Digital Places: Living with Geographic Information Technologies

Widely used in marketing, business planning, government and legislation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a rapidly growing industry and their impacts are substantial.Digital Placesoffers a new understanding of GIS--the social impacts of the development and the ethical issues surrounding their use. The last twenty-five years have seen major changes in the nature and scope of geographical information. Computers, satellites and global positioning systems have made GIS more extensive in society at large, while these systems have resolved issues as diverse as global climate change to the routing of mail in universities. Focusing on the ramifications of GIS usage, Michael R. Curry argues that there are substantial limits to their ability to enhance the very objects, relationships, people and places they are meant to represent.