Regional and Urban Change and Geographical Information Systems and Science

Zusatztext

This volume offers an interdisciplinary, spatially grounded analysis of Northern Canadacentring the territories of Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, and the broader geography of Inuit Nunangatto show how climate change, infrastructure, governance, and cultural continuity co-produce northern development outcomes. Rather than treating the North as a uniform periphery, the book foregrounds spatial heterogeneity in exposure, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity, demonstrating how wicked problems emerge through interconnected systems of mobility, services, food procurement, and ecological transformation. It combines GIScience, regional science, and spatial analysis to translate complex realities into decision-relevant insight, including approaches spanning remote sensing, spatial vulnerability assessment, and network-based measures of connectivity. Across the chapters, the volume examines Arctic urbanization and institutional anchoring, vegetation regime shifts such as shrubification, food scarcity and Inuit food sovereignty in Nunavut, health and service accessibility under digital constraints, environmental monitoring and decision support, and the structural fragmentation of transportation networkswhere many Nunavut communities remain effectively road-isolated beyond the immediate settlement footprint. It also positions heritage preservation, Indigenous knowledge systems, and Indigenous data sovereignty as central, rather than ancillary, to resilience planning. The concluding synthesis advances spatial intelligence beyond mapping: an integrative framework for equity, resilience, and sovereignty in Northern Canada.

Autorenportrait

Eric Vaz is a Full Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies whose research focuses on complex systems, GeoAI, regional and economic development, sustainability, and spatial analysis. His work bridges geography, planning, regional science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as data-driven approaches to understanding environmental and socio-territorial change. He has authored three scholarly monographs, edited four international volumes, and is actively engaged in interdisciplinary research on resilience and innovation. He is based in Canada.

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