Proceedings of the GIS Research UK 18th Annual Conference GISRUK 2010

This volume holds the papers from the 18th annual GIS Research UK (GISRUK). This year the conference, hosted at University College London (UCL), from Wednesday 14 to Friday 16 April 2010. The conference covered the areas of core geographic information science research as well as applications domains such as crime and health and technological developments in LBS and the geoweb. UCL’s research mission as a global university is based around a series of Grand Challenges that affect us all, and these were accommodated in GISRUK 2010. The overarching theme this year was “Global Challenges”, with specific focus on the following themes: * Crime and Place * Environmental Change * Intelligent Transport * Public Health and Epidemiology * Simulation and Modelling * London as a global city * The geoweb and neo-geography * Open GIS and Volunteered Geographic Information * Human-Computer Interaction and GIS Traditionally, GISRUK has provided a platform for early career researchers as well as those with a significant track record of achievement in the area. As such, the conference provides a welcome blend of innovative thinking and mature reflection. GISRUK is the premier academic GIS conference in the UK and we are keen to maintain its outstanding record of achievement in developing GIS in the UK and beyond

An analysis of land use change using GIS and spatial analysis :a case study of the Seoul metropolitan region perimeter

PhD ThesisThis thesis is concerned with analytical and technical capability in using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis as relevant to the policy challenge of urban fringe management, taking as a case study the Seoul Metropolitan Region Perimeter. The primary purpose of this study is to analyse land use change using the tools of GIS and Spatial Analysis as a spatial decision support system for the task of managing the fragmented development of the urban fringe caused by the policy changes introduced by the Korean government in 1994. The case study analysed in this research shows whether GIS and spatial analysis can be applied to manage and monitor land use change in the urban fringe area at a very detailed level using municipal parcel data which occupies about 80% of administrative affairs, especially at the local government level in Korea. The major determinants of land use change in the study area have been investigated in an attempt to enhance the knowledge of how to provide decision support information for local government in Korea using GIS and spatial analysis. The results of the analysis represent the distribution of land use change from 1994 to 1998, the distribution of parcels with more than 50% of their neighbours in urban use and the transition probability of land use within a GIS, etc. The analysis using GIS and spatial analysis proved to be effective ones when providing the information base for modelling land use change in the urban fringe of the Seoul Metropolitan Region in Korea, to enable informed decisions to be made about land management policies in such areas. The lesson which could be drawn from this study is that a GIS and spatial analysis capacity is quite useful for local government to understand where and why land use change is concentrated, how the pattern of land use has changed, and which areas are susceptible to land use change. This study represented the results of analysis as a map, showed the significant patterns of land use change in the study area, displayed the relationship between neighbouring land use and the pattern of land use change, and suggested the transition probability of land use in the urban fringe in the future. Better understanding of the results may enhance the capability of local government to predict future land use change dynamics and devise more effective land use management strategies. This study brings a new approach to understanding the evolution of development patterns using the methods of combining spatial statistical analysis techniques with GIS application at site level

INTEGRATING NETWORK CONCEPT INTO MULTI CRITERIA ANALYSIS FOR SUGGESTING BUS RAPID TRANSIT ROUTES

Abstract. Population explosion in the city of Johor Bahru has led to traffic congestions, which hitherto to that there were better movements and flow of vehicles in and around the city. Road transportation in particular has played a gargantuan role in creating and maintaining easy and quick access to various destinations. Increases in the number of vehicle indicate a higher economic prosperity that contributes to traffic congestion within the city. This can be seen in a number of developments such as increased population density and creation of alternative routes over several years, which has still not totally eradicated the traffic congestion problems of the city. Ideally, a good public transport service would carry the passenger directly from their origin to their destination without having to face traffic congestion. The buses may not be available and accessible from certain origins or destinations of residents or they may need to walk some distances from their residents to the bus stops resulting into discouragement for most of the people using public transport services. This paper aims to utilise geospatial analysis approach to suggest effective bus routing that would be able to increase connectivity to rural areas and boost commercial activities through better transportation. Route selection is the process of finding locations that meet the selection criteria for each parameter using Geographic Information System (GIS). The process employs applied multi-criteria decision analysis and network analysis to generate thpsye highest score areas for bus rapid transit (BRT) route by maximising network and mobility and ensuring the newly suggested routes are connected to the existing networks of BRT to serve the community. Document type: Articl

