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Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

The IT Department’s GIS Division provides mapping services and support to City staff, regional partners, and residents.

Our GIS is an assembly of software, hardware, data, processes, and people that provide our customers access to the most current and complete maps available for the Des Moines area. GIS is used to produce maps and much more. GIS enables City staff to view and analyze dynamic geographic information to enhance their daily operations, improve decision-making, and effectively respond to customer requests and emergency situations.

Multiple City departments and regional partners collaborate to produce the quality geographic data that are the core of our GIS. The City’s GIS data repository includes administrative and service boundaries, zoning and land use, sewer and water utilities, parks and trails, and demographic map layers, for example. Polk County and Warren County provide aerial orthophotography, parcel base map, and real estate data to the City. The City of Des Moines also hosts a regional GIS data repository. Polk County and municipalities in the Des Moines area help maintain street, address, and structural data for the purpose of supporting emergency response throughout the region.

The real advantage of GIS lies in being able to represent the vast majority of the City’s functions geographically and improve processes using geospatial technologies. For example, equipping workers with GPS data collection devices improves the quality of the City’s infrastructure data which in turn allows for better asset management and planning. Likewise, mapping service calls in real-time allows for better routing and response, and over time managers can analyze trends to improve service delivery and resource management. The goal of the GIS Division is to implement, support, and manage the geospatial technologies and information that enhance such City functions.