Mapping historical development patterns and forecasting urban growth in Western North Carolina

The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) at UNC Charlotte expanded the urban growth mapping and forecasting into 19 counties in the Western part of North Carolina: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey Counties. The final report maps historical development patterns from 1976-2030 in Western North Carolina.

To view the final report, click the download button below.

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Monica Dorning wrote this article while a graduate student working at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute in 2010.

John Vogler wrote this article while a graduate student working at the Center for Applied Geographic Information Science at UNC Charlotte.

Doug Shoemaker is the former director of research and outreach center for Applied Geographic Information Science at UNC Charlotte.

Ross Meentemeyer wrote this article while he was at UNC Charlotte and is the director of the Center for Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University. He can be reached at rkmeente@ncsu.edu or 919-513-2372.

Monica Dorning, John Vogler, Doug Shoemaker & Ross Meentemeyer