GIS, the US Census and Neighbourhood Scale Analysis

摘要

One current focus of planning analysis is at the neighbourhood level-understanding local area phenomena and developing plans and policies to increase the quality of life at the very local scale. Geographic Information Science (GIS) adds a layer of capacity to such analysis by making rich disaggregated datasets accessible in a way (through maps) not possible previously. As these tools are used for small area, neighbourhood-oriented analysis and decision making, it is important for planners to understand how the choices one makes in the most fundamental parts of GIS-based neighbourhood analysis (data scale and spatial analysis technique) affect subsequent results.