UCGIS Spring 2003 Newsletter

I represented UCGIS at the U.S. - Mexico Bi-National Urban Planning Conference held on September 17-18, 2002, in El Paso, Texas. The conference was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Mexico Secretaria de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL). INEGI, the Mexican federal agency responsible for mapping and census activities also played a prominent role.

The principal purpose of the conference was to explore the degree to which GIS and related technologies are being used in the border region and how local, state, and federal agencies on both sides of the border can more effectively cooperate in urban planning. Although the presentations covered many parts of the border there was a clear emphasis on the El Paso-Juarez area, especially on the colonias.

One of the major recommendations coming out of the conference was that the El Paso-Juarez area be used as a pilot project for developing urban planning methodologies using GIS that could be applied at a later time to other city pairs along the border. A strong commitment to bi-national cooperation was made by those from the federal agencies.

Approximately 60 people from universities and local, state, and federal governments from both sides of the border attended. The fifteen person Mexican delegation was comprised of prominent researchers and officials, indicating a high level of interest in bi-national approaches in planning for urban growth in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Likewise, the large number of senior individuals from USGS and HUD signified the commitment of these important U.S. federal agencies to improving planning at the border.

My presentation on the San Diego-Tijuana International Boundary Planning Atlas was consistent with the theme of the conference which was "Managing Urban and Community Development along the U.S.-Mexico Border with Geographic Information Systems."

UCGIS was invited to this conference following the successful completion of the HUD research grant. Alven Lam, project manager for the grant, complimented UCGIS and its participating universities on the quality of research in his remarks.

The National Map

by Will Craig

The USGS concept of The National Map is under review by the Mapping Science Committee of the National Academy of Sciences. A workshop was held on September 25-26, 2002, in Washington DC. UCGIS was invited to participate and I was chosen to attend. In addition, four members of the study committee come from UCGIS institutions. For more information see http://www.nationalmap.usgs.gov/ and http://www7.nationalacademies.org/besr/National_Map.html Workshop participants were inspired by the vision of a current, seamless, digital map of the nation—but concerned by the many obstacles to its fulfillment. My white paper (not an official UCGIS statement) stressed the need for research to overcome some of the technical and institutional barriers. I also stressed the need to broaden the scope of data content and the need for incentives to entice locals to partner by sharing their data. Others stressed the need for the various federal agencies to coordinate themselves before asking locals to participate. The committee report will be written by the end of the year, then reviewed and published next Spring.

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