Trends in quantitative methods I: Stressing the local

The relative explosion of attention to the 'local' rather than the 'global' in quantitative geography is interesting for several reasons. It belies the criticism that the quantitative approach is only concerned with the search for broad generalizations and not with identifying local exceptions. It links quantitative geography with the powerful visual display environments of various GIS and statistical graphics packages where the all-important display is the map. It also allows quantitative geographers to explore relationships in different ways as a guide to a better understanding of spatial processes and finally it affords the exciting opportunity of developing new statistical approaches to spatial data analysis. It would seem useful to incorporate established knowledge about spatial procedures into new techniques of spatial analysis and it is therefore hoped that the growth of interest in the 'local' will encourage new interactions between geographers and statisticians.