Category: publications

Defining Natural Points of Interest

In this new short paper by our student Charlie Hewitt at GISRUK 2021, which will run online again later in April. Abstract. This paper contributes to the working definition of natural points of interest (NPOI). We combine a theory-driven approach exploring existing definitions of points of interest and natural features and a data-driven approach in … Continue reading Defining Natural Points of Interest →

Urban Consumption Patterns: OpenStreetMap and the Social Sciences

Here is a new conference paper with my colleagues Hamidreza Rabiei Dastjerdi and Gavin McArdle on the use of crowdsourced geospatial data for social science research at GISTAM 2020. Abstract. Citizen consumption refers to the goods and services which citizens utilise. This includes time spent on leisure and cultural activities as well as the consumption … Continue reading Urban Consumption Patterns: OpenStreetMap and the Social Sciences →

Los Angeles as a digital place: mapping bias in user-generated content

In this new article, written with fellow geographer Stefano De Sabbata, we explore the relationship between spatial user-generated content from Twitter, Foursquare, OpenStreetMap, and Wikipedia and socio-economic variables in Los Angeles County [read the full paper in PDF]. All the data and resources are freely available on GitHub. Abstract: Online representations of places are becoming pivotal in informing our … Continue reading Los Angeles as a digital place: mapping bias in user-generated content →

Assessing the Usability of Participatory GIS

In this new article, my colleagues of the SeaSketch team, Werner Kuhn, and I developed a questionnaire to evaluate the usability of participatory GIS [read the full paper in PDF]. The article was nominated as Best Full Paper at AGILE 2019. All the data and resources are freely available on GitHub.   Abstract: Since its emergence in the 1990s, … Continue reading Assessing the Usability of Participatory GIS →

Tracing Search Geographies with Google Trends: 6 lessons learnt

In a new article that will be presented at AGILE later this year, my colleagues Simon Scheider, Bas Spierings, and I explore the potential of Google Trends to understand how the search interest in geographic areas changes in space and time, looking at the Amsterdam metropolitan region as a case study [read the full paper … Continue reading Tracing Search Geographies with Google Trends: 6 lessons learnt →

Where are celebrities from? New York Yankees and Hollywood Anglos

In a new paper with my colleague Eric Kaufmann, we used a crowdsourced dataset from Ethnicelebs.com to study, among other things, when and where American celebrities from diverse backgrounds anglicise their names to adhere to a WASP ideal. For example, action-movie actor of Catholic Lithuanian heritage Charles Dennis Buchinsky changed his surname to Bronson not to … Continue reading Where are celebrities from? New York Yankees and Hollywood Anglos →

A Context Frame for Interactive Maps

Demo: https://andrea-ballatore.github.io/map-context-frame Digital maps are ubiquitous, supporting countless online activities. Most interactive mapping platforms support three user operations to move across space: zooming in, zooming out, and panning. While using interactive maps, it is common for users to land in an unfamiliar area at high zoom levels. To understand the location of the area, users … Continue reading A Context Frame for Interactive Maps →

Moving to open access in GIScience

See also my list of open access resources for GIScience. Open access is coming. The radical European Plan S is just the latest of major pushes to reform the current expensive and irrational model. Since the second half of the 20th century, academic authors have usually published without fees, while a handful of private publishers reap handsome … Continue reading Moving to open access in GIScience →