Comparison of ArcGIS and QGIS for applications in sustainable spatial planning

Corinna Friedrich
2014 unpublished
This paper looks into applications in sustainable spatial planning by comparing the software quality of the leading, proprietary ArcGIS for Desktop 10.2.2 software with the open source QGIS Desktop 2.6 software. The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) brings great advantages for the work of planers, however the specification and complexity of the program makes it expensive and the purchase has to be considered wisely, especially in small planning offices. In order to compare the
more » ... re quality of the programs the definition of the International Organization for Standardization's norm ISO/IEC 9126 and the underlying indicators functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, maintainability, and portability are used. As software quality contains objectively measurable factors as well as subjective criteria, method triangulation will be applied to cover all relevant aspects. In this sense a discourse analysis is implemented together with an expert interview, CartoEvaluation Method and Test Analyses. The Test Analyses are evaluated with Checklist-based testing based on a schema that was created with Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) Approach as well as Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). As a result, this paper provides guiding principles for spatial planning offices concerning the possibility of replacing ArcGIS software through QGIS software depending on their specific tasks as well as skills of their employees. According to the principle "Software is a tool, not a target" the result will not be to highlight one of the GIS software but to conduct an evaluation of the two GIS software concerning their suitability for specific cartographic and analytic tasks.
doi:10.25365/thesis.35758 fatcat:ivsiqp6cgfhb3o343zvzziixii