The development and applications of geographic information systems for urban and regional planning in the developing countries

Abstract

In the past 10 years, geographic information systems (GIS) have been widely used in urban and regional planning in the developed countries in Australia, North America and Europe. However, the use of GIS in urban and regional planning in the developing countries is limited and still at an early stage of development. This paper examines the current use of GIS in urban and regional planning in the developing countries in Asia. The major hindrances in the use of GIS in the developing countries is related not so much to the technology of GIS but more to data availability, leadership, organization structure and planning practice. For GIS to be more useful to urban and regional planning in the developing countries the development of a sustainable strategy in developing GIS and staff training is needed. International assistance agencies and GIS software companies can play an active role in making GIS available and usable to the planners in the developing countries.     

论地理信息系统及其在地理学中的地位

地理信息系统技术的兴起代表了地理学发展的一个重要方向。地理信息系统是一门处理地理(空间)数据的综合信息技术,它属于技术地理学的范畴,它为资源与环境的管理和规划以及地理学的研究提供了一个革命性工具。另一方面,地理信息系统的建立和应用又依赖于地理学理论和实用模型的发展。进一步勾通地理信息系统与空间分析之间的关系是目前促进地理信息系统发展的重要课题。     

Free and open source GIS in South America: political inroads and local advocacy

ABSTRACT

Geographical information systems (GIS) practitioners worldwide enjoy a growing array of free and open source software (FOSS) options. This software has expanded the accessibility of GIS in economically developing countries while fostering local technical expertise. This article reviews FOSS GIS uptake and advocacy in South America, especially how it relates to a climate of political friendliness toward FOSS in the region. The use or absence of FOSS GIS is assessed in public-facing web maps in South America, first at the national government level, and then at the provincial level using Argentina as a country of study. Local technical support groups and software development initiatives surrounding FOSS GIS in South America are then summarized. Finally, three case studies are presented of notable efforts to build FOSS GIS technical communities at the local level: the FOSSGIS Brasil online magazine, the Geoinquietos Argentina professional network, and the FOSS.4GIS.GOV conference in Brazil. A study of the leaders, dynamics, and practices of these groups can inform others in similar circumstances around the world who are trying to promote FOSS GIS adoption, development, skills, and services.     

Genocide and GIScience: Integrating Personal Narratives and Geographic Information Science to Study Human Rights

This project combines qualitative data of personal narratives with geographic information science (GIScience) technologies to explore the potential for critical cartography in the study of mass atrocity. The case study used is northern Uganda, where millions have been affected by physical violence and hardship, displacement, and fear. Web-based virtual globes as a ready source of imagery for remote areas and derived spatial data imported to geographic information systems (GIS) provide quantified data that complement testimonials and other qualitative data from the field. Cartographic functions, geovisualization, and spatial analyses available in GIS are used to extract information from high-resolution remote sensing images documenting internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and quantifying evidence of crimes against humanity. These techniques explore spatial relationships and communicate results on the extent and impact of the atrocities in northern Uganda.     

GIS in local government: some findings from Great Britain

Abstract

Local government is one of the most important groups of users of geographical information systems (GIS). The significant interest amongst users and the varied demands to be made of GIS have stimulated discussion in many countries. This article presents some of the findings of a research project which is currently exploring the impact of GIS on British local government. The discussion examines the results of a comprehensive survey of all 514 local authorities in Great Britain. These findings provide an overview of GIS adoption in relation to type of local authority and geographical location. Particular attention is focused on the type of systems which have been adopted, the take-up of GIS over time, the software and hardware being utilized and the perceived benefits and problems associated with GIS. The results demonstrate that take-up has been most pronounced in the larger authorities, particularly in the southern part of Great Britain, with the most popular combination of equipment being Arc/Info software and workstations. For those authorities presently implementing a GIS, the technology is expected to improve existing capabilities for information processing rather than enhance decision-making or help achieve savings. In seeking these benefits authorities are encountering considerable problems which include basic technical difficulties in getting the equipment to work, data-related issues surrounding the collection, standardization and maintenance of geographical information, and profound organizational considerations associated with the introduction of information technology into complex environments. There is an urgent need for in-depth case studies which evaluate the experiences of users in relation to the vital process of implementation.     

