Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space

This book contains twenty-eight papers by participants in the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on "Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space," held in Las Navas del Maxques, Spain, July 8-20, 1990. The NATO ASI marked a stage in a two-year research project at the U. S. National Center for Geographic Infonnation and Analysis (NCOIA). In 1987, the U. S. National Science Foundation issued a solicitation for proposals to establish the NCGIA-and one element of that solicitation was a call for research on a "fundamental theory of spatial relations". We felt that such a fundamental theory could be searched for in mathematics (geometry, topology) or in cognitive science, but that a simultaneous search in these two seemingly disparate research areas might produce novel results. Thus, as part of the NCGIA proposal from a consortium consisting of the University of California at Santa Barbara, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and the University of Maine, we proposed that the second major Research Initiative (two year, multidisciplinary research project) of the NCOIA would address these issues, and would be called "Languages of Spatial Relations" The grant to establish the NCOIA was awarded to our consortium late in 1988.

In 1990, sixty researchers gathered for two weeks at Castillo-Palacio Magalia in Las Navas del Marques, Spain, to discuss cognitive and linguistic aspects of geographic space. This meeting was the start of successful research on cognitive issues in geographic information science. It appeared worthwhile to assess the achievements and reconsider the research challenges twenty years later. What has changed in the age of computational ontologies and cyber-infrastructures? Consider that in 1990 the web was only about to emerge and the very first laptops had just appeared!

The 2010 meeting brought together many of the original participants, but was also open to others. Scientists, engineers, and humanists working at the intersection of cognitive and geographic information science helped reassess the research needs and approaches. What are today’s challenges? What can we achieve in the next 20 years? What are the lessons learned? This edited book evaluates the current state of the field through chapters by participants and documents an interdisciplinary research agenda for the future.