Volunteered geographic information

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Volunteered geographic information (VGI) is the harnessing of tools to create, assemble, and disseminate geographic data provided voluntarily by individuals. [1] [2] VGI is a special case of the larger phenomenon known as user-generated content, [3] and allows people to have a more active role in activities such as urban planning and mapping. [4]

Contents

Overview

VGI can be seen as an extension of critical and participatory approaches to geographic information systems. [5] Some examples of this phenomenon are WikiMapia, OpenStreetMap, and Yandex.Map editor. These sites provide general base map information and allow users to create their own content by marking locations where various events occurred or certain features exist, but aren't already shown on the base map. Other examples include 311-style request systems [6] and 3D spatial technology. [7] Additionally, VGI commonly populates the content offered through location-based services such as the restaurant review site Yelp. [8]

One of the most important elements of VGI in contrast to standard user-generated content is the geographic element, and its relationship with collaborative mapping. The information volunteered by the individual is linked to a specific geographic region. While this is often taken to relate to elements of traditional cartography, VGI offers the possibility of including subjective, emotional, or other non-cartographic information. [9]

Geo-referenced data produced within services such as Trip Advisor, Flickr, Twitter, [10] Instagram [11] and Panoramio can be considered as VGI.

VGI has attracted concerns about data quality, and specifically about its credibility [12] and the possibility of vandalism. [13]

Criticism of the term

The term VGI has been criticized for poorly representing common variations in the data of OpenStreetMap and other sites: that some of the data is paid, in the case of CloudMade's ambassadors, or generated by another entity, as in US Census data. [14]

Because it is gathered by individuals with no formal training, the quality and reliability of VGI is a topic of much debate. [15] Some methods of quality assurance have been tested, namely, the use of control data to verify VGI accuracy. [16]

Effects on users

While there is concern over the authority of the data, [17] VGI may provide benefits beyond that of professional geographic information (PGI), [18] [19] partly due to its ability to collect and present data not collected or curated by traditional/professional sources. [20] [21] [22] Additionally, VGI provides positive emotional value to users in functionality, satisfaction, social connection and ethics. [23] [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geographic information system</span> System to capture, manage, and present geographic data

A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database; however, this is not essential to meet the definition of a GIS. In a broader sense, one may consider such a system also to include human users and support staff, procedures and workflows, the body of knowledge of relevant concepts and methods, and institutional organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community health</span> Field of public health

Community health refers to non-treatment based health services that are delivered outside hospitals and clinics. Community health is a subset of public health that is taught to and practiced by clinicians as part of their normal duties. Community health volunteers and community health workers work with primary care providers to facilitate entry into, exit from and utilization of the formal health system by community members as well as providing supplementary services such as support groups or wellness events that are not offered by medical institutions.

A GIS software program is a computer program to support the use of a geographic information system, providing the ability to create, store, manage, query, analyze, and visualize geographic data, that is, data representing phenomena for which location is important. The GIS software industry encompasses a broad range of commercial and open-source products that provide some or all of these capabilities within various information technology architectures.

Geovisualization or geovisualisation, also known as cartographic visualization, refers to a set of tools and techniques supporting the analysis of geospatial data through the use of interactive visualization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spatial analysis</span> Formal techniques which study entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties

Spatial analysis is any of the formal techniques which studies entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties. Spatial analysis includes a variety of techniques using different analytic approaches, especially spatial statistics. It may be applied in fields as diverse as astronomy, with its studies of the placement of galaxies in the cosmos, or to chip fabrication engineering, with its use of "place and route" algorithms to build complex wiring structures. In a more restricted sense, spatial analysis is geospatial analysis, the technique applied to structures at the human scale, most notably in the analysis of geographic data. It may also be applied to genomics, as in transcriptomics data.

Digital Earth is the name given to a concept by former US vice president Al Gore in 1998, describing a virtual representation of the Earth that is georeferenced and connected to the world's digital knowledge archives.

Participatory GIS (PGIS) or public participation geographic information system (PPGIS) is a participatory approach to spatial planning and spatial information and communications management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web mapping</span> Process of using the maps delivered by geographic information systems (GIS) in World Wide Web

Web mapping or an online mapping is the process of using, creating, and distributing maps on the World Wide Web, usually through the use of Web geographic information systems. A web map or an online map is both served and consumed, thus, web mapping is more than just web cartography, it is a service where consumers may choose what the map will show.

