1. Curtis L. Lewis
GIS Technology and the Lifeblood of Our Civilization
Geography 417- Special Topics, Dr. Wei Ji
Tuesday, July 2, 2012

2. Two years ago, during my third semester attending the University of Missouri-
Kansas City (UMKC), I was enrolled in the Urban Planning and Design program. Like
many programs, our Urban Planning program offered some education in Geographic
Information Systems (GIS). An introduction course, and an advanced science course.
Only the introduction course was required, and I took it. Although I have heard that other
Urban Planning programs offer a broader range of GIS intensive coursework, the
required course offered at UMKC was enough to re-spark my interest in
mapping/cartography, and deepen my interest in city, and spatial planning. Even though
I’ve since left the Urban Planning program to major in Geography, and pursue UMKC’s
GIS certification, I did so in hopes of continuing my long-standing interest in city, and
spatial planning, but with a larger GIS focus. This long-standing interest in planning has
an underlying, more specific current. I’m not only interested in planning space, but
specifically, the movement through space. I believe that the movements we make, and the
movements we make possible, are the lifeblood of our civilization. The street for the
commuter, the freeway for traveling tourist and the tractor-trailer of goods, the railway
and the cargo ship for freight, important freight like food, water, medicine, petroleum,
without which, our civilization would break-down, and cease to exist as we know it. I
believe that transportation planning is at the central core to keep this life-blood moving,
and since taking that introduction class, I believe GIS is the best way to make that
happen. “A geographic information system (GIS) is an effective way to integrate the

3. information needed to support the many facets of transportation planning.” (Hanson 164)
This belief has been shared by others for many years. “The use of these support systems
is highly desirable when professional planners, politicians and decision-makers must act
jointly to effect certain decisions.” (Timmermans 4)
Since my first course in Geographic Information Systems, I have taken multiple
ArcGIS and other GIS related coursework. As a result, my knowledge base and my
experience have grown. I have completed several projects involving transportation and
transportation planning. Although transportation planning itself, on the whole, is a joint
effort between engineers, planners and environmental agencies, a very large portion of
transportation planning falls under the umbrella of federal, state and local governments,
especially if the municipality operates with a local, or regional Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO). I believe this is why government has been involved with GIS
technology for so long. “Local government was one of the earliest and is one of the most
important users of the technology.” (Timmermans 6) “…GIS, in its current form, is an
appropriate support tool for urban planners in some of their decision making tasks. This
is certainly the case for tasks that require the detailed and accurate knowledge of the
detailed location of physical objects, such as utilities planning (e.g. pipelines, electricity
lines), cadaster and engineering applications.” (Timmermans 126) “…the departments of
central and local government showed early interest in GIS technology. They contain large
quantities of spatially referenced information.” 60 (Timmermans 60 -via Campbell and
Masser, 1992)

4. Since governments have begun to utilize GIS technology, they have amassed spatial
information to be used as a base and to be updated. This makes GIS technology efficient
and extremely usable, which has been anticipated since before the technology had really
come into focus for urban planning during the 1990’s. “…GIS… may be possible to
provide the tools for future planning and design.” (Timmermans 70) “…GIS is
potentially as much a tool for design or planning, organization and control as it is for
scientific or spatial analysis…” (Timmermans 63) “It was perceived that the use of GIS
technology would prevent unnecessary duplication, would increase speed, would increase
efficiency, would reduce costs and would support strategic decision-making.”
(Timmermans 61) Since that time, speculation about GIS technology has been accurate in
the sense that it has continued to grow and expand to enhance the field of planning, and
because of this, for many years now, GIS technology has been associated with the field of
planning. In addition to this, many organizations and firms now have their own GIS nook
of technicians operating the software for the specific needs of that organization. “There is
a strong sense that GIS technology will have a growing impact on professional practice
and that the professions need to be involved in its development.” (Timmermans 55 -via
Department of the Environment, 1987) “GIS is now a technology widely accepted by
organizations involved in planning at different spatial scales and in different sectors.”
(Stillwell 10) “There is little doubt that GIS will become an ever more essential part of
the software suite that every researcher and planner engaged in urban plan-making will
have available on his desktop computer.” (Stillwell 39) These days, GIS technology has
become such an integral part of the planning process, whether its metropolitan planning

