Spatial Technologies, Geographic Information, and the City

A Research Conference

Call for Papers - due March 31, 1996

Spatial technologies, that is, the complex of new transportation, communication, and information technologies, are rapidly changing spatial relations in today's cities. The appearance of "Edge Cities" on the periphery of metropolitan areas, and the experiments with Intelligent Transportation Systems, have already captured a lot of public attention. But spatial technologies also affect accessibility conditions for different activities and population groups, as well as the urban structure itself, in ways that are not as visible and often very difficult to gauge. The conference will explore the ways in which these technologies are both transforming our cities and, in the case of information technologies in particular, also expanding our ability to plan for these changes. A specific focus will be on the role of geographic information technologies in enabling us to deal with changing conditions of accessibility, distance, and spatial interaction in urban environments. This is a critical but as yet little researched area. We will review the current state of knowledge on these issues, chart potential research directions, and focus on the ways in which planners and policy-makers might respond to these new developments. We see geographic information science and technology playing a significant role in bringing together those working in this complex area, in particular, experts in urban geography and planning, urban transportation and telecommunications, urban sociology and service provision, and GIS. To this end, the conference will address the following broad questions:

What changes in accessibility are brought about by spatial technologies affecting spatial interactions in cities?

How do these changes affect different geographically or socially defined urban population groups?

How can geographic information science and technology be used to help identify, measure, model, and plan for the impacts of changing spatial technology on the city?

Within these broad themes, the following more specific questions may be addressed:

Relating to changing conditions of urban accessibility and their impacts:

• What empirical evidence is available to support the widely conjectured changes in urban accessibility brought about by the increasingly widespread use of communication and information technologies?
• How are urban land use and structure, at different geographic scales, responding to the changes in access brought about by modern spatial technologies?
• How can land use and transportation models be adapted to reflect the substitutive, complementary, or synergistic effects of new spatial technologies?
• What empirical work is available documenting how access (and lack of access) to information and opportunities is practically experienced by traditionally disadvantaged urban populations (inner city residents, the aged, working mothers, etc.)?
• How will advanced spatial technologies, especially electronic information networks, change conditions of access to employment opportunities for geographically localized, disadvantaged urban populations?
• In the context of urban service delivery, to what extent will the new spatial technologies be substitutive, complementary, or synergistic relative to one another and to the more traditional ways of bringing information and services to urban populations?
• What are the trends in the electronic delivery and use of retail, library, and other services, and what are the positive (e.g., improved access) and negative (e.g., further competitive disadvantages, job losses) impacts on urban populations?

Relating to the role of geographic information science and technology:

• What new conceptual or formal models need to be developed to capture changing notions of distance and access, and how can these be most usefully implemented in GIS?
• What kinds of data will be needed to implement the necessary concepts and models, how will these be collected, and how will they be accessed and synthesized?
• How can GIS-based systems handling aspects of the urban access issue be fruitfully interfaced with other relevant technologies (especially the National Information Infrastructure), as well as with the informal, socially-based information networks?
• What current uses of GIS in urban planning and transportation, policy making, and management are relevant to the access issue? Which are the institutional structures, agencies and stages within the urban policy process where GIS can make the most positive contribution to the problem of access?
• Who will be the main users and managers of GIS-based systems intended to contribute to the improvement of urban access conditions for disadvantaged populations? What are the user needs, professional and managerial as well as among the public at large, with respect to such technologies?

The Conference will be sponsored by the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA). We are planning for a meeting of 25-30 scholars who will contribute research notes to be circulated to all participants prior to the meeting. The conference itself will include both plenary and small-group discussion sessions, and hands-on workshops. Its goal is two-fold: (a) to prepare for the formulation of a research agenda identifying major themes and funding opportunities for concerted research efforts, and (b), to plan for an edited book summarizing the state of knowledge and outlining the major issues in the general subject area of the conference.

Research notes of about 2,000 words, presenting empirical or theoretical work or reviewing the state of knowledge in the areas of interest to the conference, should be sent to the following address by March 31, 1996, in both hard-copy and electronic (e-mail) formats. Notification of acceptance will be issued on May 15. An important selection criterion will be the degree to which submissions integrate the three thematic dimensions of urban accessibility, impact on populations, and geographic information. Research notes should be accompanied by a brief resume and statement of the applicant's research interests beyond those directly reflected in the note.

A number of fellowships of up to $500 ($750 for West Coast and overseas applicants) will be available from the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis towards accommodation and reasonable travel costs. Applications for funding must be included with the research note submissions, along with a mention of any other sources from which additional funding may be obtained. Please quote lowest available economy fare. Overseas fellowship recipients must use US air carriers.

For further information please contact

Dr. Helen Couclelis
NCGIA and Department of Geography
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Phone: (805) 893 2196
Fax: (805) 893 8617
email: cook@geog.ucsb.edu

Conference steering committee:

Ron Abler (AAG), Mike Batty (University College, London), Helen Couclelis (NCGIA/University of California, Santa Barbara), Ken Dueker (Portland State University), Susan Hanson (Clark University), Kingsley Haynes (George Mason University).

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