This chapter illustrates the use of a geographic information system (GIS). The GIS approach involves the construction of a computer data base in which layers of information, registered to a map reference system, is stored and may be recalled to model or evaluate potential land development. Most investigations of the GIS approach have been undertaken in the United States with the conclusion that it is an efficient tool for resource management and planning. The layers of information were stored on IBM 370/158 computer disk files and manipulated with the aid of GIS software routines. Transportation routes are an important factor in the development of a remote area. Lands close to the existing transportation network are more accessible and a logical choice for agricultural development. Geographic principles dictate that land along streams which is adjacent to transportation routes also has potential for agricultural development.
One of the locational advantages enjoyed by the rural communes in the coastal provinces of China is the proximity to large urban markets and to export facilities provided by the transportation centers. The changing rural landscape is exemplified by the following account of the evolution of agricultural production in Gaohe, a county southwest of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. The agricultural economy of the entire central Guangdong subregion shares the characteristics of its type area, the delta, to varying extents. Changes in the agricultural scene came with the Communist regime. The rich supply of agricultural products, however, had given rise to some processing industries such as silk reeling, spinning, food preserving, distilling, tobacco curing, and mats weaving. A negative effect must have been felt also from Gaohe's proximity to several urban centers that could provide much better support services to industry and greater accessibility to markets.
This paper utilizes Tai-wans unique household registration data to analyze the areal pattern of both total numbers and rates of net migration at city-prefecture level for the calendar year 1971. The rate of net migration is the ratio between the number of net migrants in 1971 and total population in the city or prefecture in the middle of 1971 expressed in number of net migrants per thousand population. The 1971 pattern then is compared with that found by others for the 1959-66 period. Finally stepwise multiple regression demonstrates the relations between net migration rates and selected demographic- economic factors. The Tai-wan area administratively consists of Tai-wan province and Tai-pei city. Tai-wan province is further divided into twenty subdivisions four cities and sixteen prefectures. Since Tai-pei city areally is similar to a provincial city it is treated as such and makes a total of twenty one divisions in the Tai-wan area. (authors)
