Loren Siebert
Department of Geography and Planning, University of Akron

Abstract:

Urban planners, geographers, and others who study urban growth often deal with various types of data, including visual materials such as historical maps and tabular and textual materials from government, corporate, and other sources. Geographic information systems (GIS) can serve as powerful tools for integrating such information into a common historical spatial database. This project develops practical ways of dealing with these diverse data sources to construct a GIS spatial database for documenting, visualizing, and analyzing the history of Tokyo's urban form and growth.

Four historical components are used: (1) shoreline and river changes in Tokyo Bay and its delta lands, (2) changes of major and minor administrative units, including conversion from provinces to prefectures and the process of urbanization from village to town to city to ward, (3) population, density, and population change, and (4) development of the greater Tokyo rail network. These were selected to produce a thematic balance (representing physical, political, urbanization intensity, and interconnectedness aspects), data-source variety (e.g., historical maps, censuses, and rail chronologies), and a balance of geographic feature types (areal and linear). As a result, individually and together, they provide a useful mix for developing and evaluating methods of using a GIS for historical documentation and research. Development of this GIS spatial history required designing appropriate database structures and geographic elements to record spatial and temporal variations of the data.

To illustrate use of the GIS spatial history, a variety of historical patterns have been mapped and analyzed, such as effects of shoreline and river changes on transportation routes and administrative boundaries, identification of zones and sequences of urbanization transition, and effects of former province names on rail company, line, and station names.

Related URL: Univ of Akron, Dept of Geography & Planning

International Workshop on Historical GIS Fudan University, Shanghai, August 23-25, 2001