CityMaps

The CityMaps application provides Philadelphia residents with key information about city services based on geography.

Client: City of Philadelphia – Mayor’s Office of Information Services, GIS Services Group

Challenge: The City of Philadelphia provides a wide variety of services to its residents, ranging from regular trash removal to the establishment and maintenance of recreation centers.The Mayor’s Office of Information Services (MOIS) approached Avencia to develop a web-based application that would help area residents locate services and other city resources based on their addresses.

Solution: Avencia developed CityMaps, the City of Philadelphia’s first public geographic data application, in 2002, enabling anyone with web access to enter a city address to view aerial photography and zoning maps, and identify the applicable service areas and nearby city facilities. The site has a simple and straightforward user interface and a context-sensitive help system to make it as user-friendly as possible.

Outcomes: The CityMaps application is widely used by the public and supports various tasks including identifying the nearest city facilities and looking up the service area in which the address is located. The system is simple and scalable and now receives thousands of hits each day, serving millions of map and geographic search requests per year.

Website: http://citymaps.phila.gov/

Publications:
Directions Magazine
ESRI Special Achievement in GIS Award