The GIS and spatial analysis methods used in this
project were adapted to application in developing countries that are
characterized by poor data and where local authorities have limited
capacity to monitor urban growth and change. The emerging colonias
settlements along the US-Mexican border are a case in point. The
Office of Housing and Urban Development defines colonias as "rural
communities and neighborhoods located within 150 miles of the
US-Mexican border" (http://www.hud.gov).
Their conditions mirror those of informal settlements on the urban
fringe in developing countries in that they lack adequate
infrastructure and other basic facilities or develop spontaneously
without jurisdictional sanction and viable livelihood systems.
For regional and local authorities attempting to respond to this
growth phenomenon, the various methods used in the context of this
project offer possibilities. Remotely sensed data (air photography and
satellite imagery) can be used to estimate the pace of colonias growth
as well as to assess the threat of encroachment to ecologically
sensitive areas and farmland. Second, an integration of remotely
sensed data and resultant GIS coverages can be used both as a
predictive and planning tool for infrastructure improvement, assessing
housing conditions, and demand estimation of related basic facilities,
for example: water access, electricity, sanitation, schools and
recreation.
References
Leitmann, J. 1999. Sustaining Cities: Environmental Planning and
Management in Urban Design. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Banerjee, T. 1996. Role of indicators in monitoring growing urban
regions: The case of planning in India's national capital. Journal
of the American Planning Association 66 (2): 222-235.
Nedovic-Budic, Z. 2000. Geographic Information Science implications
for urban and regional planning. URISA Journal 12 (2): 81-93.
Portes, Alejandro and Michael Johns.1989. The polarization of class
and space in the contemporary Latin American city. In W. Canak (ed.),
The Lost Promises, Westview Press, Boulder.
Sawicki. D.S and P. Flynn. 1996. Neighborhood indicators: A review
of the literature and an assessment of conceptual and methodological
issues. Journal of the American Planning Association 66 (2):
165-183.
UN Global Urban Observatory (http://www.urbanobservatory.org/indicators/)
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