A CRITICAL REVIEW: IDENTIFYING THE ISSUES, CHALLENGES, AND SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Abstract

Due to a lack of foresight in urban and rural planning, many developing
countries face challenges in implementing and monitoring the development of their cities,
towns, rural areas, and residential communities. Some of the challenges that they face, such as
sewage, sanitation, and waste-water management, can lead to conditions that are hazardous to
human life, as well as to the environment, and can result in communities that do not run
efficiently. With the right tools, planners, surveyors and engineers, who possess technical
expertise, political know-how, and financial insight can transform a vision of tomorrow into a
strategic action plan for today. This paper provides a critical review about the issues and
challenges in urban and rural planning in developing countries with high population densities,
and conventional solutions that are currently being employed, including those based on GIS
and remote sensing data. This study is one component of an on-going research project that is
focused on the development of an enhanced model for a spatial decision-support system that
will be practically applied for the development of an early-warning escape plan for natural
disaster management, and for transportation network development and sustainable urban
planning.