URP 520, Section 1

This course provides an introduction to the theory and application of geographic information systems (GIS) technology, with particular emphasis on application to urban planning problems. The emphasis is on learning fundamental principles and concepts and gaining broad exposure to GIS applications such as assessing spatial relationships between people and places, and in policy and planning settings involving community development, land use, infrastructure, and environmental planning. Topics include spatial analysis techniques, the evolution of the current theories behind GIS technology, hardware and software requirements, spatial data types, data forms and sources, map and report production, web mapping application design, and fundamentals of database design.