information:extraction
Computer cartography and GIS

Coinciding with the quantitative revolution was the emergence of early computers. The interdisciplinary nature of geography forces geographers to look at developments in other fields, and geographers tend to observe and adapt technological innovations from other disciplines rather than developing unique technologies to conduct geographic studies. More than a decade after the first computers were developed, Waldo Tobler published the first paper detailing the use of computers in the map-making process titled "Automation and Cartography" in 1959. While novel in terms of application, the process detailed by Tobler did not allow for storing or analyzing of geographic data. As computer technology progressed and better hardware became available, geographers rapidly adopted the technology to create maps. In 1960, Roger Tomlinson created the first geographic information system, which allowed for storing and analysis of spatial data within a computer. These tools revolutionized the discipline of geography by contributing to the positivist scientific approaches to the discipline during the quantitative revolution. In the 1985 book Technological Transition in Cartography, Mark Monmonier speculated that computer cartography facilitated by GIS would largely replace traditional pen and paper cartography. Geographers began to heavily debate the place of GIS in geography, with some rejecting its methods and others heavily advocating for it. In response to critics, British geographer Stan Openshaw stated:

...if geographers reject GIS then it could fundamentally affect the outside world's perception of what geography is all about. Certainly, these external perceptions may well be based on a picture of geography as it once was, but nevertheless they cannot be ignored. "How could they be so foolish as to disown the very core of their discipline?"

With the emergence of GIS, researchers rapidly began to explore methods to use the technology for various geographic problems. This led some geographers to declare the study of the computer-based methods their own science within geography. GIS serves as the primary technology driving the field of geodesign by enabling real-time feedback in considering geography and landscape with community planning.