Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and their role in sustainable planning: a case study from a Local Government Area (LGA) in Australia

A case study is used to demonstrate the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to inform sustainable development. The suitability of the landscape to support tourism accommodation in a Local Government Area (LGA) is modelled by integrating existing datasets, including conservation areas, residential zones, major roads and known locations of tourism operators into a logistic regression framework. By using a data-driven approach an indication of the relative importance of each explanatory variable can be accounted for, therefore informing planners of the importance of different assets. In a region where tourism is reliant upon natural features, this use of information systems in conjunction with quantitative statistical modelling can valueadd to existing datasets. The provision of this kind of knowledge is important as it would otherwise not factor into the decision-making process had the datasets been considered independently of each other – a concept that applies to both the public and private sectors.