Laurini (Claude Bernard U., Lyon, France) encourages urban planners and software engineers to take a fresh look at computer systems as "liberating tools"; he sees new communications technologies (including groupware, virtual reality, and wireless communications) as a rich resource for enabling broad public participation in planning and public affairs. Laurini presents his view of urban planning as a process oriented not just to land-use control but also to the welfare of citizens; as such, it can make use of technology to link many sources of information, to connect isolated machines into a greater whole, and to facilitate cooperation between people. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Urban planners who need to design information systems require an understanding of systems analysis, data acquisition and GIS. In recent times the need has been to make computer-based maps by using a GIS, but planners now need tools for co-operative work using groupware systems, for global visualization and real-time monitoring of urban activities and phenomena. Planners have moved beyond drawing land use plans, to examining the evolution of urban activities to monitor and analyze urban societal and environmental problems.
Both practitioners and students will find this book useful, provided they have an adequate grounding in computing, data analysis and GIS and they are looking to use and design computer systems for developing maps and written statements for city planning. Therefore, novel tools like using multimedia information systems and GIS will become an increasingly important, eventually essential part of the job.
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