Convert Polygons to Points in ArcGIS

During analysis it is important to keep various techniques at hand as the data sometime requires creative thinking to carry out certain tasks in a feasible way.  One of these techniques to have handy is the ability to convert polygons to points.

In ArcInfo there is a tool that allows this to be done.

ArcToolBox –>Data Management Tools –>Features –>Feature to Point

However, if you have a lower license, there is a simple workaround.  (The headings are links to specific demonstrations of these steps.)

Calculate Lat/Long for Shapefile

1. Add X and Y fields to your polygon attribute table

2. Calculate the X and Y coordinates

3. Export the attribute table to a new *.dbf

Create Point File from XY Data

4. Add new table to map document

5. Add XY event layer

6. Export temporary XY event layer file to permanent file

Simplify Your Workflow with the Spatial Join Tool

One of the benefits of GIS is the ability to summarize relationships between different types of data.

In this example, a relationship is determined between students and study sectors.  Students being a point layer and study sectors being a polygon layer.  Determining the number of students within each sector is easy to do by simply counting the visible points for each area.  The is not always correct as some points can fall on top of each other.  You can use the select by location tool to find the exact number of student within each sector, but this can become time consuming if you have a lot of areas to cover.  The solution to this problem is the spatial join tool.  This tool determines the spatial relationship between the polygons and points.  A point count for each polygon is created and placed in the attribute table.

Here is a demonstration video:

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Download the video to your computer: ArcMap Spatial Join Tool