The Geographic Turn in Social Media: Opportunities for Spatial Planning and Geodesign

Abstract

This paper introduces the concept of Social Media Geographic Information\ud (SMGI) as an emergent pluralist source of information which – it is\ud argued- may find valuable application in spatial planning and Geodesign. On\ud the base of empirical research, the author proposes a tentative framework for\ud SMGI Analytics in spatial planning. Among other methods, Spatial-Temporal\ud Textual Analysis (STTx) is proposed as a tool to investigate people perceptions\ud and interest in space and time. Possible implications and benefits of SMGI analytics\ud for the planning practice emerge from the overall discussion

Social Media-Related Geographic Information in the Context of Strategic Environmental Assessment of Municipal Masterplans: A Case Study Concerning Sardinia (Italy)

“…Afterwards, at the local level, that is, with reference to a particular cluster or spot of interest, further analyses were developed aiming at understanding the possible reasons which caused the detected patterns and singularities, that may help in explaining success-or failure-related factors concerning destinations' and services' features. We use a methodology based on spatial statistical and spatio-temporal textual analysis; that is, the analysis of texts which takes account of spatial and time-related constraints (indicated as "STTx" from now on) [19].…”

“…Moreover, developments in social media imply that every piece of information can be commented or rated in some way. Through interactive platforms participants, tourists in the case of TriAdvisor.com and Booking.com, share, co-create, discuss, and modify the generated geographic information [17][18][19].…”

“…In this sense geographic information generated by social media's users can be defined as information collected through social networking Web or mobile applications with explicit or implicit geographic reference [19].…”

Towards a Protocol for the Collection of VGI Vector Data

“…A case in point could be public or private mapping agencies planning to launch a VGI project in order to receive feedback from citizens regarding the actuality of existing data (e.g., manual vectorisation of a new building) or to collect new content (e.g., obstacles of accessibility). Local governments and municipalities can be also considered as interested parties when building a VGI project to engage in a dialogue with citizens or to gain and share information for purposes such as urban planning [54]. In citizen science projects, different NGO can apply the proposed protocol to collect geographically enabled observations.…”

“…This would lead to a slight but progressive modification to the contribution process and the volunteers' perception and motivation could be maintained or even improved. Examples of how VGI projects can benefit from technology are described in [54].…”