The importance of geospatial tools to understand sustainability questions is somewhat hampered by a lack of temporal capabilities. Only by adding the dimension of time do we gain the insight to analyze the subtle impacts on urban planning, land use, ecological change and Earth system interactions. Only by capturing dynamic changes through time will we truly understand the complex interactions on our planet, and the effect of human activities on our environment.
I view the addition of temporal capabilities as a key challenge for GIS in the coming year. The spatio-temporal aspects of activities needs to be unlocked for a greater analysis and understanding of our actions.
