Introduction to Geographic Information Systems GIS with a focus on localizing the MDGs

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Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
(GIS)- with a focus on localizing the MDGs

• Carmelle J. Terborgh, Ph.D.
• ESRI
• www.esri.com

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Flying Blind Jul 24th 2003 The Economist
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We Live in Two Worlds
Natural World
Constructed World
Managed
Self-Regulating
. . . These Are Increasingly In Conflict
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Context and Content

• Watersheds
• Communities
• Neighborhoods
• Districts

• Patterns
• Linkages
• Trends

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Abstracting the Real World
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What is GIS?

• A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a
  computer-based system including software,
  hardware, people, and geographic information
• A GIS can
• create, edit, query, analyze, and display map
  information on the computer

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Geographic Information System

• Geographic 80 of government data collected is
  associated with some location in space
• Information - attributes, or thecharacteristics
  (data), can be used to symbolize and provide
  further insight into a given location
• System a seamless operation linking the
  information to the geography which requires
  hardware, networks, software, data, and
  operational procedures
• not just software!
• not just for making maps!

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Who uses GIS?

• International organizations
• UN HABITAT, The World Bank, UNEP, FAO, WHO, etc.
• Private industry
• Transport, Real Estate, Insurance, etc.
• Government
• Ministries of Environment, Housing, Agriculture,
  etc.
• Local Authorities, Cities, Municipalities, etc.
• Provincial Agencies for Planning, Parks,
  Transportation, etc.
• Non-profit organizations/NGOs
• World Resources Institute, ICMA, etc.
• Academic and Research Institutions
• Smithsonian Institution, CIESIN, etc.

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What can you do with a GIS?

• The possibilities are unlimited
• Environmental impact assessment
• Resource management
• Land use planning
• Tax Mapping
• Water and Sanitation Mapping
• Transportation routing
• and more ...

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How does a GIS work?

• GIS data has a spatial/geographic reference
• This might be a reference that describes a
  feature on the earth using
• a latitude longitude
• a national coordinate system
• an address
• a district
• a wetland identifier
• a road name

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Geography and Databases

• A GIS stores information about the world as a
  collection of thematic layers that can be linked
  together by geography

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GIS provides Data Integration

• Roads
• Land Parcels
• Population
• Utilities
• Land Mines
• Hospitals
• Refugee Camps
• Wells
• Sanitation

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Two fundamental types of data

• Vector
• A series of x,y coordinates
• For discrete data represented as points, lines,
  polygons
• Raster
• Grid and cells
• For continuous data such as elevation, slope,
  surfaces
• A Desktop GIS should be able to handle both types
  of data effectively!

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Data Representation
Raster
Vector
Real World
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Other features of a GIS

• Produce good cartographic products (translation
  maps)
• Generate and maintain metadata
• Use and share geoprocessing models
• Managing data in a geodatabase using data models
  for each sector

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Hint having GIS software does not a
cartographer make!

• Good to know something about these issues when
  creating a map and doing spatial analysis
• Scale/Resolution
• Projection
• Basic cartographic principles regarding design,
  generalization, etc.

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GIS is (rapidly) evolving
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GIS as part of your decision making process
Problem Statement ?????

Geospatial data
Ground- Based data
Socio- Economic data
Other Ancillary data
Formulate the question
Observe, acquire data
Added
Analyze
Mitigate and change
Seek solutions
Diagram courtesy of Michael Goodchild, UCSB
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Spatial Data Infrastructure(SDI)

• Definition - the technology, policies, standards,
  human resources, and related activities necessary
  to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain,
  and preserve spatial data
• Part of many nations e-Gov strategy
• www.GSDI.org

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World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002

• Promote the development and wider use of earth
  observation technologies, including satellite
  remote sensing, global mapping and geographic
  information systems, to collect quality data on
  environmental impacts, land use and land use
  changes.

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Poverty Indicators
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Monitoring fair trade -local banana farmers
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GIS for planning underdeveloped areas
A Tale of Two Cities
The formal and the informal
Both deserve GIS complexity is not an accuse!
Source Rosario Giusti de Perez
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GIS for planning underdeveloped areas
Urban poverty measured in terms of quantity and
quality of public space.
The lack of public open space. Barrios have a
percentage of public space between 5 and 10.
In the average city total space constitute over
30 of the total space.
The absence of adequate infrastructure, Urban
furniture and maintenance which combined
produces unhealthy and insecure conditions.
Source Rosario Giusti de Perez
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GIS for planning underdeveloped areas
DEALING WITH A COMPLEX MORPHOLOGY REQUIERES
Understanding the existing physical order
Identifying the social order conformed by
community ties and with no physical evidence
Transformation capacity is determined through a
detailed review of the built form
Source Rosario Giusti de Perez
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GIS for planning underdeveloped areas
Analysis of the social network and community ties
Sustainability is preserving the small social
groups
The social network is topology related.
Source Rosario Giusti de Perez
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Achieving the MDGs requires all of us
working together!
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Thank You!cterborgh_at_esri.com