Geometric Approaches to the Nexus of Time, Space, and Microprocess: Implementing a Practical Model for Mundane Socio-Spatial Systems
Pip Forer · 1998
Abstract The nomenclature in the area of spatio-temporal reasoning has historically been very confused. In this chapter, time-space is taken to mean space defined by travel times between points (after Janelle, 1968); space-time means a conceptualization of space (i.e., separation) and time as part of a 3- or 4-D continuum-in the manner but not in the terms of Hiigerstrand and co-workers in the Lund School who originally also used the term time-space for this very different purpose (Hiigerstrand, 1970, Carlstein et al., 1978); an event is an occurrence in space-time in between zero and four dimensions and; space is taken to mean a comprehensive set of inter-point separations (distances) defined for a spatial sys tem but not conforming to a continuous metric in a small number of dimensions. In the fields of time geography and geographic information systems (GISs) there are several approaches to modeling time. The appropriate syntax for de scribing and querying events within a relational database format has attracted much concern, major aspects of which are listed in Al-Taha et al. (1994). This body of work, with its acknowledgment of space, has complemented a wider search for embodying time queries in a non-spatial context (e.g., Ahn, 1990; Kim et al., 1990; Snodgrass, 1992). On a broad scale, the significance for GIS of relational or object-oriented database management systems (DBMS) with time functionality has not been lost, whether for managing audit trails of frequently changing coverage themes, for extending Boolean analyses to patterns of change, or for evolving better models of process.