Spatial Data Usage, Spatial Thinking and Spatial Knowledge Generation: The Case of Planning Practitioners in Arequipa, Peru

Abstract

Spatial thinking and spatial knowledge generation in decision-making are still not mature fields of study in planning research, despite these being crucial elements in addressing the issues of the twenty-first-century city. This article contributes to their understanding by exploring their interrelationships with spatial data usage. Through storylines, it analyzes the arguments that planning practitioners offer in support of infrastructure-led decisions in Arequipa (Peru), before and after spatial data usage. The article concludes that spatial data usage improve spatial thinking to different extents, yet suggests aligning spatial data generation and the inclusion of GIS-based spatial analyses with the spatial knowledge needed by routine planning practice.

Keywords:

• Spatial data usage
• spatial thinking
• spatial knowledge generation
• storylines
• planning practitioners
• Peru

Acknowledgements

This manuscript draws from the author’s doctoral dissertation, cofounded by the ORS Grant (School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester, UK) and the FINCyT Scholarship Program (Peruvian Council of Ministries, Peru). The author thanks Prof Cecilia Wong, Dr Brian Webb, Dr Logakanthi Subramanian and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and revision of early drafts of this article.

Notes

1. See, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015.

2. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/nov/06/zaha-hadids-tokyo-olympic-stadium-slammed-as-a-monumental-mistake-and-a-disgrace-to-future-generations.

3. All quotations presented in this article were originally in Spanish and were translated into English by the author.