A complex network approach to urban growth

The economic geography can be viewed as a large and growing network of interacting activities. This fundamental network structure and the large size of such systems makes complex networks an attractive model for its analysis. In this paper we propose the use of complex networks for geographical modeling and demonstrate how such an application can be combined with a cellular model to produce output that is consistent with large scale regularities such as power laws and fractality. Complex networks can provide a stringent framework for growth dynamic modeling where concepts from e.g. spatial interaction models and multiplicative growth models can be combined with the flexible representation of land and behavior found in cellular automata and agent-based models. In addition, there exists a large body of theory for the analysis of complex networks that have direct applications for urban geographic problems. The intended use of such models is twofold: i) to address the problem of how the empirically observed hierarchical structure of settlements can be explained as a stationary property of a stochastic evolutionary process rather than as equilibrium points in a dynamics, and, ii) to improve the prediction quality of applied urban modeling.evolutionary economics, complex networks, urban growth

Towards A Spatial Model of Rurality

The term rural is used to describe people, places, traditions, and spaces. It is often employed as a setting for study as well as an object of study. People’s perceptions of rural are confused and differ considerably. For over a century researchers have attempted to define more precisely this term using social, economic, and or ecological components. However, problems of interpreting official definitions and measurements exist. These definitions require extensions in order to capture a more objective meaning of the word. This thesis presents the foundations of a new approach to measuring and defining rurality. A spatial based approach is taken in which explicitly spatial data instead of social or economic data are collected and indexed. The index is divided into two clusters, a connectivity cluster and an access-to-service cluster. The indicators in the clusters are chosen based on a list of criteria taken from the Institute for International Development. The model employs mathematical foundations of both topology and metrics. The use of fuzzy measures to determine a degree of rurality, instead of classical set theory, enhances the model. A degree of connectivity, a degree of accessibility, and an overall degree of rurality is determined. The model also incorporates scale. The granularity of an indicator depends on a user-required level of detail. The data are manipulated and analyzed in a GIS. The spatial index is tested on a number of towns throughout Maine. A graphical user interface illustrates the results in an easy to understand format. The results of this thesis show that a spatial approach to defining rural extends formal definitions to capture a different facet of rurality, a degree of rurality. Furthermore, spatial, temporal and attribute queries are possible enabling users a choice given a particular task

Designing and implementing a GIS-based cadastral database for land administration in the city of Asmara, Eritrea.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.The knowledge and application of land information and GIS in Eritrea are very limited and as a result there is a shortage of sufficient, reliable, up-to-date and modem land information for decision-making. This study aimed to develop and design a GIS-based cadastral database for land administration in the city of Asmara, Eritrea. The two components of the cadastral data, the spatial and non-spatial were collected and processed in a GIS environment. GIS-based cadastral data was created to store the data. A recently acquired IKONOS image and existing Auto CAD data were the main sources of data for the study. Geo-rectification, conversion, ,building of topology, spatial adjustment, and digitizing were used' for creating the parcels and roads of Asmara city. A key of relation was created to link both the spatial and non-spatial components of the cadastre. The study used illustrated practical examples to show how GIS-based cadastral data could support land administration as practiced by the different divisions of the Municipal Office of Asmara city. The importance and usage of the cadastral database for urban planners and property valuators were detailed. Spatial and network analysis were used to develop bands for creating a banded property appraisal system for assessing the service catchment area~ of hospitals and the only fire station. Further, a location allocation model was <,I:lso developed to recommend suitable sites for new fire stations in the city of Asmara. It is recommended that the Municipal Office of Asmara adopts the designed GIS-based database. It is also recommended there the major cities in Eritrea follow similar methodology to design and implement cadastre database for their administration