GIS for Sustainable Development


Book Description

GIS for Sustainable Development examines how GIS applications can improve collaboration in decision making among those involved in promoting sustainable development. This volume reviews leading GIScience, providing an overview of research topics and applications that enable GIS newcomers and professionals to apply GIScience methods to susta




A System for Survival


Book Description

Synthesizing the vast amounts of data being collected about natural resources, population, health, education, public safety, and more - all within highly accurate and specific geographic contexts - GIS can help people assess and understand their community and environment, and change policy and practice at all levels, from the individual to the international. A System for Survival: GIS and Sustainable Development describes examples of how GIS has been crucial in many democratic governance and civil liberty programs, and serves to help make people more aware of how geographic technologies can play a creative and constructive role as we deal with the monumental challenges humanity faces.




GIS in Sustainable Urban Planning and Management


Book Description

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.1201/9781315146638, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. GIS is used today to better understand and solve urban problems. GIS in Sustainable Urban Planning and Management: A Global Perspective, explores and illustrates the capacity that geo-information and GIS have to inform practitioners and other participants in the processes of the planning and management of urban regions. The first part of the book addresses the concept of sustainable urban development, its different frameworks, the many ways of measuring sustainability, and its value in the urban policy arena. The second part discusses how urban planning can shape our cities, examines various spatial configurations of cities, the spread of activities, and the demands placed on different functions to achieve strategic objective. It further focuses on the recognition that urban dwellers are increasingly under threat from natural hazards and climate change. Written by authors with expertise on the applications of geo-information in urban management, this book showcases the importance of GIS in better understanding current urban challenges and provides new insights on how to apply GIS in urban planning. It illustrates through real world cases the use of GIS in analyzing and evaluating the position of disadvantaged groups and areas in cities and provides clear examples of applied GIS in urban sustainability and urban resilience. The idea of sustainable development is still very much central in the new development agenda of the United Nations, and in that sense, it is of particular importance for students from both the Global South and Global North. Professionals, researchers, and students alike will find this book to be an invaluable resource for understanding and solving problems relating to sustainable urban planning and management.




Understanding GIS through Sustainable Development Goals


Book Description

Understanding GIS through Sustainable Development Goals applies a pedagogical shift to learning GIS, as the readers employ the concepts and methodologies on real-world problems. This book provides 16 case studies across most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with step-by-step practical instructions using QGIS(Quantum Geographic Information System) , an open-source software. It helps readers develop GIS skills on real-world data, while learning the fundamentals including spatial data models, projections, and spatial databases, different cartographic methods, such as graduated symbology, change maps, and dynamic visualization, as well as more intermediate and advanced spatial analysis such as geoprocessing, multiple criteria analysis, and spatial statistics. The topics chosen are taught in secondary and tertiary education institutions which make this a textbook for all students and educators. Features: Focuses on learning GIS through 16 real world case studies. Introduces an open-source software that can be used beyond the classroom. Analyzes Sustainable Development Goals in a global framework and provides an alternative approach to learning GIS. Supports both secondary and tertiary educators and improves GIS education at all levels. Contains a holistic range of case studies that extend across several disciplines, from geography education, environmental sciences, geosciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and digital humanities. This is a textbook for all students and educators, providing 16 case studies across most of the SDGs with step-by-step practical instructions using QGIS, an open-source software.




Spatial Information Technology for Sustainable Development Goals


Book Description

This textbook aims to develop a scientific knowledge base on spatial information technology to communicate the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among students, researchers, professionals and laymen. The book improves understanding of the spatial database and explains how to extract information from this for planning purposes. To enhance the knowledge of geoscientists and environmentalists, the book describes the basic fundamental concepts to advance techniques for spatial data management and analysis and discusses the methodology. The Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing and Global Positioning System (GPS) are presented in an integrated manner for the planning of resources and infrastructure. The management of these systems is discussed in a very lucid way to develop the reader's skills. The proper procedure for map making and spatial analysis are included along with case studies to the reader. Where the first part of the book discusses the conceptual background, the second part deals with case studies using these applications in different disciplines. The presented case studies include land use, agriculture, flood, watershed characterization and infrastructure assessment for the Sustainable Development Goals.







