Spatial analysis: Science or art?

Spatial Analysis is a relatively young discipline, descending from a modelling tradition where the analyst possesses all the knowledge and qualities that lead him/her to the definition of the optimal model. Numerous spatial analytical techniques are available these days in general-purpose GIS software, but their user interfaces are dry and do not offer structured choices in pull-down menus, as they do for more conventional operations in GIS. The average GIS user is often unprepared to identify the right solutions without guidance. Defining optimizing criteria and introducing them in structured software interfaces appears to be, at present, the best means to promote a widespread and appropriate use of spatial analysis. Defining such criteria constitutes at the same time an important line of research, potentially capable of furthering the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline, aiding its transition from infancy to maturity.