large amounts of geographic data are used in Public Space Management. During the course, you’ll work with various management maps and datasets and learn how to view, combine, and interpret them in QGIS.

For example, you’ll examine a map of roads and paved surfaces and combine it with data on green spaces, trees, sewer systems, street lighting, traffic objects, and civil engineering structures. By overlaying different map layers, you’ll see which objects are located within the same area and what relationships exist between management tasks.

In addition, you’ll be introduced to relevant basic geographic data and registries that can be used as a foundation or as supplementary information. Examples include the BGT and other available geographic and environmental data. The course does not focus on the management of these basic registries themselves, but rather on their use within the management of public spaces.

Inspection, Condition, and Maintenance

A manager must know the condition of objects. That is why objects are inspected periodically, and data on quality, safety, and technical condition are recorded.

You’ll learn how inspection data can be linked to geographic objects and how this information can be used to provide a spatial overview of maintenance and replacement tasks. Which roads need maintenance? Which trees require attention? Where are objects in poor condition located? And which tasks have the highest priority?

It becomes clear that different types of objects require different inspection methods and maintenance cycles. At the same time, the results must ultimately be consolidated into a single, integrated view of the public space.

Integrated Management of Public Spaces

Assets in public spaces are not isolated from one another. Sewer lines, cables, and pipes may run beneath a road; trees and streetlights may line the same road; and a bridge may span a waterway. Work on one asset can therefore have direct consequences for other managed assets.

During the course, you will therefore learn to take an integrated view of an area. By combining management maps in QGIS, you can identify where various maintenance, replacement, and development tasks overlap.

This offers opportunities to combine work activities. For example, when a street needs to be excavated to replace the sewer system, it may make sense to simultaneously assess the road surface, landscaping, streetlights, and other assets. Geo-ICT helps to identify such interdependencies early on.

From Management Information to Planning and Decision-Making

Management information ultimately supports decisions regarding maintenance, replacement, and investments. In this context, it is not only the technical condition and age of assets that matter. Safety, costs, usage intensity, accessibility, sustainability, climate adaptation, and the quality of the living environment can also play a role.

During the course, you will learn how different types of management information can be combined to set priorities. Using QGIS, you will identify the locations of management tasks and determine which assets require attention, which activities can be combined, and what information is needed to support decision-making.

At the end of the course, you’ll work on a practical management task that involves multiple object groups. You’ll use various management maps in QGIS and assess which management and maintenance issues are present within the area.

Why Choose Our Basic Public Space Management Course?

The Basic Public Space Management Course offers a broad introduction to the management of the physical living environment. You’ll learn which objects are managed, which organizations are involved, and how management data and Geo-ICT are used to support inspection, maintenance, replacement, and planning.

  • Broad foundation in Public Space Management: you’ll learn about roads, green spaces, trees, sewer systems, lighting, playgrounds, waterways, traffic infrastructure, and civil engineering structures.
  • Insight into Organizations and Responsibilities: You will learn about the roles of municipalities, provinces, water boards, Rijkswaterstaat, utility companies, and private sector entities.
  • The entire management chain: You’ll learn how inventory, registration, inspection, maintenance, replacement, and updating are interconnected.
  • Working with management maps: Throughout the course, you’ll use QGIS to view, combine, and interpret various management maps and management data.
  • Integrated management: You’ll learn to identify where different management tasks within the same area overlap and where activities can be combined.
  • Foundation for Further Study: After this course, you can delve deeper into specialized topics such as road management, green space management, sewer systems, civil engineering structures, inspection, asset management, data-driven management, and innovative applications of GeoAI.

Upon completion, you will have a broad foundation in Public Space Management and Geo-ICT, and you will understand how object data, inspections, management maps, and QGIS are used to manage public spaces in a way that is safe, usable, sustainable, and future-proof.

