Competing space and place identity with landscape change analysis using Web GIS through Singapore historical maps (1828–2015)

The investigation of historical maps is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of landscape changes. In this study, we propose Web GIS tools as a way to compare historical maps efficiently for knowledge production. A key impetus of this article is to contribute to the ongoing efforts to broaden the appeal of ‘mixed‐methods research’ by bridging the epistemological and methodological gaps between GIS and qualitative methodologies in knowledge production. This article proposes a new visualization method for historical landscape change analysis by comparing multiple maps simultaneously with the mash‐up of Web GIS. Based on the analysis of exterior facts represented on the maps, four developmental footprints were investigated, namely, surviving place identity, disappeared place identity replaced by new identity, waning place identity overlapped with new identity, and waning identity by disconnected spatial relationships. To this end, the study argues that Web GIS applications have more potential in spatial knowledge production than traditional desktop GIS.     

"Sense and Sensibility": Social-spatial Experiences of the Visually-impaired in Singapore

Vision plays an important role in our daily life, and geography is to a large extent, a visual discipline. The persistence of the visual ideology is problematic as it encourages geographical scholarship to neglect the role of non-visual senses while at the same time, marginalises the experiences of non-sighted people. By adopting an interpretative approach and drawing concepts from "sensuous geographies", this paper explores the role of non-visual senses in the spatial experiences of the visually-impaired in Singapore. Through humanistic inquiry, the paper also examines some of the problems that the visually-impaired in Singapore encounter in public spaces and social interaction. To this end, the author aims to illumine the intricate relationship between our non-visual senses and social sensibility when thinking about sightlessness.