User-Generated Big Data and Urban Morphology
Continuing our work with crowdsourcing and geosocial
analysis we recently had a paper published in a special issue of the Built
Environment journal entitled "User-Generated Big Data and Urban Morphology."
The theme of the special issue is: "Big Data and the City" which was guest edited by Mike Batty and includes 12
papers.
"This cutting edge special issue responds to the latest
digital revolution, setting out the state of the art of the new technologies
around so-called Big Data, critically examining the hyperbole surrounding
smartness and other claims, and relating it to age-old urban challenges. Big
data is everywhere, largely generated by automated systems operating in real
time that potentially tell us how cities are performing and changing. A product
of the smart city, it is providing us with novel data sets that suggest ways in
which we might plan better, and design more sustainable environments. The
articles in this issue tell us how scientists and planners are using big data to
better understand everything from new forms of mobility in transport systems to
new uses of social media. Together, they reveal how visualization is fast
becoming an integral part of developing a thorough understanding of our
cities."In the paper we discuss and show how crowdsourced data is leading to the emergence of alternate views of urban morphology that better capture the intricate nature of urban environments and their dynamics. Specifically how such data can provide us information pertaining to linked spaces and geosocial neighborhoods. We argue that a geosocial neighborhood is not defined by its administrative boundaries, planning zones, or physical barriers, but rather by its emergence as an organic self-organized social construct that is embedded in geographical spaces that are linked by human activity.
"Traditionally urban morphology has been the study of cities as human habitats through the analysis of their tangible, physical artefacts. Such artefacts are outcomes of complex social and economic forces, and their study is primarily driven by traditional modes of data collection (e.g. based on censuses, physical surveys, and mapping). The emergence of Web 2.0 and through its applications, platforms and mechanisms that foster user-generated contributions to be made, disseminated, and debated in cyberspace, is providing a new lens in the study of urban morphology. In this paper, we showcase ways in which user-generated ‘big data’ can be harvested and analyzed to generate snapshots and impressionistic views of the urban landscape in physical terms. We discuss and support through representative examples the potential of such analysis in revealing how urban spaces are perceived by the general public, establishing links between tangible artefacts and cyber-social elements. These links may be in the form of references to, observations about, or events that enrich and move beyond the traditional physical characteristics of various locations. This leads to the emergence of alternate views of urban morphology that better capture the intricate nature of urban environments and their dynamics."For more >> http://www.gisagents.org/2016/10/new-paper-user-generated-big-data-and.html
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