农业科技园区的技术扩散

农业科技园区是农业创新发展的技术极,是新时期中国农业技术扩散的新模式.在系统梳理国内外农业技术扩散相关研究的基础上,从地理学视角提出了农业科技园区技术扩散的研究框架;分析了农业技术极的成长机制,农业技术扩散系统及其特征,构建了技术扩散环境评价指标体系;基于"基础"范式,探讨了农业科技园区技术扩散的时间过程特征(扩散阶段,扩散速度,扩散广度),空间过程特征(扩散效应,空间形式)及其影响机理,指出园区技术扩散遵循"点--轴"扩散的基本规律;基于"采用"范式,分析了农户技术采用的影响因素与机制,探讨了不同环境,不同属性技术对农户采用行为的影响.最后,指出农业科技园区技术扩散研究需要进一步探讨的问题.     

Factors influencing adoption and continued use of long-term soil and water conservation measures in five developing countries

Many regions in the world are affected by land degradation. Successive development projects have promoted a variety of soil and water conservation (SWC) measures to prevent further land degradation. However, these measures have seldom been adopted on a large scale. This paper deals with the adoption process of investments in SWC measures, and with the factors influencing adoption and continued use of these measures. After a theoretical introduction, whereby three phases in the adoption process are distinguished, it presents and compares some results of independent empirical research projects on adoption of SWC measures in five developing countries. Some general conclusions are drawn from these diverse research results.     

技术扩散与区域经济发展

在知识经济时代，技术扩散是影响高新技术研究开发成败，区域经济竞争力强弱的关键因子之一，文章阐述了技术扩散的概念，扩散过程及其对区域产业升级和更新的影响，并通过对浙江金昌模式的介绍，分析，提出了发展中国家和地区应该首先接受区外先进同行企业的技术转移，进而建立与高校，研究院所等技术创新源的直接联系，建立开放灵活的技术保障体系的对策建议，以实现发展中国家和地区充分利用技术扩散规律，加快产业的技术升级和换代，提高区域产业竞争力的奋斗目标。     

Conforming (to) the opposition: the social construction of geographical information systems in social movements

This paper proposes a new framework to understand the use and value of GIS by social movement groups and to transcend the contested debate over how and whether GIS should be adopted. It frames the debate in terms of the conforming properties of GIS. The proposal is that conservation GROs must conform to GIS to ensure effective usage; however, in the process of that use, they mould the GIS to their own objectives. Various examples from the North American conservation movement illustrate the properties of GIS conformity and likely outcomes of research. This paper asks the reader to rethink PPGIS and GIS diffusion. It also poses questions for further research that frames adoption as an issue of conformity.     

环境友好型农业技术扩散的时空演化与影响因素——基于社会网络视角

面对严峻的农业面源污染问题,环境友好型农业技术的推广和落地对于中国实现乡村生态振兴和农业农村现代化具有重要意义。但现实中,该类型技术在乡村地区一直面临推广难,采纳度低的问题。以往众多研究证明,社会网络是技术扩散的有效途径和支撑。基于此,本文从社会网络的视角构建了农业技术创新扩散的理论框架,通过2016—2020年广东省农业面源污染治理的实践调研及10个县市3015份问卷数据的定量分析,总结出环境友好型农业技术扩散的四个阶段：① 初始阶段：农户间简单离散的技术互动。② 单核阶段：精英农户的点式嵌入与拟亲缘网络扩散。③ 多核阶段：多个精英农户形成与业缘关系网络扩散。④ 高水平互动阶段：农业经济组织的形成与功能性网络扩散。个体资源禀赋、技术有效性及感知度、技术传播方式和外部环境作为技术扩散的四个主要影响因素,在不同的阶段发挥着不同的作用。本研究成果有助于理解中国农业技术扩散的实践逻辑和底层机制,对同类技术推广有重要的政策意义。     

The Global Landscape of GIS in Secondary Education

This study analyzes the status of GIS in schools in thirty-three countries and proposes recommendations for advancing the implementation and effectiveness of GIS in secondary education from an international perspective. Thirty-three countries have been evaluated in the study to assess the global landscape of educational GIS by analyzing how GIS is recognized, approached, and used across the world with chief challenges, opportunities, and case studies. As the study revealed, the current global landscape of GIS remains small for secondary education; however, the convergence of citizen science, emphasis on spatial thinking, mobile devices, open data, and Web-based map services could cause a significant increase in the numbers of schools, educators, and students teaching and learning with GIS.     

