Bike Path Design on Kållands Peninsula
Uploaded by
clausweBike Path Design on Kållands Peninsula
Uploaded by
clausweAsignment: Task 2
Name: -
University: University of Gothenburg
The objective of the asignment for Task 2 is to create a bike path on Kållands peninsula that is at
least 20 km long, passes through as many interesting cultural sights as possible, including ancient
monuments, churches, and buildings.
Steps taken
Setup for the project:
I started by creating a new Project and importing the given datasets from Layer > Add Layer >
Add Vector Layer in order to get the shapefiles into the project, I also changed the encoding for
each file into ISO-8859-1. I have changed the CRS for the project from Properties>CRS into
SWEREF 99 TM, in General I have changed the Ellipsoid into WGS 84 and I have saved it as
task 2 in the folder for home assignments. The result was a brown map cluttered with many
green points.
Layer customization:
I started by unchecking all the layers except the one I was working on or I have also kept the
Land use layer active. I have looked in the properties in order to see what I could use form each
layer, for instance the ancient monuments were to be found in fl_64_3_11.shp and
fs_64_3_11.shp and important buildings in bs_64_3_11.shp. I thought about starting with
‘cleaning’ a little the map, in order to see what is important to keep and where.
Buildings (bs_64_3_11.shp): In order to show the important sites and houses I have used the
bs_64_3_11 layer, I have opened it with right-click > Properties and then I have changed the
Symbology from Single symbol to Categorized, the Value into KATEGORI and I have used the
Color ramp as Random colors, with Classify I have got many categories so I deleted the ones that
were not relevant, of any kind by clicking the – button and I have merged the different types of
houses using left click + CTRL and right-click and Merge categories. I have changed the symbol
into a marker with the icon (SVG if possible) and size that fit the category.
Ancient Monument Lines (fl_64_3_11.shp) and Ancient Monument Symbols
(fs_64_3_11.shp): I have customized both these layers using Single symbol>Simple line for the
lines and categorized symbology for the second one. I have highlighted different types of
monuments with distinct symbols and merged or deleted them.
Rock & Marsh (ms_64_3_11.shp): I have used the categorized symbology for these 2 and I
have merged the different marsh types, I have used gradient brown for rock and swamp for
marsh.
Land Use (my_64_3_11.shp): I have used the category symbology for various land use types
and changed to more appropriate colors. I have also merged the similar categories and have used
the same color for the category in fill and stroke color so that the grid would not be visible.
Conservation Areas (nl_64_3_11.shp): I have used simple symbol under symbology and
highlighted the nature reserves with a dark green dashed line color. I had to make the layer above
transparent at 70% in order to be able to see this layer.
Text (tx_64_3_11.shp): I have used the categorized symbology for the categories and tried to
find SVG symbols for the legend, I have also made them smaller and used the same color of fill
and stroke color. I have unchecked the unnecessary categories.
Roads (vl_64_3_11.shp): I have used the categorized symbology for the categories that I have
merged from 16 into 2 main categories.
Other Roads (vo_64_3_11.shp): I have used the categorized symbology for the categories.
As I had a problem with the Conservation area layer that was no longer visible so I have changed
the opacity of the layer for the Land use to 75%.
In order to create the bicycle path I have created 2 new layers from Layer>Create layer> New
shapefile layer, one with geometry Point and the other one with Linestring, I have kept active
only the layer with the base map + the one with buildings/houses/churches and the ones with the
ancient monuments. I made the point layer first, making the points and measuring the distance
with the meter tool. I then have used the Buffer tool from Vector>Geoprocessing>Buffer to
restrict the zone around the path to max 2 km. From now on I have worked mostly with the
buffer layer. I then have used the Clip tool from Vector>Geoprocessing>Clip to cut out the
important sites and monuments, houses and churches and using the Buffered layer as Overlay
layer… After I have merged them into one layer I have used the Categorized classification from
Properties, used transparent marker that could not be visible because they already exist from the
other layers, and Single label>Text for Labels and I have changed the name of each Bike stop by
changing them in the attribute table. I made a separate layer for the houses because I wanted to
show only the marker for these ones and not the text. I have also kept only the number for the
roads as I think this is important to be seen on a map. I have kept active the layers with the points
and line for the bike path and the road, I have used the Vertex tool to move the points closer to
the road and the line to make it follow the road between the Bike stops.
Map Layout and Scale Setting
I have opened the Print Layout tool from Project> New print layout….A4 format. I have adjusted
the map view using the Move item content tool to ensure the area of interest was properly
framed. I have added map elements such as title, legend, scale bar, and north arrow. I have
renamed the layers with subcategories and leave the title empty so that they would not appear on
the map legend. I have checked the box next to Only show items inside linked maps. I have
included a text box to give extra information about each bicycle stop.