Geographic information systems : developments and applications /

Geographic information systems (GIS) have evolved swiftly in the middle and late 1980s as part of the development of computer-based tools. Editor Worrall provides an excursus in the ways spatial data may be manipulated and brought into the service of urban and regional planning and policy-making. The book introduces the reader to the prospects and challenges of GIS and offers a series of chapters written by authorities practicing their craft in different parts of the world: Europe, Australia, Vermont, Hawaii, the UK, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands. Until recently the issue of technique rather than use has been dominant. Now there is increasing interest in application and in those organizations concerned with the implementation of public policy. These essays jointly offer the reader an international survey of GIS accomplishment. Bibliographies and illustrations contribute to this collection. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -G. J. Martin, Southern Connecticut State University