A graduate from a Geography degree in the mid-1970s asks ‘what is GIS?’: coming to GIS by a circuitous route

The term GIS had existed in the literature for over 10 years by the mid-1970s and textbooks studied by British undergraduate geography students certainly included explanations of different types of spatial analysis, such as manually determining the shortest route through a transport network. However, the notion of studying GIS (or even using computers to learn about statistical methods) was still a long way off and would not become commonplace for more than two decades. This paper charts a personal journey undertaken over more than 40 years from an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree (major subject Geography) in the 1970s, through doctoral research incorporating spatial interpolation techniques in relation temporal rather than spatial data, manipulating and mapping census data to academic researcher in GIS. Geographical Information Systems and Science have come of age, matured and set off in new directions during this period. This paper shares the experiences of adapting to the arrival and transformation of GISS from the perspective of a geography graduate and explores the challenges of applying the technology in interdisciplinary research. It considers the role of GIS as a mediator between disciplines whose view of space is simply as a context or milieu in which non-spatial processes play out and geography together with cognate disciplines whose raison d’être is accounting for the role of space or geography in differentiating the outcomes of such processes

Changing household composition and structure in selected local authorities of London and Middlesex during the first decade of the 20th century

The digitisation of historical documents continues apace and offers an expanding range of opportunities for detailed investigation of demographic, economic and social patterns of historic living spaces. The wealth of spatial information contained in historic-geographic sources in recent years has enabled such data to be explored with a GIS-framework and has resulted in the creation of national Historical GIS projects. This paper takes a more local focus and is based on data relating to individuals, households and addresses from the 1901 and 1911 British Population Censuses for six local authorities in the historic counties of London and Middlesex. These local government areas were selected for their contrasting trends (growth, stability and decline) in respect of population change during the first decade of the 20th century and for representing both the densely populated centre of London as well as localities that were to become developed as a result of 20th century suburbanisation. Although historical records bring their own problems, they may offer the opportunity to explore questions at the micro-geographical scale that are difficult to address with contemporary data on account of access and confidentiality issues. The research on which this paper is based is seeking to unlock the socio-economic and demographic geography of London in the first decade of the 20th century through micro-scale analysis and to make comparisons with the current situation by aggregating historical data to current spatial units. This paper starts to explore these historical records at the level of households and individuals and outlines the geoprocessing techniques employed to geocode the historical census records, thereby enabling investigation of geographical patterns of household structure and composition

Residential neighbourhood classification : an environmentally enhanced approach

National small area classifications in Britain were first produced over 40 years ago using statistics from 1971 Population Census and have now become a regular feature of governmental, academic and commercial analysis of census information. These classifications aim to encapsulate the aggregate demographic and socio-economic character of small areas by means of a simple thumbnail description. However, these pen portraits often also refer to the environmental nature of the different types of area where people live, employing terms such as ‘leafy suburb’, ‘industrial hinterland’ or ‘agricultural heartland’. This paper reports on research that aims to determine whether a set of environmental (land use) indicators are capable of discriminating between areas in a way that matches a ‘standard’ area classification derived from multivariate analysis of demographic and socio-economic statistics. The research assesses the impact of adding a set of environmental (land use) variables to a collection of Census variables on area classification using k-means clustering varia.in two contrasting case study local authorities. The results reveal that clustering with and without the addition of land use variables produce partially overlapping (coincident) classifications of the small areas and certain of the land use variables are aligned with some area types

Assessing the needs of older people in urban settings : integration of emotive, physiological and built environment data

Design of the built environment for navigability and walkability is an increasingly important aspect of urban planning. This focus derives in part from increasing interest in lifestyles and behaviours including level of physical activity and health outcomes. Geographical Information Systems and virtual realities are playing a significant role in advancing this agenda: examples exist of integrating qualitative data (words about or visual images of places) and quantitative data (numerical descriptions of places). However there remain opportunities for exploring alternative ways of linking different types of data (physiological measurements, emotional response, street walkability and urban design quality) to address issues of urban planning and renewal. Using a case study approach this paper explores the application of geographic information science and systems to participatory approaches in built environment planning with the aim of exploring older people’s response to an unfamiliar urban environment. It examines different ways of combining temporally and spatial referenced qualitative and quantitative data. The participants in the study were a group of 44 older people (60+) from Swansea, Wales, who viewed a filmed walking route around Colchester, England. Whilst viewing the film they gave an oral commentary and physiological readings were made, which have been integrated with primary data collected on the built environment along the walking route. Proximity and inverse distance weighting approaches for combining these datasets produce complementary results in respect of older people’s physiological and emotive response to variation in the walkability and design quality of a walking route through an unfamiliar town centre. The results reveal participants experienced an elevated average heart close to Colchester Town railway station and expressed a comparatively negative emotional response to this location. Conversely participants experienced lower average heart rate, indicating reduced stress, in Brook Street where the overall Urban Design Quality score was relatively low

Assessing the user response to differences in functionality when visualising 3D models of cultural heritage sites using the Technology Readiness Index

Visualisation of cultural heritage using 3D modelling in situ or over the Internet has increased in recent years. This paper examines people's readiness to accept these and their preferred degree of sophistication using a visualisation video of a 3D model of the Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex, England. Participants viewed six visualisations in a controlled environment that sequentially added features such as texture, sound, lighting and ultimately interaction and mobility via game engine technologies. The updated Technology Readiness Index was used to group participants according to their willingness to accept the visualisations. TRI Explorers appreciated the addition of interactivity while enhanced model fidelity satisfied other groups. Linking the profile of the TRI groups with published survey results relating the characteristics of historical museum visitors suggests that TRI Explorers are not the target demographic negating the need for interactivity, although a museum's visitor profile should also be considered

Older People, Town Centres and the Revival of the 'High Street'

Concern for the future of town centres and their retail cores, the ‘high street’, is not new. Responses to this have often been somewhat one dimensional, focusing on their role as places of consumption, employment, leisure and heritage. We consider the potential multiple roles of older people in helping revive and rejuvenate town centres given the centrality of place for healthy supportive living, community and social participation and ‘ageing in place’. Taking an environmental gerontology perspective, we ask whether the WHO age friendly cities/communities’ framework should be considered further in approaches to reviving town centres in a post-Covid-19 world

Using 3D modelling and game engine technologies for interactive exploration of cultural heritage : an evaluation of four game engines in relation to Roman archaeological heritage

Developments in information technology have challenged the traditional model of museums, libraries and similar venues acting as relatively passive ‘learning spaces’ for the public to access ‘knowledge’ as an exchange between tutor and learner, or in this context curator and visitor enabling them to offer more immersive and interactive modes of transfer. This article examines the development of a 3D model built from plans of a Roman edifice and its transfer into four game engines as vehicles for independent navigation around the ‘virtual building’. The game engines are evaluated in respect of their ability to enhance visitors’ experience by using an on-site facility when visiting a museum constructed over the physical remains. Cost and licensing override technical factors such as audiovisual and functional fidelity or composability and installing the system on a PC is preferable to more specialist game control devices if a broad user base is targeted