Status of GIS Education in China
Zong-Guo Xia
University of Massachusetts at Boston
China is the most populous country in the world and
is experiencing most radical political and economic
changes. Geographic information technologies play an
important role in urban and regional planning, resource
monitoring and allocation, and environmental management.
The development and operational use of remote sensing and
geographic information systems are rated as one of the
top fifteen priorities in science and technology for the
entire country between 1996 and 2000. The educational
institutions have made tremendous progress during the
last ten years in developing educational programs to
meet the country's needs of researchers and practitioners
of geographic information science and technologies.
This paper presents an overview of GIS education in China.
The questions to be answered are (1) which institutions
are providing GIS education? (2) what disciplines are
involved? (3) what is being taught at different institutions
and for students at different levels? and (4) what resources
are available for GIS education? It will also describe the
national coordination efforts and research priorities. Similarities
and differences between China and western countries will
be highlighted.
Zong-Guo Xia*
Department of Geography
University of Massachusetts at Boston
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3393
Phone: (617) 287 - 5285
FAX: (617) 265 - 7173
Email: zgx@earth.geog.umb.edu
* The author also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Wuhan
Technical University of Surveying and Mapping and at the
Central South University of Technology in the People's
Republic of China.