ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how the increasing availability of digital data at the micro urban level and software based on GIS and remote sensing are now essential in generating and testing new theories of urban form and dynamics. Contemporary urban theory takes a different approach being largely based on the new non-linear dynamics which treats urban change as discontinuous in the manner of catastrophe and chaos. New procedures for visualising very large data sets are available through GIS and remote sensing (RS) software, while methods for animating space-time data are being developed. In constructing the animation, it is important to give some visual reference to the data so that errors can be examined when two or more data sets are combined. Modelling urban development involves beginning with theory and then testing that theory against some data in the quest to validate and improve the original hypotheses.
