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The paper describes the present state of GIS in Bulgaria, points to some problems with its development, and puts forward several ideas about ways to improve the implementation and use of GIS in the country. Special stress is placed on the danger of centralizing GIS functions within the planning institutions of the national state, on the importance of GIS education, training and pilot projects for the future development of GIS, and the necessity to reduce the technological and informational gap between Western countries and Bulgaria.

Local government is one of the most important groups of users of geographical information systems (GIS). The significant interest amongst users and the varied demands to be made of GIS have stimulated discussion in many countries. This article presents some of the findings of a research project which is currently exploring the impact of GIS on British local government. The discussion examines the results of a comprehensive survey of all 514 local authorities in Great Britain. These findings provide an overview of GIS adoption in relation to type of local authority and geographical location. Particular attention is focused on the type of systems which have been adopted, the take-up of GIS over time, the software and hardware being utilized and the perceived benefits and problems associated with GIS. The results demonstrate that take-up has been most pronounced in the larger authorities, particularly in the southern part of Great Britain, with the most popular combination of equipment being Arc/Inf...

Current geographical information systems (GIS) include functions to create cartographic output interactively or automatically. However, none of the systems presently incorporates mechanisms to ensure correct application of graphic functions. Many of today's users of GIS are not trained in the design and production of graphics and may create maps that confuse or mislead map users. Poorly-designed maps may obliterate the patterns in displayed information. This article investigates ways to improve the quality of GIS graphical displays and increase their effectiveness for decision-making. Alternatives are presented for improving map design in GIS, ranging from non-technical efforts to enhancement of software functionality. Suggestions propose augmenting users' abilities to create maps in an automated environment, using an approach termed amplified intelligence: key decisions default explicitly to users, whose knowledge is amplified by a range of high-level tools to carry out map design operations aut...

In the past 10 years, geographic information systems (GIS) have been widely used in urban and regional planning in the developed countries in Australia, North America and Europe. However, the use of GIS in urban and regional planning in the developing countries is limited and still at an early stage of development. This paper examines the current use of GIS in urban and regional planning in the developing countries in Asia. The major hindrances in the use of GIS in the developing countries is related not so much to the technology of GIS but more to data availability, leadership, organization structure and planning practice. For GIS to be more useful to urban and regional planning in the developing countries the development of a sustainable strategy in developing GIS and staff training is needed. International assistance agencies and GIS software companies can play an active role in making GIS available and usable to the planners in the developing countries.

To date, no operational geographical information systems (GIS) have been completed in Romania. However, this paper discusses the significant results which have been achieved in the development of the basic components of a GIS ( already used in management activities) and the conceptual model for GIS, implementation of which is scheduled to be completed in 1990. A review of the progress of these developments is given, followed by a description of the current GIS project in Romania, including the spatial data structure. The more advanced techniques and other areas for future research and development in Romania are also given.