ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter we saw how contemporary GIS have evolved alongside developments in computer-assisted cartography (CAC) and image processing (IP). These technologies have been mostly concerned with monitoring and modelling the physical environment. This was reflected in the orientation of many GIS texts towards land-resources assessment, from Burrough (1986) through to Haines-Young and Green (1993) and Goodchild et al. (1993b). This emphasis is also evident in many conference proceedings and collections of papers, where the balance of applications listed falls clearly in the physical domain. It would be impossible to adequately convey all these applications here, although a general distinction has been made between systems primarily concerned with the natural environment and those concerned with the built environment.
