GIS Worksheet 3 - Pearson Australia Media Resources

Perth GIS Worksheet 3 

Busking 

Geographical context 

Geography underpins all decisions about location. This GIS activity has been designed to identify 

the best busking locations in the city. To answer the question ‘Where is the best location for ...’, a 

number of factors must be considered. The identification and mapping of these factors in this 

activity will enable the most appropriate location to be identified. This process could also be applied 

to finding the best location for other services or facilities in the city, such as a skateboard ramp, 

supermarket, shoe shop, dry cleaner or fast food outlet. 

Learning outcomes: Geography 

• Identifying busking localities 

• Identifying factors that contribute to a successful busking locality 

• Researching city council bylaws for busking 

• Development of field sampling techniques (both quantitative and qualitative) 

• Creation of a land use map 

• Creation of proportional symbols 

• Spatial analysis 

Learning outcomes: GIS 

• Opening maps 

• Creating a new layer 

• Modifying the browser 

• Thematic mapping of points (proportional symbols) 

• Cloning maps 

• Tiling windows 

• Saving to a Microsoft Word document 

• Selecting a region and modifying its display 

Fieldwork 

Question: 

Where could you earn most money busking in the city centre 

To find the best location for busking in the city, other questions need to be asked. What factors are 

required for a successful location What type of busking activity is most attractive to members of 

the public What time of day is best A discussion of factors affecting busking locations—such as 

city council regulations, time of day, pedestrian flow, space, noise, shade, shelter and adjacent land 

use—should be considered. Some of these factors are quantitative measures, which may be 

represented through the thematic mapping capability of GIS. Others, such as noise, are qualitative 

measures, which can be transferred into a numerical value for mapping purposes. 

Fieldwork: 

Fieldwork sites may be chosen in a number of ways. The city could be surveyed in a systematic 

way, such as by using a grid pattern. Alternatively, a random system could be used. It may be that 

students are familiar enough with the city to suggest possible locations. These suggestions could 

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Busking 

form the basis of a sampling program that would aim to determine which busking site is the most 

profitable. Through discussion, the requirements for successful busking should be established. 

Whatever the approach, the purpose of the activity is to visit each site and evaluate it against the 

established criteria. 

Data collection 

Discussion of fieldwork techniques should be undertaken. Tables are provided below to show how 

surrounding noise and land use could be measured. The difficulties of conducting pedestrian counts 

should be considered and agreement should be reached as to the length of time of each count, how 

to do deal with pedestrians moving in different directions and what to do about pedestrians who are 

stationary. For mapping purposes, a numerical value is best because it will enable the data to be 

thematically mapped. 

• Pedestrian count (per 5 minutes) 

• Noise level (see below) 

• Pavement width (metres) 

• Shade or sun (0 = sunshine, 1 = shade) 

• Seating (number of bench spaces within a 20 m radius of site) 

• Shelter from rain (0 = no shelter, 1 = provides shelter) 

• Land use (note the neighbouring land use, e.g. retail, office; see also p. 3) 

It may be that busking is taking place at the chosen locality while the fieldwork is taking place. In 

this case, the following information could be collected: 

• Music style (1 = Rock, 2 = Country and Western, 3 = Latin, 4 = Solo classical, 5 = 

Musical theatre etc. 0 = no busking taking place) 

• Audience size 

• Monies collected 

Measuring noise levels 

Score Decibels (dB) Description 

7 140 Deafeningly loud, e.g. jumbo jet taking off 

6 120 Very loud, e.g. a live pop band 

5 100 Loud, e.g. a heavy truck passing by 

4 80 Noisy, e.g. a main traffic route at a busy time 

3 60 Quiet, e.g. a normal conversation 

2 40 Very quiet, e.g. in a library 

1 20 Barely audible, e.g. a ticking watch 

Source: Holmes, D. and Warn, S. 2003, Fieldwork investigations: A Self Study Guide, Hodder Education, London. 

