Requirements for the development of computer-based urban information systems

Since early in this decade urban planners and systems analysts have advocated the development of computer-based urban information systems. Such systems would store detailed data about the environment in which planning agencies and governments operate. They would be organized to lend integration to data from diverse sources, to provide quick preparation of reports and to simplify and automate numerous clerical functions. Many attempts have been made to develop urban information systems with the characteristics mentioned above. Most have been unsuccessful for a combination of technical and organizational reasons. This paper considers some technical requirements for planning information systems which deal with data associated with urban locations. The requirements are developed on the basis of experience in providing a prototype urban information system to the Boston Model Cities program. The next section describes briefly the experience of providing an infoimation system to the Boston Model Cities program. Succeeding sections draw on this experience to develop general technical requirements for urban information systems. A technique for aggregating data by geographic area is presented and its implications for system file structure and utilization are explored.