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(710) 
THE APPLICATION OF AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY TO URBAN 
| ANALYSIS AND PLANNING 
by 
Matthew M. Witenstein. 
I shall present at this time some of the highlights of a more detailed 
report on methodology in the application of aerial photography to Urban 
Analysis and Planning which is being prepared for the American Society of 
Photogrammetry and for which experimental work is still in progress. 
First, I should like to discuss some of the basic concepts and the theory 
which lie behind the establishment of such a methodology. Second, let us 
consider the type of information we should expect to derive from photographv 
and, third, let us examine a specific case to see whether such methods are 
practical for obtaining information about urban problems. 
The development of systematic methods of photo Interpretation in recent 
years has brought rich dividends to many governmental and business organi- 
zations. The most spectacular progress has been made in the study of terrain 
features. Since the war many methods of interpretation of soils, vegetation, 
geology, and hydrology have developed almost to the point of becoming a 
full grown science. Recent issues of Photogrammetric Engineering and other 
publications have reported many of these developments in detail. 
. By the same token, considerably fewer reports have been made on the 
development of methodology for the study of manmade or engineering 
features; particularly the most complicated engineering feature of all, the 
urban area. 
The lack of similar progress on the part of the urban analyst, in the 
development of methodology for photo study of urban problems has not 
been due to lack of interest in photogrammetry. On the contrary, one of the 
earliest and continuing uses of aerial photography has been the study of cities 
for selection of military targets. The current trend among urban planners has 
been toward the production of larger scale city maps from photography, 
scales at which it would be extremely costly and timeconsuming to map by 
other methods. Municipal authorities have turned increasingly to photogram- 
metry for accurate and detailed maps, in order to keep pace with our rapidly 
expanding and changing cities. The need for larger scale maps has stimulated 
the development of more accurate equipment as well as improvements in 
mapping techniques; however, interpretation methods have been channelled 
into a painstaking search for precise detail. 
For example, in England, Ordnance Survey maps are now being produced 
at a scale of 40 inches to the mile. As reported in the Civil Engineering and 
Public Works Journal in July 1950 and in the Journal of the Institution of 
Municipal Engineers in January 1951, specifications call for identification of 
detail in the photo which may be as small as 3 inches on the ground. 
The broad potential afforded by the aerial photograph for study and 
solution of many problems of urban administration, both civil and military, 
seems to have been overlooked. The photogrammetrist engaged in city 
mapping, in the course of dealing with a myriad of specific details appears to 
have neglected the overall evaluation of the urban area as a living entity and 
  
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