An Evaluation of Internet Versus Paper‐based Methods for Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS)

Public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) are an increasingly important tool for collecting spatial information about the social attributes of place. The availability of Internet‐based options for implementing PPGIS presents new opportunities for increased efficiency and new modes of access. Here we used a mixed‐mode approach to evaluate paper versus Internet mapping methods for the same PPGIS survey in Wyoming. We compared participant characteristics, mapping participation, and the spatial distribution of mapped attributes between participants who responded to the paper versus Internet option. The response rate for those who completed the paper version of the survey was nearly 2.5 times the response rate of the Internet version. Paper participants also mapped significantly more places than did Internet participants (43 vs. 18). Internet participants tended to be younger, more likely to have a college degree, and had lived in the region for less time than paper participants. For all but one attribute there was no difference in the spatial distribution of places mapped between Internet and paper methods. Using a paper‐based PPGIS survey resulted in a higher response rate, reduced participant bias, and greater mapping participation. However, survey mode did not influence the spatial distribution of the PPGIS data.     

Grid-enabling Geographically Weighted Regression: A Case Study of Participation in Higher Education in England

Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) is a method of spatial statistical analysis used to explore geographical differences in the effect of one or more predictor variables upon a response variable. However, as a form of local analysis, it does not scale well to (especially) large data sets because of the repeated processes of fitting and then comparing multiple regression surfaces. A solution is to make use of developing grid infrastructures, such as that provided by the National Grid Service (NGS) in the UK, treating GWR as an "embarrassing parallel" problem and building on existing software platforms to provide a bridge between an open source implementation of GWR (in R) and the grid system. To demonstrate the approach, we apply it to a case study of participation in Higher Education, using GWR to detect spatial variation in social, cultural and demographic indicators of participation.     

DISCUSS: A Soft Computing Approach to Spatial Disaggregation in Economic Evaluation of Public Policies

For more than three decades cost‐benefit analysis (CBA) has been used in many countries as an important tool for evaluating public policies. More recently, participation of stakeholders in CBA processes has become an important issue for governments. However, CBA by itself does not provide a good environment for stakeholder participation. A major reason for this is the lack of spatial disaggregation in traditional CBA. In order to allow greater public participation, a GIS‐based approach is proposed. This approach uses a Geocomputational system, which incorporates soft computing theory with expert systems in a geographic information systems (GIS) environment. It is designed to generate representations of environmental, economic and social policy outcomes according to the perceptions of the stakeholders and after the CBA results have been obtained. The methodology proposed for modelling impacts in cases where uncertainty exists uses the soft computing theory of fuzzy logic to generate a raster map based on spatial inputs provided by the stakeholders involved in the decision process. This computer‐based system, called DISCUSS (Decision Information System for Community Understanding of Spatial Scenarios), is intended for situations where the government chooses to evaluate a policy using CBA and desires to encourage public participation in evaluating the results identified by the economic methodology. DISCUSS and the maps that it produces are being tested in a public participation case study with long‐term impacts over a large area of south‐eastern Australia.     

Public participation applied to the environmental planning

This paper focuses on the public participation in environmental planning. After the decade for inaccessible information related to the decision taken, actually, the program of public participation is the reference of all the decision making process. However, there are some factors that limit this process, such as poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and often the social inequality. Therefore, this study focuses first on the benefits of public participation in environmental planning, then the involvement of the local population, and finally the decision making access using a case study of Madagascar.     

Public participation applied to the environmental planning

This paper focuses on the public participation in environmental planning. After the decade for inaccessible information related to the decision taken, actually, the program of public parti,cipation is the reference of all the decision making process. However, there are some factors that limit this process, such as poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and often the social inequality. Therefore, this study focuses first on the benefits of public participation in environmental planning, then the involvement of the local population, and finally the decision making access using a case study of Madagascar.     

非洲矿业企业社会责任发展现状研究

非洲是矿业投资的热点地区,随着进入非洲的矿业公司数量的增多,企业社会责任的履行日益成为衡量矿业公司优良与否的重要标准之一。受诸多因素的影响,非洲各国之间的企业社会责任发展水平并不相同。本文从认知水平、参与国际倡议的情况、立法情况等主要方面,比较简略地分析和总结非洲的矿业企业社会责任的总体情况,从而提出了未来非洲地区的企业社会责任将呈现出企业社会责任意识将不断提高以及在矿法中规定企业社会责任两大趋势。     

Place and city: Operationalizing sense of place and social capital in the urban context

The academic interest in social concepts in city contexts, such as sense of place and social capital, has been growing in the last decades. We present a systematic literature review that confirms the strong relationship between sense of place and social capital, from a social sciences point‐of‐view. It also reveal that little attention has been paid to their spatial dimensions at the urban level, thereby missing the chance to exploit socio‐spatial knowledge to improve the day‐to‐day life in and functioning of the city (e.g. in planning processes, citizen participation, civic engagement). We therefore examine sense of place and social capital from a Geographic Information Science (GISc) viewpoint, and present a formal conceptualization and initial theoretical framework which explicitly describes both concepts, and the relation between them, within the context of a city and from a spatial point of view.     

