From the ‘Good Living’ to the ‘Common Good’: What is the role of GIScience?

摘要

Alternative economic approaches are gaining importance due to the extreme inequalities caused by the laissez-faire perspective of neoliberal economics. These approaches study the economy with a multidisciplinary view, considering paradigms of social inclusion, justice and sustainability. Geographic information science (GIScience) can be defined as a multidisciplinary and a multiparadigmatic field, where “spatial thinking” is fundamental. The study of urban quality of life can be supported by the calculation of spatial indicators; however, limited connections exist between these indicators and indicators related to alternative economic approaches. In this paper, I propose a first attempt to relate these different kinds of indicators, and open the discussion about the role of GIScience for these new economics, with a focus on urban quality of life.