Collaborative mapping, also known as citizen mapping, is the aggregation of Web mapping and user-generated content, from a group of individuals or entities, and can take several distinct forms. With the growth of technology for storing and sharing maps, collaborative maps have become competitors to commercial services, in the case of OpenStreetMap, or components of them, as in Google Map Maker, Waze and Yandex Map Editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography</span> Study of lands and inhabitants of Earth

Geography is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many concepts can be applied more broadly to other celestial bodies in the field of planetary science. Geography has been called "a bridge between natural science and social science disciplines."

The OpenStreetMap Foundation is a non-profit foundation whose aim is to support and enable the development of freely-reusable geospatial data. Founded in 2006, it is closely connected with the OpenStreetMap project, although its constitution does not prevent it supporting other projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geodesign</span>

Geodesign is a set of concepts and methods used to involve all stakeholders and various professions in collaboratively designing and realizing the optimal solution for spatial challenges in the built and natural environments, utilizing all available techniques and data in an integrated process. Originally, geodesign was mainly applied during the design and planning phase. "Geodesign is a design and planning method which tightly couples the creation of design proposals with impact simulations informed by geographic contexts." Now, it is also used during realization and maintenance phases and to facilitate re-use of for example buildings or industrial areas. Geodesign includes project conceptualization, analysis, design specification, stakeholder participation and collaboration, design creation, simulation, and evaluation.

Neogeography is the use of geographical techniques and tools for personal and community activities or by a non-expert group of users. Application domains of neogeography are typically not formal or analytical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GIS and environmental governance</span> Tool for environmental management

Geographic information system (GIS) is a commonly used tool for environmental management, modelling and planning. As simply defined by Michael Goodchild, GIS is as "a computer system for handling geographic information in a digital form". In recent years it has played an integral role in participatory, collaborative and open data philosophies. Social and technological evolutions have elevated digital and environmental agendas to the forefront of public policy, the global media and the private sector.

Counter-mapping is creating maps that challenge "dominant power structures, to further seemingly progressive goals". Counter-mapping is used in multiple disciplines to reclaim colonized territory. Counter-maps are prolific in indigenous cultures, "counter-mapping may reify, reinforce, and extend settler boundaries even as it seeks to challenge dominant mapping practices; and still, counter-mapping may simultaneously create conditions of possibility for decolonial ways of representing space and place." The term came into use in the United States when Nancy Peluso used it in 1995 to describe the commissioning of maps by forest users in Kalimantan, Indonesia, to contest government maps of forest areas that undermined indigenous interests. The resultant counter-hegemonic maps strengthen forest users' resource claims. There are numerous expressions closely related to counter-mapping: ethnocartography, alternative cartography, mapping-back, counter-hegemonic mapping, deep mapping and public participatory mapping. Moreover, the terms: critical cartography, subversive cartography, bio-regional mapping, and remapping are sometimes used interchangeably with counter-mapping, but in practice encompass much more.

Spatial citizenship describes the ability of individuals and groups to interact and participate in societal spatial decision making through the reflexive production and use of geo-media. Spatial citizens are lay users who are able to use geo-media to question existing perspectives on action in space and to produce, communicate, and negotiate alternative spatial visions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Technical geography</span> Study of using and creating tools to manage spatial information

Technical geography is the branch of geography that involves using, studying, and creating tools to obtain, analyze, interpret, understand, and communicate spatial information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet GIS</span> Internet technologies regarding spatial data

Internet GIS, or Internet geographic information system (GIS), is a term that refers to a broad set of technologies and applications that employ the Internet to access, analyze, visualize, and distribute spatial data. Internet GIS is an outgrowth of traditional GIS, and represents a shift from conducting GIS on an individual computer to working with remotely distributed data and functions. Two major issues in GIS are accessing and distributing spatial data and GIS outputs. Internet GIS helps to solve that problem by allowing users to access vast databases impossible to store on a single desktop computer, and by allowing rapid dissemination of both maps and raw data to others. These methods include both file sharing and email. This has enabled the general public to participate in map creation and make use of GIS technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web GIS</span> Technologies employing the World Wide Web to manage spatial data