Figure 1. Measuring noise levels 

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Busking 

Land use classification for a central business district (CBD) 

Cities are complex areas. The following is a guide for central or suburban land use surveys. Land 

use surveys in the CBD should be for ground level use. 

Field 

map 

symbol 

Description 

Field 

map 

symbol 

Description 

A 

Major shopping units, e.g. department stores, 

variety stores 

H 

Car sales, e.g. saleyards, showrooms 

B Clothing and shoe shops J Professional services, e.g. banks, solicitors, 

architects, doctors, estate agents, opticians, 

chemists, accountants 

C 

Convenience stores, e.g. newsagent, 

greengrocers, food shops 

K 

Public buildings and offices, e.g. post offices, 

town halls, libraries, government offices, 

schools, police stations, churches 

D Furniture and carpet stores L Transport uses, e.g. car parks, bus terminals 

E 

Specialist shops, e.g. jewellers, florists, and 

electrical, hardware, book and sports stores 

M 

Changing uses, e.g. vacant, derelict, under 

construction 

F 

Personal services, e.g. hairdressers, shoe 

repairs, dry cleaners, travel agents 

N 

Residential uses 

G 

Catering and entertainment venues, 

e.g. cafes, restaurants, cinemas, hotels 

P 

Industrial uses 

Source: Holmes, D. and Warn, S. 2003, Fieldwork investigations: A Self Study Guide, Hodder Education, London. 

Figure 2. Land use classification for a CBD 

Sample data collected 

For the purposes of this activity, five sites have been identified across the city. At each site, data has 

been collected for pedestrian flow, noise level, space, shade, shelter and available seating. Where 

busking was actually taking place, the style of music, audience size and monies collected were 

observed and recorded. This data is shown in the following table. 

Site 

Location 

Pedestrian count 

(per 5 minutes) 

Noise levels 

(1–7; see p. 2) 

Pavement width 

(metres) 

Shade or sun 

(0 = sun, 1 = shade) 

Seating (no. of 

bench spaces) 

Shelter (0 = no 

shelter, 1 = shelter) 

Music style 

(see p. 2) 

Audience size 

(no. of people) 

Monies collected 

($) 

1 Hay St Mall (E) 205 3.5 8 1 4 0 2 8 5 

2 Hay St Mall (W) 55 3 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 

3 Murray St Mall (E) 225 4 10 1 28 0 3 60 20 

4 Murray St Mall (W) 265 5 6 0 2 0 4 4 1 

5 Forrest Pl (N) 140 3 2 1 0 1 1 0 3 

Figure 3. Sample data collection 

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Busking 

The data collected will be mapped at each of the chosen locations using proportional symbols. One layer will be 

created for each of the features. This activity will demonstrate how to map point data. 

Step 1: Opening a map of roads and property maps 

Opening the program 

Open MapInfo to create a new workspace. Cancel the Quick Start box if it appears. 

Opening the roads layer 

Go to File\Open, navigate to the 

Pearson_Atlas_GIS\WA\Data folder and open 

the Roads_Perth.TAB file to view a map 

showing roads. 

Using the Zoom in or Zoom out tool, change 

your view of the map to show the main city area. 

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Busking 

Open the property layer 

Go to File\Open and choose 

Property_Perth.TAB from the 

Pearson_Atlas_GIS\WA\Data folder. 

Step 2: Choosing busking locations (drawing to the Cosmetic Layer) 

Five places have been selected (see Figure 3). They represent the locations that students thought 

would be good busking locations. 

Activating the Drawing toolbar 

Go to Map\Layer Control and tick the box 

beneath the pencil beside the Cosmetic Layer. 

Press OK. 

The Drawing toolbar is now activated. 

Choosing a symbol 

Choose a symbol to represent busking locations 

using the Symbol Style tool from the Drawing 

toolbar. 

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Busking 

Choose a suitable symbol by changing font, size, 

and colour. A symbol at 18 point and blue has 

been chosen here. 

Press OK to return to the map. 

Select the Symbol tool on the Drawing toolbar 

and left-click the mouse on each of the chosen 

locations from Figure 3. 

