Exploring the Urban Community: A GIS Approach is a new collegiate textbook from Prentice Hall Publishers by Professors Richard P. Greene of Northern Illinois University and James B. Pick of the University of Redlands in California.

Exploring the Urban Community covers all the important traditional urban geography topics, such as urban spatial structure, central place theory, neighborhood change, and industrial locations analysis, and also expands upon these to include contemporary topics, such as global cities, gender, activism, technology, postmodernism, transnationalism, sexuality, and environmental justice.

In addition to broad and very current coverage, this contemporary treatment of urban geography features strong integration of GIS technologies and, thus, gives instructors the option to utilize geographic information systems in their teaching. The integration of GIS benefits students by its use as an analytic tool to understand urban phenomena and by its importance as a skill for future jobs. The GIS coverage provides a valuable tool for professors to use to teach and engage students in active learning.

The textbook applies GIS to the analysis of growth and change for three examples of the world's megacities: Chicago, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. The GIS approach enhances traditional spatial analysis and provides students with a modern approach to the study of prominent cities that can be applied to other urban areas. Although there is a focus on these three cities with their contrasting cultures, topography, history, and problems, the book also discusses many other cities throughout the world.

Although the book is written to fully satisfy urban geography courses, it is also appropriate for courses in urban sociology, urban and regional planning, urban studies, urban policy, and public administration. Both authors have done extensive research on cities and urban problems. Greene's background is in urban geography and GIS, whereas Pick's is in urban studies, GIS, demography, environmental studies, and information systems.

Exploring the Urban Community: A GIS Approach (ISBN: 0130175765) is available from Amazon.com and other fine bookstores.