顾及道路通达性和时间成本的多用户位置推荐

位置推荐是地理社交网络的重要应用,针对城市范围内多用户集体社交活动的规划需求,在顾及道路通达性和时间成本的情况下进行位置推荐算法的研究。针对城市路网结构特征和导航路线规划特点,在地图应用程序接口的支持下,利用各用户间导航路线上的特定点自动识别、构建区域实现位置推荐,平衡多个用户到推荐地点的可到达性和时间成本。实验结果验证了所提方法的有效性,在地理社交网络上可以为城市多用户的集体活动提供有效的位置推荐方案。     

Searching for social justice in GIScience publications

ABSTRACT

Maps are explicitly positioned within the realms of power, representation, and epistemology; this article sets out to explore how these ideas are manifest in the academic Geographic Information Science (GIScience) literature. We analyze 10 years of literature (2005–2014) from top tier GIScience journals specific to the geoweb and geographic crowdsourcing. We then broaden our search to include three additional journals outside the technical GIScience journals and contrast them to the initial findings. We use this comparison to discuss the apparent technical and social divide present within the literature. Our findings demonstrate little explicit engagement with topics of social justice, marginalization, and empowerment within our subset of almost 1200 GIScience papers. The social, environmental, and political nature of participation, mapmaking, and maps necessitates greater reflection on the creation, design, and implementation of the geoweb and geographic crowdsourcing. We argue that the merging of the technical and social has already occurred in practice, and for GIScience to remain relevant for contributors and users of crowdsourced maps, researchers and practitioners must heed two decades of calls for substantial and critical engagement with the geoweb and crowdsourcing as social, environmental, and political processes.     

高精度住房空置率的地理空间影响因素定量研究

为揭示住房空置率对地理空间因素的依赖性,本文首先以50 m×50 m格网为基本单位,通过建模等方式计算格网尺度的住房空置率、自然因子、社会因子,然后对研究区进行不同级别的划分和相关性分析,最后采用地理探测器法对自然因子的影响机制进行进一步研究。结果表明：①研究区住房空置率与所选地理空间因子均呈显著性相关,植被占比对住房空置率的影响程度最大,其他自然因子的影响程度普遍偏小;②由于非建成区尚处于快速发展阶段,有较大的发展潜力,因此非建成区对于社会因子和自然因子的依赖程度均大于建成区;③各街道的住房空置率受坡度的影响程度普遍小于其他自然因子,各因子两两之间的交互作用对住房空置率的解释力具有显著增强的效果。本文为小区域住房空置率的影响因素剖析提供了参考。     

面向建设选址的多智能体城市空间规划模型

基于多智能体(Multi-agent)之间的动态信息反馈提出了交互式多智能体城市空间规划模型。在模型中,多智能体之间可即时交流信息,并经由反馈与协调等行为获取一致决策意见,最终得到各方可接受的城市规划方案。以长沙市岳麓区内建设项目选址为例,开展了模型实验。研究结果表明:多智能体交互式城市空间规划模型能够较好的模拟不同情景下参与城市空间规划的各类Agent之间的交互行为,并可提供多角色参与城市规划时空间冲突问题的解决方案。     

Simulating the effects of social networks on a population’s hurricane evacuation participation

Scientists have noted that recent shifts in the earth’s climate have resulted in more extreme weather events, like stronger hurricanes. Such powerful storms disrupt societal function and result in a tremendous number of casualties, as demonstrated by recent hurricane experience in the US Planning for and facilitating evacuations of populations forecast to be impacted by hurricanes is perhaps the most effective strategy for reducing risk. A potentially important yet relatively unexplored facet of people’s evacuation decision-making involves the interpersonal communication processes that affect whether at-risk residents decide to evacuate. While previous research has suggested that word-of-mouth effects are limited, data supporting these assertions were collected prior to the widespread adoption of digital social media technologies. This paper argues that the influence of social network effects on evacuation decisions should be revisited given the potential of new social media for impacting and augmenting information dispersion through real-time interpersonal communication. Using geographic data within an agent-based model of hurricane evacuation in Bay County, Florida, we examine how various types of social networks influence participation in evacuation. It is found that strategies for encouraging evacuation should consider the social networks influencing individuals during extreme events, as it can be used to increase the number of evacuating residents.     

