EMIS - UN-Habitat

see The SCP Source
Book Series, Volume
5: Institutionalising
the EPM Process
Building an Environmental Management Information System
During the Second Phase the EMIS supports the participatory decision-making
process in a number of ways. The Working Groups will formulate their needs for
specific maps and generate the data for new maps. During this stage a great deal of
maps and data will accumulate and the EMIS will evolve rapidly as a functional tool.
The system can produce many outputs, such as identifying environmentally sensitive
areas (“hot spots”). It can also help to select sites for specific projects and can support
project design for a specific site. With the help of the EMIS, detailed strategies can be
formulated and action plans prepared and illustrated with maps. The Mapping Group
and the Issue-Specific Working Groups will interact closely with each other in order
to ensure genuinely participatory mapping.
A4.3 Follow-up and consolidation
The Third Phase of work (Follow-up & Consolidation) is an open-ended follow-up and
implementation period, which begins towards the end of Phase Two and carries on for
an extended time afterwards. The strategies and action plans coming out of the Working
Groups are further elaborated, building towards an overall citywide environmental
management and urban development strategy. Investment proposals are worked out
in detail, subjected to rigorous analysis, and pursued vigorously with funding sources.
The task of institutionalising the environmental planning and management (EPM)
process, initiated during Phase Two, is undertaken in earnest. In addition, the remaining
training and institutional development activities are implemented. Finally, regional
and/or national workshops and meetings will be held to explore ways of extending
SCP activities into other cities, building upon the experience gained in the project.
At this stage, the EMIS is fully functional. A considerable amount of data has been
gathered, allowing further analysis and the production of outputs such as a development
pattern map, issue specific strategy maps and an environmental management
framework. In addition, an EMIS can support the monitoring of the environment
situation and the evaluation of the achievements of the EPM approach. However, the
system still needs input on an on-going basis both to keep it up to date and to make it
increasingly comprehensive. This ensures that it will continue to be a powerful urban
management decision-making tool in the future.
A5
Specific Applications of EMIS
Different levels of city administration require different urban information. For
example, the city assessor needs a detailed, large-scale land information system
to improve the collection of property taxes. The water department requires precise
spatial information on the water utilities for better operation, maintenance and revenue
collection. The planning department is concerned about the expansion of the city, while
the environment department needs to manage environmental resources and hazards
better. Equally important is the issue of information outreach: for example, the mayor
presents a easily-understood “snapshot” of the city’s environment and development
situation at a conference in order to attract tourism, investors etc.
The EMIS can support all these requirements. Colourful attractive maps make
theoretical issues much more immediate for the lay person. They draw attention and
can jump-start discussions. The EMIS supports different tasks in urban management
decision-making such as project design, site selection or investment planning. It can
be further used to attract donors and investors by providing maps which show the best
locations for investment in the city.
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