LGA Community Map:

Visualvoice has developed a community map with GIS integration for the City of Maroondah, available on councils website. The map allows residents to identify and locate everything from family services, sports facilities, parks and playgrounds to on road bike lanes, shared paths and bus routes, making it easy to explore what’s available and where in the area.

Content for the map was determined by analysis of the most frequent web searches by residents on councils website. By developing a map content planning strategy and utilising councils GIS data, Visualvoice was able to show for example, where all the open space assets are located ie. seating, barbecues, nature trails, shared paths etc. Importantly, a process was established at the beginning of the project to allow council to update the data to keep the map current.

Multiple council departments contributed to the project including community services, sports and recreation, sustainable transport and economic development. Visualvoice used an open source, state of the art mapping platform to build the custom mapping solution.

Visualvoice wanted to develop a rich, creative design for the digital map, an approach usually reserved for print maps but rarely seen online. Unlike some online maps, only relevant local content is shown enabling community facilities to stand out and allowing residents to select themed layers based on their needs. Users can select either a 2D or 3D view of the map.

Visualvoice designed a new family of colourful, easily identifiable and legible symbols specifically for the map. The base map includes symbols for major destinations such as shopping centres and schools, which are permanently displayed to help with orientation and wayfinding. Symbols with a themed content, such as parks, playgrounds and sporting facilities, display when selected from a menu allowing residents to easily view and identify the destinations of interest to them. Multiple symbols can be displayed at the same time allowing for a clear, overall picture of the facilities and services available in the City of Maroondah.

Local landmarks are identified by the branding familiar to residents making it easier for them to recognise.