Web GIS, or Web Geographic Information Systems, are GIS that employ the World Wide Web to facilitate the storage, visualization, analysis, and distribution of spatial information over the Internet. The World Wide Web, or the Web, is an information system that uses the internet to host, share, and distribute documents, images, and other data. Web GIS involves using the World Wide Web to facilitate GIS tasks traditionally done on a desktop computer, as well as enabling the sharing of maps and spatial data. While Web GIS and Internet GIS are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different concepts. Web GIS is a subset of Internet GIS, which is itself a subset of distributed GIS, which itself is a subset of broader Geographic information system. The most common application of Web GIS is Web mapping, so much so that the two terms are often used interchangeably in much the same way as Digital mapping and GIS. However, Web GIS and web mapping are distinct concepts, with web mapping not necessarily requiring a Web GIS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncertain geographic context problem</span> Source of statistical bias

The uncertain geographic context problem or UGCoP is a source of statistical bias that can significantly impact the results of spatial analysis when dealing with aggregate data. The UGCoP is very closely related to the Modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), and like the MAUP, arises from how we divide the land into areal units. It is caused by the difficulty, or impossibility, of understanding how phenomena under investigation in different enumeration units interact between enumeration units, and outside of a study area over time. It is particularly important to consider the UGCoP within the discipline of time geography, where phenomena under investigation can move between spatial enumeration units during the study period. Examples of research that needs to consider the UGCoP include food access and human mobility.

