During the last 20 years, geographic information systems (GIS) have transitioned from scientific laboratories into the heart of conventional planning practice. During this period, planners have been aggressive adopters and adapters, and strong advocates for local governments deploying GIS. this is true in part because GIS provides a platform for collecting and organizing spatial data, along with analyzing and manipulating capabilities that align closely with the professional needs of urban and regional planners.

When facilitating GIS courses in the field of urban and regional planning, we have observed a de!cit of introductory textbooks specifically written for planning students, whose career paths may require a certain set of GIS skills that di#er from those taught in geography or other departments. this textbook is our first effort to compile a series of readings that we !nd compelling and relevant for planning graduate students to explore spatial thinking and application, which will support a spatially informed future in the profession.

The goals of this textbook are to help students acquire the technical skills of using so$ware and managing a database, and develop research skills of collecting data, analyzing information and presenting results. We emphasize that the need to investigate the potential and practicality of GIS technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate its possible applications. GIS may not be necessary (or useful) for every planning application, and we anticipate these readings to provide the necessary foundation for discerning its appropriate use. therefore, this textbook attempts to facilitate spatial thinking focusing more on open-ended planning questions, which require judgment and exploration, while developing the analytical capacity for understanding a variety of local and regional planning challenges.