Guidelines for demonstrating geographical information systems based on participatory development

Abstract

The transfer of GIS technology has not met with uniform success in lesser-developed countries. It has been argued that this may be due to many efforts being technology-driven rather than demand-driven. In agricultural development, technology is transferred through a demand-driven participatory approach which incorporates the ultimate recipients of the technology in the design, implementation and evaluation of projects. A project to demonstrate the use of GIS technology for wasteland development in India involving seven Indian research institutes was undertaken by the U.S. Agency for International Development. In the Indian GIS demonstration, technical approaches proposed by each institute were largely technology-driven. To counter this tendency, a set of evaluation criteria or guidelines based on the participatory approach was developed to refine proposals.     

A GIS evaluation of land use dynamics and forest soil fertility in a watershed in Nepal

Abstract

A geographical information system (GIS) based study was carried out in a densely-populated watershed in Nepal. An evaluation of land use change between 1972 and 1990 indicated that there has been an increase in forest and agricultural land area and a decrease in shrubland and grassland area. GIS techniques were used to produce single and composite fertility index maps, which can be used for problem identification and planning. These maps indicate that forest soil fertility is generally poor in the watershed. GIS was found to be very beneficial in addressing critical resource issues in small watersheds in developing countries.     

Is GIS appropriate technologyquest;

Abstract

Appropriate technology (AT) has become an integral part of the programmes for decentralized regional development in the Third World. ‘Appropriate’ techniques are usually low in capital costs; they can be maintained without a high level of expertise; and they do not involve patents, expensive copyrights and royalties. By these criteria a commercial geographical information system (GIS) is not an appropriate technology to be used in decentralized development However, the use of local renewable resources involves the adoption of end-use analysis for matching end-uses to specific sources so as to minimize the consumption of material and energy (i.e., minimize entropy). This matching requires much information which leads to what may be called the 'information-entropy trade-off; minimization of entropy requires an inverse increase in information. In this respect computers and GIS have an important contribution to make to decentralized regional planning. Drawing on a case study in Sri Lanka, this paper presents some ideas on how to incorporate GIS into local-level planning information systems.     

Using GIS to Model and Forecast HIV/AIDS Rates in Africa, 1986–2010

In this article we draw on the power of geographic information systems (GIS) to examine the progression of HIV/AIDS in Africa for the period from 1986 to 2003. We use GIS for two purposes: (1) to transform and interpolate a set of annual point-based HIV/AIDS rates into area data; and (2) to extract or “mine” annual HIV/AIDS prevalence rates from the interpolated area (country) level maps. Once the rates are extracted from the GIS analysis we then model and forecast them into the near future (i.e., 2004–2010) by using the UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) software. The article offers an alternative grounded in geospatial analysis for yielding estimates of HIV/AIDS rates in Africa. Using incomplete sets of data for the period from 1986 to 2003, mean HIV/AIDS rates are generated from spatially interpolated data and future trends are estimated. The results indicate that the HIV/AIDS epidemic for many countries in Africa has reached the saturation or maturity level as evidenced by the typical S-shaped curves in the trends over time. As a matter of fact, some countries have begun to experience a sustained decline in the rates (e.g., Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe).     

