The development of a knowledge-based geographical information system for the zoning of rural areas

A protytype knowledge-based geographical information system, named ZOMAP, was developed to help planners in zoning-map preparation. It is composed of four major parts: a geographical information system (GIS), a knowledge base, an inference engine, and a controller. Implemented through a commercial GIS software package and the C programming language, ZOMAP was tested in a rural area in the county of Huron, Ontario, Canada. The results show that the system is effective and reliable.