Towards a Participatory GIS: Evaluating Case Studies of Participatory Rural Appraisal and GIS in the Developing World

The recognition that local participation is a critical goal of development has contributed to the popularity in a set of techniques designed to increase local participation and knowledge in planning processes. Identified as participatory rural appraisal (PRA), this trend is marked by the use of a variety of high-end technologies, including geographic information systems (GIS). An interesting and related trend has come from members of the GIS community who argue that a "participatory GIS" is required to ensure local knowledge and participation in a variety of planning initiatives. This synergy of interests has resulted in a growth of research in the developing world that attempts to merge PRA methods with GIS tools. This paper examines the separate, but increasingly complementary, traditions of PRA and GIS. Ten case studies that combine participatory methods with GIS in Latin America, Africa, and Asia are evaluated to consider how these traditions are being applied by communities to protect ownership of territory, present local knowledge of natural resources, and to engage in long-term planning. This paper suggests that although GIS has the potential to increase participation in planning processes, a commonality of the majority of case studies is limited attention to the participatory process itself. It would address how access to information and GIS tools varies within communities, as well as the effectiveness of a participatory GIS in shaping policy outcomes. Although participation can be advanced through the use of GIS, this paper concludes by suggesting that research on the availability of these tools should not serve as a substitute for critical analyses of their use and effectiveness by local communities.     

Mentoring undergraduates in cartography and geographic information science: An apprenticeship model

Undergraduates' participation in research has been demonstrated to contribute to the development of critical, technical thinking and problem‐solving skills, increase confidence, and enhance interest in research and graduate studies. For fields like cartography and geographic information science (GIS), teaching content should be up‐to‐date. Furthermore, practice plays a key role in daily teaching and learning. Therefore, research participation is of great significance for undergraduates majoring in cartography and GIS. Here a mentoring method is proposed for undergraduates, based on the apprenticeship model which combines mentoring functions and styles. Thirty‐one undergraduates were mentored using the method. An evaluation based on objective outcomes and subjective self‐perceptions showed that the mentoring method was effective: 71% of the subjects contributed to at least one peer‐reviewed paper or software program. Possible factors affecting the mentoring results include the length of time the undergraduates were involved in mentorship and engaged in research. The longer the undergraduates participated in the mentorship and the more time they spent on research, the more numerous their achievements. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in the following areas: Changes in attitudes toward learning and research, enhanced career/graduate school preparation and personal gains. Significant differences in “learning ethical conduct” and “professional skills” were observed between genders.     

A Review of Sampling Effects and Response Bias in Internet Participatory Mapping (PPGIS/PGIS/VGI)

Global interest in participatory mapping described as public participation GIS (PPGIS), participatory GIS (PGIS), and volunteered geographic information (VGI) continues to grow, but systematic study of spatial data quality and sampling effects is limited. This article provides a review and meta‐analysis of Internet‐based PPGIS studies conducted during the period 2006–2015 (n=26) to answer the following research questions: (1) How does mapping effort, as a proxy measure for spatial data quality, differ by sampling group? (2) Does the purpose and context of PPGIS influence mapping results? (3) What is the potential for mapping bias through sampling design? (4) Given the results, what should be the focus of future PPGIS research? Mapping effort was highest in sampling groups whose livelihoods were closely related to the purpose of the study, there was greater mapping effort in household sampling groups compared to volunteer groups, and participant domicile had strong effects on mapped results through spatial discounting. The use of online Internet panels provides higher response rates but lower spatial data quality. Future research should focus on increasing sampling response rates, assessing social trade‐offs using alternative spatial weighting schemes, and examining the capacity of the public to select land use alternatives as a complement to traditional expert‐driven planning systems.     