Saving the Cosmetic Layer 

Go to Map\Save Cosmetic Objects and press 

Save. 

Name the layer Busking_sites and save into the Pearson_Atlas_GIS\WA\Workspaces folder. 

Step 3: Modifying the structure of the table 

Go to Table\Maintenance\Table Structure and 

choose the Busking_sites layer. 

Press OK. 

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Busking 

Click Add Field. 

In Name type Pedestrian_numbers and in 

Type select Integer. 

Add all fields for the information collected, i.e. 

noise, pavement, shade, seating, shelter, style, 

audience and monies. 

Except for noise and monies, which could be 

entered as Decimal fields, all fields should be 

Integer fields. 

Note: The fields for noise and monies could be decimal fields. A width of 4 would be sufficient. 

The final table should look like this. 

Press OK. 

Adding the busking layer to the map 

The map will appear but the busking sites layer 

has disappeared. 

Go to Map\Layer Control and press Add. 

Select the Busking_sites layer and press Add 

and OK. 

Step 4: Entering data collected into the browser table 

Select the Info Tool and click on a busking 

location to activate the Info Tool box. 

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Busking 

If a window similar to the one shown here 

appears, click on the field named Busking_sites 

in the Info Tool window. 

Enter the data for each field for Site 1 and for 

the rest of the sites visited. The ID field value 

should be the site number. 

Note: If the decimal data does not fit in the box, perhaps you did not create a decimal field. Go back to 

Table\Maintenance\Table Structure and make the adjustment. 

When all data has been entered go to File\Save 

table and select the Busking_sites layer. Press 

Save. 

Step 5: Thematically mapping the data collected (mapping point data) 

Using graduated symbols 

The data can be mapped using symbols that change in size according to the data collected, e.g. 

pedestrian numbers, pavement width etc. There are several different ways of doing this. 

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Busking 

Create Thematic Map—Step 1 of 3 

Go to Map\Create Thematic Map. 

Click on the Graduated symbol type and 

choose the Population template to represent the 

number of pedestrians. 

Press Next. 


Select the Busking_sites table and 

Pedestrian_numbers field. 

Tick Ignore Zeroes or Blanks. Press Next. 


Press OK at Step 3 of 3. 

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Busking 

The map appears with the legend. 

The legend box may be resized to 

avoid empty space. Use the arrow 

(Select) tool and adjust the size of the 

legend box. 

Modifying the legend 

The legend may be customised. Double-click inside the legend frame, to the right of the symbol. 

In the Modify Thematic Map box that appears, 

click on the Legend... button. 

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Busking 

Modify the legend as shown. 

The legend title may be customised to read 

‘Number of pedestrians’. 

Press OK twice to return to the map. 

The legend may have red dots over it, indicating 

that it has been selected. Click once on the white 

space in the legend to unselect it. 

The map should now look like this. 

Step 6: Creating more thematic maps using the Ranges box options 


Make sure the map window is active by clicking 

on the bar at the top of the map. 

Go to Map\Create Thematic map and click on 

the type Ranges in the top left-hand corner. 

Choose Point Ranges Default from the 

Template Name list. Click Next. 

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Busking 


Choose the Busking_sites table and change the 

field to Pavement. 

Tick Ignore Zeroes or Blanks and press Next. 


The stars may be changed to an appropriate 

symbol by clicking on the Styles box. Then 

choose the symbol, its colour and size. 

By clicking on the Size button at the top of 

Customise Range Styles the size of each 

symbol will change. 

Then by clicking on a symbol underneath Styles, 

a new symbol style may be chosen. 

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Busking 

Change the symbol style properties to match 

those shown here. 

Press OK. 

Press OK again in the Customise Range Styles 

box to confirm the new symbol. 

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Busking 

After Create Thematic Map—Step 3 of 3, the 

legend will look like this. Press OK. 

The two layers are now shown on the 

map. Both of these layers are visible 

in 

the legend. 

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Busking 

Other layers may be created. 