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€1795,-
  • Workload: 3 Course days from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
  • Location: Apeldoorn or Online. On-site is also possible. Please get in touch for a quotation.
  • Date: Multiple start dates are available; please see the registration page.
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Course duration: 3 dagen
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Learning Objectives

  • Understanding Public Spaces and Managed Assets: You can identify the most important elements in public spaces, including roads, paved surfaces, green spaces, trees, sewer systems, lighting, traffic control elements, playgrounds, waterways, bridges, culverts, and other civil engineering structures.
  • Identifying management organizations and responsibilities: You understand the roles that municipalities, provinces, water boards, Rijkswaterstaat, utility and network companies, contractors, and consulting firms play in the management of public spaces.
  • Understanding the management chain: You can explain how inventory, registration, inspection, quality and condition assessment, maintenance, replacement, and updating of management information are interconnected.
  • Interpreting management data: You can use data on location, type, material, dimensions, year of construction, condition, inspections, and maintenance history to gain insight into the condition and management of objects.
  • Using management maps in QGIS: You can view, combine, and interpret various management maps and geographic datasets in QGIS to provide a spatial overview of management objects and tasks.
  • Assessing Maintenance and Replacement Tasks: Based on management, inspection, and environmental information, you can determine where maintenance or replacement is needed and which factors play a role in setting priorities.
  • Taking an integrated view of public spaces: You can recognize the relationships between different management objects within a single area and assess where work and management tasks influence one another or can be combined.
  • Applying Geo-ICT within management processes: You understand how geographic information is used to support management, inspection, maintenance, planning, and decision-making within public spaces.

 

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FAQs on Public Space Management

Public Space Management encompasses a wide range of elements that together form the physical living environment. These include roads, bike paths, and sidewalks; public green spaces and trees; sewer systems and drainage; street lighting; traffic signs; street furniture; playground equipment; waterways; bridges; culverts; and other civil engineering structures. For each object group, data is tracked on aspects such as location, type, material, dimensions, year of construction, condition, inspections, and maintenance. During the course, you will learn to identify these different object groups and understand how they are interconnected within a single area.

For many organizations, the Basic Register of Large-Scale Topography (BGT) serves as an important geographic foundation for the management of public spaces. The BGT describes objects in the physical environment, such as roads, sidewalks, green spaces, waterways, buildings, and sites. A BOR management system then contains additional management information about objects, such as materials, year of construction, quality, condition, inspection date, and scheduled maintenance. The BGT and BOR thus serve different functions but can be closely interrelated in spatial terms.

In addition to the BGT, other basic registries and national data sources can also be used. For example, the BAG provides information on buildings and addresses, the BRT provides topographic context, and the BRO contains data on soil and the subsurface. Depending on the management issue at hand, additional data—such as cadastral, elevation, traffic, water, and environmental data—can also be incorporated. During the course, you will learn how such data can be combined with management data as a foundation or as supplementary information. The actual management of the BGT, BAG, BRO, and other basic registries is beyond the scope of this course; the focus here is on how a BOR administrator uses this data.

Virtually every object in public spaces has a location. This makes GIS ideally suited for organizing, viewing, and analyzing management information. For example, with GIS, a manager can see where roads are in need of maintenance, which trees need to be inspected soon, where streetlight malfunctions are occurring, or which bridges and culverts require attention.

GIS is also used to combine various management tasks. When sewer lines need to be replaced, the same map can be used to see the condition of the road, which trees are present, where cables and pipes are located, and what other work is planned. During the course, you’ll use QGIS to view, combine, and interpret such management maps. You’ll learn how GIS supports inventory, inspection, maintenance planning, prioritization, collaboration, and decision-making.

Municipalities are key managers of public spaces and are responsible for, among other things, local roads, green spaces, sewer systems, street lighting, and playgrounds. In addition, provinces and Rijkswaterstaat manage infrastructure; water boards manage waterways and hydraulic engineering structures; and utility and network companies manage cables, pipelines, and other networks. Contractors, engineering firms, and inspection companies also carry out a great deal of work on behalf of these managers. During the course, you will learn which organizations manage which assets and how they use and exchange management information with one another.

Maintenance and replacement are determined based on several factors. The technical condition and results of inspections are important, but age, material, frequency of use, safety, malfunctions, maintenance history, and costs also play a role. In addition, policy objectives related to sustainability, climate adaptation, accessibility, and quality of life can influence planning. By combining this information geographically, it is possible to determine where the greatest management challenges lie and which tasks should be prioritized. In doing so, there is an increasing focus on whether work on different assets within the same area can be carried out jointly.