地理信息系统(gis)英语论文(16)

费力好大劲才搞到的 地理信息系统 gis 英语论文

564M.K.McCall/HabitatInternational27(2003)549–573

Beyondthis,istheelementallackofresourcesandaccesstopower,whichcreatesmoreimplacablehindrancesthanbeinguntrained(seeSection7).

6.HowwellcanGISrepresentITK?Strengthsandweaknessesofp-GIS

6.1.GISdistortionsofperceivedspace

GISoutputsareliabletodistortandtrivialisespatialrealitybecausetheypresentpatterns,notprocesses,even owscanbedif culttorepresent.Theycanonlydescribebutnotexplain;alternatively,theyexaminebutdonotprovideunderstanding.GIScanprovideanswerstothe‘what?’,‘when?’,‘who?’,andofcourse,‘where?’questions,butnotmuchofthe‘how?’,or‘why?’questions.Economicandsocialpower,whichisfundamentaltoexplaining‘why’?,rarelyappearsinGIS—thoughthatisasmuchduetotheownershipandobjectivesofmostconventionalGIS,asitistotechnicallimitations.

Thesenseofplaceassociatedwithparticularlocalitiesandbyparticulargroupsofpeopleinmentalmapsisqualitativeandfuzzy,metaphoricalormystical.ItmaynotbereducibletoEuclideanspace.Thedistortionsforcedonpeople’sperceivedspacebybeingembeddedinaprocrusteanlogicalpositivistGISbedmaythrowawaytoomuchculturalinformationbelongingtoISK.Aminimalrequirementisthatthenamesusedforobjects/people/placesshouldmeshwithindividualandcommunityknowledge(Brodnig&Mayer-Schonberger,2000).

Hall(1997)extendstheargumenttoidentifyGISasa‘‘masculinisttechnology’’whichismaterialistandpositivist,handlingonlydiscreteboundedunitsofanalysisthatareoftenpre-de nedandavoidfuzzyconcepts.Hercallisforworkonthe‘‘feminisationofGIS’’.Inasimilarvein,Varanka(1997)interpretsthestressontheprinciplesof‘plainstyle’incartography—thesimplicityofcontextbyeliminatingcompetingviewpoints,emphasisonmathematicalaccuracy,utility,lackoficonography,plainness—as‘‘manly’’;asopposedtootherobjectivesofrecordingambiguity,fuzzinessandspiritualvaluesthatareseenas‘‘feminineandjuvenile’’.Varanka(1997,p.1)proposesthatthe‘‘unacknowledgedconsequencesofPlainstylemappingare[masculinist]culturalyrepression[of]emotivestatementsandabstractionssuchasworldviewsandspirituality’’.

6.2.‘Preciseness’

Muchofwhatissigni cantinspatialpatternsinPSP,relatingforinstancetoneighbourhoodplanning,culturalzoning,orlocal-levelNRM,hasspatialcharacteristicsoffuzzy,multi-layeredzonesandzonalinformation(areas,polygons,rastergrids);blurred, exible,andmultipleboundaries(linedata);uncertain,hiddenorrestrictedspatiallocations(pointdata);anddynamics— owsofphysicalresources,informationormemes, owsofin uence,powerandcontrol.

GISapproaches,especiallythosebuiltonRSdata,mayplacemisleadingemphasisonspatialaccuracyorprecisenessoftheoutputinformation.Mostdevelopmentactivities,especiallyinruralsettings,donotneedahighdegreeofspatialexactitude.Theyareconcernedwithinterventionsatthelevelofcommunitiesorecologicalzones,whicharerelativelylargespatialentities,andmay