5. organizations, or other governmental organizations, private organizations or firms, etc.,
that the location of almost anything constructed is almost guaranteed to have somehow
been planned using GIS technology.
Now that we’ve seen how the lifeblood of our civilization depends upon
transportation planning, and is heavily supported by GIS technology, let’s examine the
common purpose that all the lifeblood actually serves in our civilization. The lifeblood;
the vehicles, the semi-trucks, the ships, the trains, everything that’s used to move people
and goods from one location to the next, serve a common purpose that supports our
civilization. That common purpose is business. Through business our civilization is
upheld. Because of this purpose, people and goods are able to be transported from one
place to another. Most businesses, especially because of our increasingly global
economy, depend fully upon transportation, and the relocation of people and goods. So,
the more businesses know, the better our civilization is served. What businesses know,
and understand about the world, and its conditions around them, is known as ‘Business
Intelligence’ (BI).
Today, because business also drives the lifeblood of our civilization, like
transportation planning, it is also increasing in need for a deeper understanding of GIS
technology. “…these two data-centric disciplines have forged independent but parallel
paths. Only now are they beginning to converge.” (Eckerson 13) Businesses lose out on a
much more complete perspective of how to handle their activities. “…without access to a
GIS, analytically driven organizations miss valuable insights.” (Eckerson 13) The very
needs that GIS technology fills are so extensive in today’s world that the very concept

6. and labeling itself is beginning to be redefined from just ‘geography’, or just ‘space’ to fit
the idea of each broader need. “…location intelligence is the newest moniker for
something that used to be called spatial analytics, geographic information systems (GIS),
or just mapping software. Location intelligence (LI) creates maps that enable users to
view the relationship of objects in space and perform a variety of spatial calculations…”
(Eckerson 12) “…location intelligence is more than just a map with dots on it. Location
intelligence is a full-fledged analytical system. These so-called geographic information
systems specialize in storing and manipulating spatial data, which consists of points, lines
and polygons plotted as coordinates in space. Each spatial object can be imbued with
various properties or rules that govern its behavior.” (Eckerson 13)
Business is beginning to find that they can remain on par with leading business
decision making by accessing and utilizing GIS technology. “The Esri Business Summit
brings some of the best minds in business together to share how commercial
organizations worldwide are using place-based decision making to support customer
service, grow profitability, and manage change in an increasingly complex world.”
(Richardson 14) As the caliber and importance of personal technology continues to rise,
with it also has given rise to the use of location data. More applications than ever are
allowing people to view their personal information plotted on a map. “With the mass
adoption of smart phones and location-aware applications, the amount of location-based
data is exploding, and people are more and more accustomed to looking at the
information through a map lens. This adoption is making a big impact in the business
arena. People are more comfortable with viewing data on a map, and when they see

7. patterns, they want to understand them—that’s location analytics.” (Richardson 16)
“…location analytics gives you the ability to see your data in a whole new way that
graphs, charts and tables can’t reveal. Simply being able to interact with your data
through mapping enables you to find and understand patterns that weren’t obvious in
tables or charts.” (Richardson 16)
Business and Transportation planning are the two main forces behind the
movement of the lifeblood that keeps our civilization alive. GIS technology and location
information/analytics is so imperative to the world around us that it is literally no surprise
that this technology has become, and is becoming, the dominant, main support for both of
these arenas. As we have seen, GIS technology has dominated planning, and
transportation planning for many years now, and it is just now beginning to work its way
into the business arena, but it has also been a long time coming. “Location analytics is
one of the next big waves for the business analytics space. Location as a part of business
analytics has always been relevant—most commonly for things like site analysis and
customer intelligence applications—but it’s been overlooked for too long.” (Richardson
16)

8. works cited
Eckerson, Wayne. “Location Intelligence is More Than a Map.” ArcUser Fall 2012: 12-
13. Print.
Hanson, Susan, and Genevieve Giuliano. The Geography of Urban Transportation. New
York: Guilford, 2004. Print.
Richardson, Karen. “Keeping Service Levels High and Costs Low.” ArcUser Fall 2012:
14-15. Print
Richardson, Karen. “Information Through a Map Lens.” Interview with Chris Ovens and
James Killick. ArcUser (2012): 16-19. Print.
Stillwell, J., S. Geertman, and S. Openshaw. Geographical Information and Planning.
Tokyo: Springer, 1999. Print.
Timmermans, Harry. Decision Support Systems in Urban Planning. New York: E & FN
Spon, 1997. Print.