Sustainability


Book Description

A comprehensive resource to sustainability and its application to the environmental, industrial, agricultural and food security sectors Sustainability fills a gap in the literature in order to provide an important guide to the fundamental knowledge and practical applications of sustainability in a wide variety of areas. The authors – noted experts who represent a number of sustainability fields – bring together in one comprehensive volume the broad range of topics including basic concepts, impact assessment, environmental and the socio-economic aspects of sustainability. In addition, the book covers applications of sustainability in environmental, industrial, agricultural and food security, as well as carbon cycle and infrastructural aspects. Sustainability addresses the challenges the global community is facing due to population growth, depletion of non-renewable resources of energy, environmental degradation, poverty, excessive generation of wastes and more. Throughout the book the authors discuss the economics, ecological, social, technological and systems perspectives of sustainability. This important resource: • Explores the fundamentals as well as the key concepts of sustainability; • Covers basic concepts, impact assessment, environmental and socio-economic aspects, applications of sustainability in environmental, industrial, agricultural and food security, carbon cycle and infrastructural aspects; • Argues the essentiality of sustainability in ensuring the propitious future of earth systems; and • Authored by experts from a range of various fields related to sustainability. Written for researchers and scientists, students and academics, Sustainability: Fundamentals and Applications is a comprehensive book that covers the basic knowledge of the topic combined with practical applications.




Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems for Policy Decision Support


Book Description

The management of data to understand complex and interwoven processes of sustainable development has been a great challenge for researchers, planners, and decision makers. Remote sensing and GIS-based policy decision support systems not only help them to solve spatially related environmental and socio-economic issues; they also provide a powerful tool for integrating spatial and non-spatial datasets with analytical and spatial models and knowledge domains. Recent advances in the modern spatial tools of remote sensing and GIS combined with advanced computation techniques have enhanced the efficiency and capabilities of policy development. This book expands the scientific knowledge base in various physical and socio-economic issues among scholars, planners, and decision makers for policy development and research regarding sustainable development. It also demonstrates the importance of modern spatial decision support tools of remote sensing and GIS to better understand sustainable development processes and policy development. Furthermore, the book discusses case studies providing new insights as to how remote sensing and GIS-based decision support systems contribute to understanding physical and socio-economic processes and developing pragmatic policy for sustainable development. This book covers land surface temperature, hydrological processes, terrain mapping, flood and landslide hazards, land use and land cover dynamics, crime hotspots, urban health issues, tourism, agriculture, forest management, flood mitigation, urban sprawl, and village information systems, among others. Readers will find this book to be an invaluable resource for understanding and solving diverse physical and human issues for policy development related to sustainable planning and management.




Down to Earth


Book Description

In 1992, world leaders adopted Agenda 21, the work program of the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development. This landmark event provided a political foundation and action items to facilitate the global transition toward sustainable development. The international community marked the tenth anniversary of this conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August 2002. Down to Earth, a component of the U.S. State Department's "Geographic Information for Sustainable Development" project for the World Summit, focuses on sub-Saharan Africa with examples drawn from case-study regions where the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies have broad experience. Although African countries are the geographic focus of the study, the report has broader applicability. Down to Earth summarizes the importance and applicability of geographic data for sustainable development and draws on experiences in African countries to examine how future sources and applications of geographic data could provide reliable support to decision-makers as they work towards sustainable development. The committee emphasizes the potential of new technologies, such as satellite remote-sensing systems and geographic information systems, that have revolutionized data collection and analysis over the last decade.




Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Socio-economic and Environmental Indicators for Sustainable Development


Book Description

This book presents most recent research studies on mapping and spatial analysis of socio-economic and environmental indicators used by various national and international contributors to regional development projects. It gathers the best contributions to the 1st International Conference on Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Socio-Economic and Environmental Indicators for the Local and Regional Sustainable Development. The conference was held in southern Tunisia, Tataouine in March 2015.The research studies focused on generating and analyzing indicators in various domains of Agriculture, Energy, Industry, Tourism, Transport, Urban Planning, Exploitation of Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Health, Environment, Education, Information and Communication Technologies, Social Affairs and Employability, and Culture and Sport. Socio-economic and environmental indicators are important in regional development plans and strategies as they allow to observe and analyze changes in the economic growth and to measure their impact on the environment and on social networks/daily life of citizens. On the basis of well-defined geomatic approaches, and particularly, through sophisticated digital mapping and spatio-temporal analyses, authors focused on retrieving indicators to evaluate the exploitation rate of natural resources, intensity of the energy consumption in various economic sector, net migratory flows, quality checking of the air in urban areas, adaptation to climate change, and vulnerability of the coastal domain and risk of marine submersion due to sea-level rise. The book is of interest not only to investors and contributors to regional development projects, but also to all relevant policy makers.