Applied GIS and Spatial Analysis / Применение ГИС и пространственный анализ

The history of applied spatial modelling has been a chequered one. If we ignore the elements of simple numerical reporting in the early commercial geographies of the nineteenth century, then we can probably trace the origins of applied quantitative spatial analysis to the fields of transportation modelling, especially at the University of Pennsylvania, in the early 1960s (Herbert and Stevens, 1960; Harris, 1962). Mathematical geography became prevalent in planning circles both in the USA and in Europe from this time onwards. The early 1960s also witnessed the emergence of statistical geography: the search for patterns or similarities in spatial data sets and the testing for significance, with the aim of providing universal spatial theories and laws (or at least theories that worked well in the real world). Although this was often very empirical in nature, it seldom extended beyond the academic geography community. There are excellent summaries in Haggett (1965) and Haggett et al. (1977).