Perspectives on geospatial information science education: an example of urban planners in Southern Africa

Figures & data

Table 1. Themes covered in the administered questionnaire on GIS usage to technocrats (GIS experts and planners).

Theme	Description of question
ICT	What are the interests of planners in using ICT in urban and regional planning?
GIS software	The type of software used within the municipality and whether it is proprietary or open access
GIS education	Are the people in charge of planning in possession of a formal GIS qualification and training? How is the GIS education in planning schools?
Resources	What are the financial and other (political, social) resources in place to support GIS in urban planning in municipality?
GIS functionality	Is the GIS in municipalities used for simple and or advanced spatial analysis?
GIS data	Is the data available, up-to-date and of good quality?

Table 2. Sample GIS teaching approaches in planning schools in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

University	Program	Duration (year)	Comment on GIS teaching
University of Cape Town	Bachelor of city planning honours degree	1	GIS fused into courses such as planning techniques and computers in planning
University of Venda	Bachelor of urban and regional planning degree	4	GIS fused into courses such as planning techniques and computers in planning
University of the Witwatersrand	Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours (BSc Hons) in urban and regional planning	1	No mention of courses on GIS and or geospatial information on the website
	BSc urban and regional planning	3	A course on CAD and GIS is taught in the second year in the department
University of Pretoria	Bachelor’s degree in town and regional planning	4	No mention of courses on GIS and/or geospatial information on the website. There is a course on spatial concepts
University of Johannesburg	Bachelor of technology in town and regional planning	1	One year course on GIS taught within the department
	Bachelor in urban and regional planning	3	Course on GIS taught within the department
Durban University of Technology	Bachelor of technology in town and regional planning	1	One year course on GIS taught within the department
	Bachelor degree of the built environment in urban and regional planning	3	Course on GIS taught within the department
University of Zimbabwe	BSc Hons degree in urban planning and development	4	A course on GIS is taught in the surveying or Geography department
Great Zimbabwe University	BSc Hons degree in urban planning and development	4	A GIS and remote sensing course is offered as a core module in year one within the department
North West University	BSc urban and regional planning	4	A GIS and remote sensing course is offered as a core module in year one within the school

Source: Departmental and university websites; author’s experience at the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Johannesburg.

Figure 1. Percentage of GIS usage according to tasks in Ekurhuleni municipality.

Figure 2. Sentiment on GIS data availability and accuracy in Ekurhuleni.