ABSTRACT
In Chapters 5 to 8 we have examined the four transformation stages which make up our conceptual model of GIS operation. The powerful influences of physical-environment applications and hardware capabilities on the current form of GIS have been noted, and attention has been drawn to the particular difficulties faced when applying this technology to socioeconomic data. Until now, the focus of the discussion has been on understanding GIS, using population data as examples where appropriate. Finally, it is necessary to turn in more detail to our main interest in the use of GIS for the modelling and analysis of the socioeconomic environment. Plane and Rogerson (1994) identify the recent combination of population information and selected GIS functionality into what they call ‘demographic information systems’. Their approach stresses the importance of the geographic dimensions of population analysis and it is argued that the potential for the application of GIS techniques in this context have not been fully realized in the implementations already cited. The technology reviewed offers a number of possible routes for the implementation of a ‘socioeconomic GIS’.