Geo-questionnaires in urban planning: recruitment methods,participant engagement,and data quality

ABSTRACT

Recent focus on sustainable urban development and livability has increased the demand for new data sourcing techniques to capture experiences and preferences of urban dwellers. At the same time, developments of geospatial technologies and social media have enabled new types of user-generated geographic information and spatially explicit online communication. As a result, new public participation GIS methods for engaging large groups of individuals have emerged. One such method is geo-questionnaire, an online questionnaire with mapping capabilities, which has been used to elicit geographic data in variety of topics and geographical contexts. This article presents two recent cases, in which geo-questionnaires have been used in Polish cities to obtain public input on quality of life and development preferences in local land use planning. The article evaluates participant recruitment methods focusing on sample representativeness, participant engagement, and data quality. Recruitment via social media was found to increase bias towards younger population. Paper questionnaires used along the online version provided for better representation of target population’s age structure, but did not reduce bias related to educational attainment. We discuss how these issues relate to data usability and generalizability in the context of digital divide, and suggest directions for future research.     

基于GIS的土地利用规划公众参与研究

在介绍公众参与在土地利用规划中的地位、作用、方式的基础上,提出将GIS应用于土地利用规划公众参与,提出了GIS辅助土地利用规划公众参与的主要功能,对照国内外GIS应用探讨了GIS辅助土地利用规划公众参与的模式,结合土地利用规划各阶段公众参与的特点提出的GIS辅助土地利用规划公众参与的框架。     

人口GIS在天津市人口社会空间结构研究中的应用

阐述了应用人口GIS进行天津市人口社会空间结构研究的方法,概括出影响天津市人口社会空间结构的四个主要因素,并对天津市人口社会空间结构进行分区。天津市的人口空间结构可以分成行政、金融、商业、文化中心区,工业居住混杂区,工业、农业混合区和农业人口居住区,且四个分区成同心圆模式分布。     

基于改进重力模型的签到数据好友关系判断方法

利用签到数据进行好友关系预测是基于位置的社交网络的主要研究方向之一。由于社会关系网络数据往往事先难以获取,为了能够仅依靠位置签到数据实现好友关系判断,提出了一种基于改进重力模型的签到数据好友关系判断方法。首先,利用信息增益计算不同特征参数对好友关系的影响,并选择了用户居住地和时空共现区两个特征参数;然后,针对所选择的两个特征参数对重力模型进行改进,并利用Sigmoid函数将其值域映射到0~1,以便好友关系的判断及模型参数标定;最后,利用逻辑回归实现了模型参数的标定,并在测试数据集上实现了好友关系的预测。分别在Gowalla和Brightkite数据集上利用改进重力模型进行了交叉实验,并与好友关系概率模型进行了对比实验。结果表明,所提方法能够在仅仅依靠位置签到数据的条件下实现好友关系判断,模型在不同来源的数据之间具有较好的稳定性,且该方法的总体效果明显高于对比方法。     

Remote sensing of urban growth and landscape pattern changes in response to the expansion of Chongming Island in Shanghai,China

Chongming Island in China is currently undergoing a rapid urbanization and an increasing environmental pressure due to its fast-paced social economic development. Owing to natural silts deposit phenomenon as well as artificial land reclamation practices, the Island is also experiencing an expansion phenomenon. The synergy between these natural and artificial phenomena results in a rapidly changing landscape on Chongming Island. Consequently, the tools and methods for a rapid and cost-effective detection and assessment of related issues are urgently needed to ensure a harmonious and sustainable development of the Island. We herein investigate the urban growth and the landscape pattern change in relation to the Island’s expansion phenomenon and the associated complexity of land use/cover change. Our investigation is based on a time series of Landsat satellite images spanning the past 34 years. The methodological approach adopted in the present study combines vegetation indices, images textural features and social statistics data in an object-oriented classification framework. With Chongming Island expanding by an annual rate of 0.9% between 1979 and 2013, we found that the proportion of vegetation area to the total area decreased from 71 to 45%, whereas the proportion of built-up area to the total area increased from 5 to 19.9%. The urban area expanded about six times from 1979 to 2013, and during the same period, the Island’s population did not change significantly. The urban spatial expansion of Chongming Island caused distinct expansion intensity index for each intervals, and significant fragmentation and diversity in the landscape pattern between 1979 and 2013. It was also found that the rapid urbanization process took place at the expense of landscape pattern changes at any time within the study period. This is a strong indication that besides the natural geographic element, economic development and policy orientation were the dominant driving factors. If the current rate of urban expansion is to be maintained and the vegetation cover is to keep decreasing at an annual rate of 0.1% (period 1979–2013), their combined effects would profoundly alter the ecological environment in the long term. These findings provide a basic objective and scientific information for knowledgeable decision-making and policy formulation regarding regional planning and management to ensure harmonious transition of Chongming towards ecologically oriented development.