References

  1. ↑ Goodchild, M.F. (2007). "Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography". GeoJournal. 69 (4): 211–221. Bibcode:2007GeoJo..69..211G. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.525.2435 . doi:10.1007/s10708-007-9111-y. S2CID   2105836.
  2. ↑ Sangiambut, Suthee; Sieber, Renee (2016-07-12). "The V in VGI: Citizens or Civic Data Sources". Urban Planning. 1 (2): 141–154. doi: 10.17645/up.v1i2.644 .
  3. ↑ Goodchild, M.F. (2007). "Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography". GeoJournal. 69 (4): 211–221. Bibcode:2007GeoJo..69..211G. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.525.2435 . doi:10.1007/s10708-007-9111-y. S2CID   2105836.
  4. ↑ Steiniger, Stefan; Poorazizi, M. Ebrahim; Hunter, Andrew (2016-06-20). "Planning with Citizens: Implementation of an e-Planning Platform and Analysis of Research Needs". Urban Planning. 1 (2): 46–64. doi: 10.17645/up.v1i2.607 .
  5. ↑ Elwood, S. (2008). "Volunteered Geographic Information: Future Research Directions Motivated by Critical, Participatory, and Feminist GIS". GeoJournal. 72 (3&4): 173–183. Bibcode:2008GeoJo..72..173E. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.464.751 . doi:10.1007/s10708-008-9186-0. S2CID   31556791.
  6. ↑ Lu, Qing; Johnson, Peter (2016-06-07). "Characterizing New Channels of Communication: A Case Study of Municipal 311 Requests in Edmonton, Canada". Urban Planning. 1 (2): 18–31. doi: 10.17645/up.v1i2.621 . hdl: 10012/11064 .
  7. ↑ Sabri, Soheil; Rajabifard, Abbas; Ho, Serene; Amirebrahimi, Sam; Bishop, Ian (2016-06-15). "Leveraging VGI Integrated with 3D Spatial Technology to Support Urban Intensification in Melbourne, Australia". Urban Planning. 1 (2): 32–48. doi: 10.17645/up.v1i2.623 .
  8. ↑ Ricker, B.; Daniel, S.; Hedley, N. (2014). "Fuzzy Boundaries: Hybridizing Location-based Services, Volunteered Geographic Information and Geovisualization Literature". Geography Compass. 8 (7): 490–504. Bibcode:2014GComp...8..490R. doi:10.1111/gec3.12138.
  9. ↑ Parker, C.J., 2014. The Fundamentals of Human Factors Design for Volunteered Geographic Information, London, UK: Springer.
  10. ↑ Resch, Bernd; Summa, Anja; Zeile, Peter; Strube, Michael (2016-07-05). "Citizen-Centric Urban Planning through Extracting Emotion Information from Twitter in an Interdisciplinary Space-Time-Linguistics Algorithm" (PDF). Urban Planning. 1 (2): 114–127. doi: 10.17645/up.v1i2.617 .
  11. ↑ Guerrero, Paulina; Møller, Maja; Olafsson, Anton; Snizek, Bernhard (2016-06-06). "Revealing Cultural Ecosystem Services through Instagram Images: The Potential of Social Media Volunteered Geographic Information for Urban Green Infrastructure Planning and Governance". Urban Planning. 1 (2): 1–17. doi: 10.17645/up.v1i2.609 .
  12. ↑ Flanagin, A. J.; Metzger, M. J. (2008). "The credibility of volunteered geographic information". GeoJournal. 72 (3–4): 137–148. Bibcode:2008GeoJo..72..137F. doi:10.1007/s10708-008-9188-y. S2CID   15975229.
  13. ↑ Ballatore, A. (2014). "Defacing the map: Cartographic vandalism in the digital commons". The Cartographic Journal. 51 (3): 214–224. arXiv: 1404.3341 . Bibcode:2014CartJ..51..214B. doi:10.1179/1743277414Y.0000000085. S2CID   1828882.
  14. ↑ Gorman, Sean. "Why VGI is the Wrong Acronym". Fortius One. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  15. ↑ Keen, A., 2007. The Cult of the Amateur, London, UK: Nicholas Brealey.
  16. ↑ Comber, A.; See, L.; Fritz, S.; Van der Velde, M.; Perger, C.; Foody, G. (2013). "Using Control Data to Determine the Reliability of Volunteered Geographic Information about Land Cover". International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 23: 37–48. Bibcode:2013IJAEO..23...37C. doi:10.1016/j.jag.2012.11.002. hdl: 2381/27729 .
  17. ↑ O'Brien, Jamie; Serra, Miguel; Hudson-Smith, Andrew; Psarra, Sophia; Hunter, Anthony; Zaltz-Austwick, Martin (2016-06-27). "Ensuring VGI Credibility in Urban-Community Data Generation: A Methodological Research Design". Urban Planning. 1 (2): 88–100. doi: 10.17645/up.v1i2.620 .
  18. ↑ Parker, Christopher J. (2014). The Fundamentals of Human Factors Design for Volunteered Geographic Information. SpringerBriefs in Geography. SpringerBriefs in Geography. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-03503-1. ISBN   978-3-319-03502-4. ISSN   2211-4165. S2CID   59856775.
  19. ↑ Brown, M.; et al. (2012). "Usability of Geographic Information; Current Challenges and Future Directions" (PDF). Applied Ergonomics. 44 (6): 855–865. doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2012.10.013. PMID   23177775. S2CID   26412254.
  20. ↑ Parker, C.J.; et al. (2013). "Capturing Volunteered Information For Inclusive Service Design: Potential Benefits And Challenges". The Design Journal. 16 (2): 197–218. doi:10.2752/175630613x13584367984947. S2CID   110716823.
  21. ↑ Parker, C.J.; May, A.J.; Mitchell, V. (2012). "The Role Of VGI And PGI In Supporting Outdoor Activities". Applied Ergonomics. 44 (6): 886–894. doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2012.04.013. PMID   22795180. S2CID   12918341.
  22. ↑ May, A.; et al. (2014). "Evaluating a concept design of a crowd-sourced "mashup" providing ease-of-access information for people with limited mobility". Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies. 49 (1): 103–113. Bibcode:2014TRPC...49..103M. doi: 10.1016/j.trc.2014.10.007 .
  23. ↑ Parker, C.J., May, A.J. & Mitchell, V., 2010. An Exploration of Volunteered Geographic Information Stakeholders. In M. Haklay, J. Morley, & H. Rahemtulla, eds. Proceedings of the GIS Research UK 18th Annual Conference. University College London: UCL, pp. 137–142. Available at: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/handle/2134/6152.
  24. ↑ Harding, J. et al., 2009. Usable geographic information – what does it mean to users? In Proceedings of the AGI GeoCommunity '09 Conference. Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK: AGI GeoCommunity.
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