地理信息系统(gis)英语论文(17)

费力好大劲才搞到的 地理信息系统 gis 英语论文

M.K.McCall/HabitatInternational27(2003)549–573565

nothavepreciseboundaries.Manysocialinterventionsareaimedatcommunitiesofpeoplewhodonothaveauniqueor xedlocation(women,pastoralists,students,the‘‘poorest10%’’).Precisionisneededforspecialsituations,especiallylegalactions,suchascustomarylandrightsvs.thestateoraforestryconcession.

6.3.Visualisationandtechnical im- am

ConventionalprojectstodisseminateGIShavecommonlybeendrivenfromoutside,asa‘solutionlookingforaproblem’.‘‘GISandRSdemonstrations[ingeneral]are‘technology-driven’ratherthen‘demand-driven’’’(Hutchinson&Toledano,1993).Thisraisesquestionsofthelegitimacyandrespectdimensionsofgovernance.

GISsoftwaremarketedtocommunitygroupsisofteninappropriateinitsfunctionalitiesanddataappetite,munitycustomershavelearnttopreviewsoftwareoptions;forexample,theShuswapNationinCanadaassessedpertinentfactorsoflearning,informationinterchange,support,easeofuse,aswellascost(Johnson,1997).Ongovernancecriteria,softwaredecisionsrelatebothtoaccountabilityandcompetence/ef ciency.

ItisimpossibletooverestimatethevisualimpactofGISoutput,RSimagesand,tosomeextent,maps(cf.Monmonier,1996).Itisnotonlythequantityofinformationbitsthatcanbesummarisedinanimage(comparedwithawrittenreportordatatables),butthequalityoftheinformationimpartedisalsodifferent—the‘‘clarity’’,thesimplicityof‘‘distinguishing’’,andtheeaseofmakingcomparisons.Asmanyobserversnote,GISdisplayscanhavetooconvincinganimpactontheaudience—theeaseoflayeringandofchangingmaps,theapparentobjectivityandscienti ccontentofthedisplay,canhaveablindingeffect(cf.Abbotetal.,1998;Obermeyer,1994),althoughthisshoulddeclineasdecision-makersbecomemorefamiliarwiththetechniques.EvenproponentsofGISapplications,pointout(inthecontextoflandclaims)how‘‘yGIScanprovideanairofscienti cobjectivityrequiredwithinthelegalsystem’’(Johnson,1997).‘‘Spurious’’couldeasilybeaddedtothequote.

GISactivitiesareoftentreatedasshort-term,limitedprojects,ratherthanason-goingprocesses,despitebeingmarketedasstructuralinvestment.12InmostPSPapplications,however,thebene tsofparticipationareneitherfast,nornecessarilyina nancialcurrency;andwherethereareeconomicreturnsfromP-GISusedforcommunitydevelopment,theyarenotaccruingtothecommercialplayerswhocouldfundhigh-techGIS.

Thereareconcernshereforaccountability,aswellasforef ciencyinapracticalsense.FlashyGISimagescreateinfactnon-transparencyandnon-visibility,sothatrepresentationsanddecisionsaredistortedorconfusedbytheimage.

yering

Onthepositiveside,agreatstrengthofGISandP-GISwithrespecttoISKistheperformanceofthelayeringcapabilities.Multipleperspectivesalwaysdemandmulti-mappings,anditisarguablethatthiscapabilitymeansthatGIScansigni cantlyrepresentaholistic,non-12AsinexperiencesofmunicipalGISinCebuandLilongwe(vanderVegt,2001).