Development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in China: An Overview

Geographic information systems (GISS) were introduced into China (Mainland) in the 1970s. This paper provides an overview of the advances in GISs in Mainland China (not including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau) during the past more than 20 years. It covers the developments of operational application systems, national geospatial databases, and technical systems. It also reviews the advances in research, education, and institutional development. Introduction Geographic information systems (GISS) were first introduced into China (excluding Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau) at the end of the 1970s. The early applications of GISS in the 1980s were either "technology-pushed" or "system-driven." A GIs was treated as a tool for geo-spatial data processing, and was used mainly for the automation of existing manual map-based operations, such as computer-assisted mapping, land suitability evaluation, environmental assessment, map data storage and retrieval, and so on (Yeh, 1985; Chen, 1986; Chen and Sun, 1989). On the whole, the applications of GIs were largely research-oriented pilot studies. Some systems remained in a continual cycle of pilot projects, and many GIS projects failed to deliver their originally anticipated benefits within the predefined time frame. End users could not make effective use of the systems, partly because the organizations involved had not trained sufficient experts (He and Jiang, 1992). Since the beginning of the 1990s, the open-door policy and modernization process have motivated the development of more specialized and purposeful GIs applications and longterm and productivity-enhancing GIS application programs (Xu, 1998). There was a huge demand for the operational use of GISS in the fields of urban planning, land management, resource survey, and environmental analysis, with the purposes of rationally utilizing various resources, protecting the life-dependent environment, developing the economy, and raising the living standards of the general population. Radical technical advances also made G~ss easier to use and more affordable. As a result, numerous GIS activities have been taking place in China. Both the government and private sectors have set up operational GISS for their daily work and strategic J. Chen is with the National Geomatics Center of China, 1 Baishengcun, Zizhuyuan, Beijing, China, 10004 ([email protected]). J. Li is with the Institute of Remote Sensing, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Beijing University, Beijing, China. J. He is with the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China. Z. Li is with the Department of Land Surveying and GeoInformatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong ([email protected]). planning, and for public use (Li and Chen, 2000). Quite a number of operational GISS have been set up in recent years. In the early development, most of the GIS software systems were imported. Since the beginning of 1990s, many homegrown GISS have become available. Quite a number of them were already very advanced, even at that time. Homegrown G I ~ S are normally less expensive than those imported, which drives more and more users to make use of them. In recent years, the GIS industry in China has been booming. With the rapid growth of the GIS industry, a number of nontechnical issues have become critical, i.e., data sharing, training of expertise, and basic research. The government has paid much attention to the development of a national spatial data infrastructure. Many universities have opened GIS programs. Scholars have paid more attention to basic research in GISS. Indeed, a lot has happened to GISs in China in the last 20 years, so it is now the time to provide an overview of that development. The next section describes the development of operational application systems. This is followed by an examination of the development of multi-scale geospatial databases. Then the advances in technical system development are reported. This is followed by reviews of the advances in basic research. The next section then focuses on institutional and policy issues. Finally, an overview on education is provided. Development of Operational Application Systems The operational use of GISS in China can be classified into three categories according to the nature of their utilization. The first is G~ss used for day-to-day routine work, such as many urban GIS applications. The second is characterized by the strategic or senior management operation of government departments or major businesses, such as those used by local and central governments. Social GISS for use by the general public belong to the third category. Uban GIS for Day-td)ay Routine Work As an increasing number of urban organizations are becoming proficient in the use of GIS tools for spatial data storage and mapping, interest in the past ten years has been moving towards handling routine tasks. Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) systems for urban planning and land management have been developed by integrating GISS with office automation in more than 30 largeand middle-sized cities, such as Changzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Liuzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xiamen, Yantai, and Zhongshan (Chen et al., 1998a). Easy access to the data by contents is available and promotes information sharing within organizations.