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Abstract Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are becoming basic tools for a wide variety of earth science and land-use applications. This article presents linear programming (LP) as a promising tool for spatial modelling within a GIS. Although LP is not properly a spatial technique, it may be used to optimize spatial distributions or to guide the integration of variables. An example of the use of LP in land-use planning is described, with minimizing rural unemployment as the main goal. Technical, financial and ecological constraints are established to show the influence of several limitations on achieving the optimal solution. LP makes it possible to achieve optimal land-use, where the objective is maximized and the constraints respected. LP can also be used to simulate different planning scenarios, by modifying both the objective function coefficients and the constraints. The integration of LP and GIS is presented in two phases: (i) acquisition of attribute data for the LP model, and (ii) modelling and mapping the results.
Emilio Chuvieco (1993) studied this question.