Spatial Sciences Laboratory

Monitoring urban expansion and economic development are tasks that GIS has been used for successfully for many years. The monitoring of expansion requires that historical, as well as current status of development be established. The GIS provides a tool for mapping past, current and predicted expansion in urbanized areas. Economic development in regions requires that numerous data sets that describe the region be compiled into a manageable system that will allow the user to interrogate it for "what if" scenarios. The GIS provides such a system.

The Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council (GFBEDC) developed GIS capabilities with the intent of using it to provide information to potential clients. As such, they implemented a system, obtain training, and acquire GIS data sets that provide them with an integrated system for planning economic development throughout the council area.