For example, this map also shows the 

noise levels at each location. This 

extra layer was created by following 

the steps outlined above. 

The map should now contain several layers that show the values for each of the mapped criteria. 

Since the different categories of point data sit directly on top of each other, however, this is too 

confusing. There are several ways of simplifying the view so that it is easier to interpret the map. 

Map layers may be turned on or off using Map\Layer Control or maps may be cloned to produce 

several maps on which layers may be turned on or off. 

Step 7: Cloning maps 

Go to Map\Clone View. 

A new window containing a clone of the map 

will appear. 

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Busking 

With the Map:2 window active, in Map\Layer 

Control remove some layers by un-ticking the 

Visibility (eye) boxes. Press OK. 

For example, the first map could show 

pedestrian numbers, the second, pavement 

width, the third, noise levels, etc. 

Step 8: Tiling windows 

To view all of the maps at one time, 

go to Windows\Tile Windows. 

Step 9: Saving the Workspace 

Go to File\Save Workspace and save into the 

Pearson_Atlas_GIS\WA\Workspaces folder. 

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Busking 

Step 10: Saving a map window for a Microsoft Word document 

It may be that you prefer to save individual maps into a Word document to incorporate into a 

report. The following instructions will explain how to do this. 

Go to File\Save Window as and type in a 

suitable name. In the Save as type box choose 

JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg) from 

the drop-down box and then save this in the 

Pearson_Atlas_GIS\WA\Images folder. 

The image size may be adjusted before saving. 

Press Save. 

Step 11: Creating a land use map 

Land use may be a factor in explaining pedestrian flows and hence in the choice of the best busking 

locality. Using the property layer, the land use close to each sample site could be observed and then 

mapped. 

Making a selection from the property layer 

Zoom in on each site using the Zoom in tool 

from the Main toolbar. 

Use the arrow (Select) tool from the Main 

toolbar. 

With the shift key depressed to enable selection of multiple blocks, click on each of the individual 

property blocks of the same type of land use (observed during the excursion). This selection can 

now be saved and coloured to identify its land use type. 

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Busking 

The example here recognises that the land use in 

the adjacent blocks belongs to category ‘A’ in 

Figure 2, e.g. department stores. 

Saving a copy of the selection 

Go to File\Save Copy As and choose Selection. 

Press Save As. 

Name the new layer Department_stores and 

save it into the Workspaces folder. 

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Busking 

Adding a new layer to the map 

Go to File\Open and open the 

Department_stores.TAB file that was just 

saved into the Workspaces folder. 

The Department_stores layer has now been 

added to the map. 

Adjusting the display 

To change the colour for the Department_store 

layer, go to Map\Layer Control, and doubleclick 

on Department_stores to get the 

Department_stores Display Options box. 

Tick Style Override and then click on the box 

beneath the tick. 

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Busking 

In the Region Style box, select a Pattern and 

Colour. 

Once these have been selected, press OK in this 

and the next two boxes to return to the map. 

The map now shows area data (land use) with 

point data (pedestrian numbers) sitting above it. 

Always place point data above area data. 

Repeat these steps to apply different colours for 

each of the other land use types. 

Additional Tasks 

Geographical Task 1 

Describe and explain which parts of the city have the highest pedestrian flow. 


• Research the regulations for busking published by the city council. 

• Select the three most important guidelines. Justify your choice. 

• Has the council established areas where no busking is allowed 

• Explain why the council has chosen these areas. 

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Busking 


• Select the three most important criteria for a busking location. 

• Rank the sampled sites against these three criteria. 

• Using a map for each criterion and your ranking, identify the best busking location. 

• Write a short justification of your choice. 


Write a short report describing how land use influences the quality of a busking location. 


Look at each map to help answer this question: ‘Which site makes the best busking location’ Write 

a report once you have conducted the fieldwork. Include the following sections: 

• Research question 

• Methods of data collection 

• Data presentation 

• Data analysis 

• Conclusion 

• Evaluation 

Creative Task 6 

Create a piece of music or theatre that would attract members of the public. 

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