A spatial design framework for regenerative landscapes
The RegenGIS Method is a structured way to use spatial analysis to support design decisions in regenerative land use systems such as agroforestry and food forests.
Instead of relying only on intuition or experience, the method makes landscape processes visible through GIS analysis and uses those insights to guide design choices.
The method connects three elements:
spatial analysis
design reasoning
transparent decision-making.
GIS becomes a design language that allows practitioners to read landscapes and explore alternatives before physical interventions take place.
The RegenGIS method is a decision-support approach for agroforestry and food forests.
It supports design and strategic decision-making before implementation, using spatial analysis as its foundation.
The focus is not on producing a visually attractive plan, but on making choices explicit:
which options were considered;
why specific decisions were made;
and what the consequences of alternatives would be.
GIS functions as a design language: a way to analyse and document space, ecology, and time in relation to each other — with full transparency.
The RegenGIS method supports:
design decisions in the initiation and design phases;
spatial reasoning around soil, water, topography, and climate;
comparison of multiple scenarios;
explicit documentation of assumptions and reasoning;
transferability of designs and knowledge.
The method sits before management, before registration, and before execution.
1. Read the Landscape
2. Formulate Design Questions
3. Explore Design Scenarios
4. Justify Design Decisions
The first step focuses on understanding the physical processes shaping a site.
Using spatial analysis, designers map patterns such as:
terrain structure and slopes
water flow and accumulation
solar exposure and shade
relative wet and dry zones.
These analyses reveal how energy and matter move through the landscape.
The purpose is not to decide what to build yet, but to understand how the landscape already works.
Output:
terrain analysis maps
hydrological pattern maps
solar and microclimate maps.
These layers form the analytical foundation for the design process.
Once landscape patterns are visible, the next step is to translate them into design questions.
Examples include:
Where can water be slowed or retained without creating erosion risks?
Which zones have warmer microclimates suitable for sensitive species?
Where might different vegetation structures emerge naturally?
Which areas are suitable for intensive use versus ecological functions?
This stage is crucial because it prevents premature solutions.
Instead of jumping directly to design proposals, the method encourages designers to frame the right questions first.
With the key questions defined, designers can explore alternative design strategies.
Examples might include:
different water management approaches
alternative spatial arrangements of vegetation
different levels of intervention in various parts of the site.
Spatial analysis helps compare these strategies in relation to the landscape structure.
The goal is not to find a single “optimal” solution, but to understand the trade-offs between possible approaches.
This step makes design thinking explicit and testable.
The final step documents and explains the reasoning behind the chosen design.
This includes:
the analyses used
the assumptions made
the alternatives considered
the reasons for selecting a specific strategy.
This transparency is essential for scaling regenerative land use, because it allows others to understand and learn from each project.
Design decisions become:
reproducible
communicable
transferable to other sites.
The RegenGIS Method is not a software tool.
It is a structured design framework that connects spatial analysis with transparent decision-making in regenerative landscape design.
By making landscape patterns visible, design questions explicit and decisions traceable, the method helps regenerative land use evolve from isolated projects into a shared and learnable design practice.