Geospatial Cyberinfrastructure: Past, present and future

NeoGeography has been defined as a blurring of the distinctions between producer, communicator and consumer of geographic information. The relationship between professional and amateur varies across disciplines. The subject matter of geography is familiar to everyone, and the acquisition and compilation of geographic data have become vastly easier as technology has advanced. The authority of traditional mapping agencies can be attributed to their specifications, production mechanisms and programs for quality control. Very different mechanisms work to ensure the quality of data volunteered by amateurs. Academic geographers are concerned with the extraction of knowledge from geographic data using a combination of analytic tools and accumulated theory. The definition of NeoGeography implies a misunderstanding of this role of the professional, but English lacks a basis for a better term.

NeoGeography and the nature of geographicexpertise

Creating smarter cities: Considerations for selecting online participatory tools

Today, urban planning processes involve many stakeholders and efficient dialogue tools are needed to support communication in transdisciplinary environments. The aim of our study is to identify visualization challenges in urban planning. Based on a state of the art study and a thematic analysis of 114 articles, published in 2004–2014 and found through snowball sampling, the development and implementation of digital visualization tools for dialogue are discussed. A wide range of examples of visualization tools for dialogue has been found; either based on 2D maps, 3D environments or gaming. The initiators of the development originate from different disciplines, such as geographic information (GI) science, computer graphics, 3D modelling, Virtual Reality, interaction design and urban planning. There has been an increasing amount of usability studies during recent years. There is a tendency for the usability studies to have gone from experimental and prototype studies to more and more concern real planning processes and implementation. Studies of implemented tools in real planning processes are, however, still rare. Gaming appears more and more frequently. Challenges are related to integration of qualitative and quantitative data, representation of data as regard appropriate levels of realism and detailing, as well as the user’s experience and the appearance of the digital models. There is a need to consider how we can achieve the full potential of visualization tools, including optimal effectiveness of visualization tools and processes for dialogue as well as how they can be implemented. Organizational preparedness is necessary, including clear ownership, allocation of resources for maintenance, competence and access to tools and technology.

In search of visualization challenges: The development and implementation of visualization tools for supporting dialogue in urban planning processes:

This paper examines changes in disaster response and relief efforts and recent web-based geospatial technological developments through an evaluation of the experiences of the Center for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University, of the Sichuan (2008) and Haiti (2010) earthquake responses. This paper outlines how conventional GIS (geographic information systems) disaster responses by governmental agencies and relief response organisations and the means for geospatial data-sharing have been transformed into a more dynamic, more transparent, and decentralised form with a wide participation. It begins by reviewing briefly at historical changes in the employment of geospatial technologies in major devastating disasters, including the Sichuan and Haiti earthquakes (case studies for our geospatial portal project). It goes on to assess changes in the available dataset type and in geospatial disaster responders, as well as the impact of geospatial technological changes on disaster relief effort. Finally, the paper discusses lessons learned from recent responses and offers some thoughts for future development.

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Bertrand De Longueville

Papers

Community-based geoportals: The next generation? Concepts and methods for the geospatial Web 2.0