Geographic information systems (GIS) is computer software that combines geographic location with descriptive data. It allows for viewing and combining data from a geographic perspective to gain new insights and inform decision-making. Computer technology allows many layers of information to be stacked on top of one another, helping us study the interrelationships among features in the same geographic area. For example, urban planners, architects, and urban designers use GIS to answer geographic questions like these:

• Which neighborhood most needs a playground facility?
• Which is the best way to send the recycling truck, given these pickup points?
• What would happen to our local economy if we restrict development outside 1,000 feet of the river?
• What is the best site for the new landfill?

Questions like these are common, but they cannot be answered without considering location. GIS is quickly becoming a standard tool for helping us use our limited resources more wisely with better information management, linked to geographic location.

The College of Architecture and Urban Planning is a leader in GIS research and instruction at the University of Michigan. The Spatial Analysis Lab is equipped with high-end PC workstations along with scanning, printing, and plotting devices. Students and faculty use a range of software packages to meet research and instructional needs in GIS, spatial analysis, urban design, 3-D modeling, and quantitative methods (including ESRI and other GIS products, Microsoft Office, and statistical packages).