WEB GIS APPLICATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: MUNICIPALITY OF GÄVLE CASE STUDY

Abstract: This project was aimed at critically analyzing the use of web geographical information system (GIS) applications in local government, and problems associated with the design, development, and implementation of web mapping applications in the case study of the municipality of Gävle, Sweden. The project included a scientific and thorough analysis of options for developing web GIS applications by using ESRI GIS software technologies. During this research project, the ESRI GIS software tools and packages were used to perform a comprehensive system analysis of the proposed web mapping application, to gain a better understanding of the available methods of map document and web GIS application performance optimization, and finally to develop a web mapping application prototype for the web map of the municipality of Gävle. The research results include the guidelines for preparing map documents to be published, optimizing ESRI ArcGIS Server web mapping applications performance, and some possible ways of customizing user tools and a user interface by using the Microsoft Visual Studio framework. This study proves that ESRI web-based GIS products provide viable tools for web mapping application design, development, and customization. The developed ArcGIS Server based web mapping application can be optionally improved and then be used instead of existing ESRI ArcIMS-based application in the municipality of Gävle.