Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the Urban Sustainable Development Decisions

Abstract

According to the Earth Summit Agenda 21, mentions that we need to establish the concept of information systems and utilizing them in the sustainable development process of the city. The municipalities, local governments, and resource users should gain from new information technologies that provide them with the know-how they need to manage their environments and resources sustainably. So, making decisions based on geography is basic to human thinking such as; where we go, what will it shall be like, and what shall we do when we get whether not it can be applied to sustainable development. Therefore, we find that in the 21st century most of public organizations have started to use Information Technologies, and also the municipalities have been utilizing technological developments as tools for their services. Serving, deciding and using city resources efficiently will be easier by using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based Urban Information System (UIS).The paper will review the concept of urban sustainable development and how it is influencing responses to increasing population growth in cities. It will address the role of GIS-based for sustainable development in terms of local and municipal governance. Moreover, it is to show how GIS can be used in the assessment and modeling of urban sustainability, how sustainable development at urban level is measured? Finally the paper reviews the intersection of GIS and urban sustainability through empirical research by building a GIS model to examine how Riyadh city can be develop of sustainably. It will test the priorities of urban development for the city to preserve the resources available.