Guest Editorial Latest developments in GIS/LIS

Abstract

Significant achievements have taken place in Geographical/Land Information Systems (GIS/LIS). An attempt is made to give an overview of the state of the art as well as a vision of progress still to be accomplished. Key issues are discussed in various GIS/LIS activities. A generic analysis shows that most of the applications are environment-oriented. The various GIS/LIS topical issues are discussed in the order of an ascending graph, including data capture, data structure and modelling, data quality and standards, institutions, ethics, education, visualization and interface, spatial decision support systems, and applications. Finally a brief assessment of the role and nature of GIS is made. It is noted, in particular, that there are great discrepancies in the spread and success of GIS/LIS at the international level. This is true between developed and developing countries, but the case can also be made between western industrialized countries. It is also observed that there is an increasing number of professions involved in GIS/LIS activities and an increasing collaboration between those professions. Finally, it is observed that GIS/LIS are used predominantly as a tool to manage and keep records, although there are signs that GIS/LIS are also leading the way towards a new spatial science. This is only a 1993 ‘snap shot’, and is expected that many of the statements have only a limited life, considering the rapid changes in both theory and technology.     

城市水环境分析模型系统的国际化与本土化研究

人类生态环境的退化是新世纪全球可持续发展所面临的重大问题，而城市水环境污染治理的中心业已从发达国家转移到发展中国家。我们在参与上海市水环境污染治理研究中认识到；在借鉴国际上先进的水环境分析模型系统的同时，必须运用先进的地理信息系统技术，开发本土化的空间模拟系统，才能使模型分析更有效的应用于我国城市水环境治理的决策中。本文结合作者近期研发成果，重点介绍国际上著名的水环境分析模型从数值处理，图表显示，空间可视化到动态模拟系统的发展态势及其我们的模型本土化开发中创建的方法与技术特点。     

基于格网的甘肃省生态经济分区研究

在讨论以往生态经济分区研究方法与理论的基础上,提出了新的研究思路--基于网格的生态经济分区。利用GIS格网技术和相关统计软件,从甘肃省生态与经济两大系统耦合发展的历程分析入手,选取2010年甘肃省的26个生态经济指标,以6 km×6 km的规则格网,将整个甘肃省分为12 243个研究单元。经过分析比较,甘肃省被分为4个生态经济区即西北干旱区(Ⅰ)、陇中冷温带半湿润区(Ⅱ)、甘南高寒带湿润区(Ⅲ)、陇南暖温带湿润区(Ⅳ)和21个生态经济亚区。结合DEM,进一步对研究区进行分区,以期为促进形成甘肃省可持续发展格局提供科学依据。研究表明,格网技术提高了分区的精度和速度,是进行生态经济分区的有效方式之一。     

Quantitative Limits to Qualitative Engagements: GIS,Its Critics,and the Philosophical Divide∗

Heated exchanges between critical theorists and GIScientists over geographic information systems (GIS) in 1990s geography gave rise to calls for increased communication between critics and practitioners of the technology and most recently for “hybrid” qualitative–quantitative GIS practices. Although GIS scholars have successfully addressed mid-1990s critiques of the technology by developing a series of critical GIS practices that involve nuanced and reflexive deployments of GIS and assessments of its visual products, theoretical critiques of GIS remain fixated on the epistemological deficiencies of the technology. Despite references to loosening metaphysical tensions across the discipline, this difference in assessments reveals the discourses of critical-theoretic geography and GIScience to remain separated by a trenchant philosophical divide, across which ontological and epistemological commitments are inviolable. The inability to fully reconcile a critical–theoretic epistemology with the explicitly ontological metaphysics of GIS further complicates qualitative engagements with the technology by addressing a series of inconsistencies into GIS praxis arising from the quantitative limits to representation encountered in the formal universe of computing. The persistence of metaphysical tensions in critical engagements with the technology questions the degree to which qualitative methods can be seamlessly hybridized with the quantitative architectures of GIS.     

北京城郊化空间特征与发展对策

城郊化是大都市生命周期中的重要阶段之一，20世纪90年代以来北京进入了典型的城郊化过程。根据1985－2000年遥感影像和1992－2000年2000多个土地开发样本资料，在GIS的支持下，通过对比北京80－90年代城郊化空间特征，概括出城市用地5种扩展方式和廊道效应作用下的波浪式扩展过程。在模拟分析的基础上结合北京举办2008年奥运会带来的巨大投资规模，预测北京大都市城郊化的3个圈层、8个扇面和6条廊道的发展趋势。