What about people in geographic information science?

Geographic information systems (GIS) are convenient and potentially powerful platforms for transportation and urban analysis. Most GIS-based tools for transportation and urban analysis continue a place-based representation that is increasingly ill-suited to answer important questions in theory, policy and practice. The increasing disconnection between people and places means that a people-based representation is required to address questions of access, exclusion and evolution at the forefront of transportation and urban analysis and policy. A people-based GIS can be achieved by integrating principles from time geography and activity theory with geographic information science (GISci) representational theories and geographic information technologies. This paper reviews the principles, state of the art and research needs for a people-based GIS based on integrating time geographic and space-time activity concepts with the theories and tools of GISci and GIS. Filename: what about people v16 Last save: December 10, 2001 2:00 PM 1 This title is an homage to the classic paper by Torsten Hägerstrand, “What about people in regional science?” (Hägerstrand 1970).