The impetus for this book is the relative lack of research integration of spatial analysis and GIS, and the potential benefits in developing an integration. From the spatial analytical perspective, there are advantages to linking statistical methods and mathematical models to the database and display capabilities of GIS. Although the GIS may not be absolutely necessary for spatial analysis, to facilitate the analysis and even provide insights that might have missed. They argue that the integration of spatial analysis and GIS will stimulate interest in quantitative spatial science, particularly exploratory and visual types of analysis.