Calls > Session N

Session N.

Data Geovisualisation in the Era of Open Data and Big Data: Social, Technical and Methodological Challenges Involved in Understanding Territories

Co-chairs: Françoise BAHOKEN (AME-Splott / UGE – Géographie-cités), Étienne CÔME (COSYS-Grettia) & Boris MERICSKAY (ESO / Université Rennes 2)

After paper proposals were selected, sessions L and N merged to become session L/N.

In the era of big data and open data, one of the main challenges for those administering territories is that of providing a meaningful picture of these spaces, of making the increasingly vast amounts of information more accessible and actionable. On the one hand, this means making raw data intelligible, in order to understand and interpret the complexity of territorial systems and to provide information to help in decision-making. And on the other hand, to communicate with citizens in a comprehensible and innovative way. In response to these challenges, data (geo)visualisation, in the form of graphs, maps or dashboards, is one useful and proactive approach. However, (geo)visualisation, as a phase of the life cycle of territorial data, should not be confined to (carto)graphic images produced by software tools. Consequently, it is essential to explore the semiological and cognitive dimensions (as well as the technical and graphic aspects) of these images and the tools used to generate them. Moreover, the interactions and operations that take place via (and on) these interfaces also need to be studied and analysed in order to obtain knowledge about how these platforms are used.

This session deals with the social, technical and methodological issues and challenges related to the (geo)visualisation of territorial data in the areas of education and training. It will concentrate on contemporary visual and information mapping in all its dimensions, with a strong focus on the related technical systems, due to their role as mediating tools. The overall objective of the session is to discuss how (geo)visualisation applications can be used to learn, to “empower people to learn” and to “raise awareness” about territories, by providing various ways of visualising their workings and underlying dynamics through the processing, exploration, linking and display of local data. The wealth of diverse information thus uncovered, simplified and published via (geo)visualisation is presented in different formats, which will also be the focus of discussion. Similarly, these mediating tools (cartographic platforms, dashboards, visualisers, etc.) will receive particular attention, whether they were developed by public or private organisations or are the result of non-profit or academic initiatives.

Questions and potential paper topics

How can big data and geovisualisation tools help us learn and empower people to learn about a territory? Do these tools give rise to erroneous or distorted perceptions? Do these new instruments and methods for displaying territorial data help to redefine the ways in which people's awareness about territories can be raised? Does geovisualisation enable us to reconsider the objectivity of the way territories are represented? Does it eliminate the illusion that there is such a thing as a “ready-made territory”?

In order to answer these questions, paper proposals may focus on the following:

• The relationship between territorialised information and the capacity of stakeholders (citizens, specialists, elected officials) to learn and understand;
• Questions relating to the availability and accessibility of data;
• Critical analysis of the uses of portals/platforms and tools for presenting and searching territorial data;
• Forms of interactivity between users and data / users and graphics that might potentially foster a better understanding of territories;
• The rationales of the various parties involved (institutional vs. private vs. non-profit) in the provision of tools for understanding territories;
• The challenges of (geo)digital literacy in terms of the appropriation and use of geovisualisation tools when it comes to understanding territories;
• The issues related to the training of (future) practitioners in the use of the geovisualisation tools.

Selected Bibliographical References

Dykes J., MacEachren A. M., Kraak M.-J. (eds.), 2005, Exploring Geovisualization, Amsterdam, Elsevier.
Elwood S., 2009, “Geographic Information Science: New Geovisualization Technologies – Emerging Questions and Linkages with GIScience Research”, Progress in Human Geography, 33(2), p. 256-263.
Hemmersam P., Martin N., Westvang E., Aspen J., Morrison A., 2015, “Exploring Urban Data Visualization and Public Participation in Planning”, Journal of Urban Technology, 22(4), p. 45-64.
Kitchin R., Maalsen S., McArdle G., 2016, “The Praxis and Politics of Building Urban Dashboards”, Geoforum, no. 77, p. 93-101.
MacEachren A. M., Kraak M.-J., 2001, “Research Challenges in Geovisualization”, Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 28(1), p. 3-12.
Shneiderman B., 1996, “The Eyes Have it: A Task by Data Type Taxonomy for Information Visualizations”, Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages, p. 336-343.
Thakuriah P. V., Tilahun N., Zellner M., 2017, “Big Data and Urban Informatics: Innovations and Challenges to Urban Planning and Knowledge Discovery”, Seeing Cities through Big Data. Research Methods and Applications in Urban Informatics, Cham, Springer, p. 11-45.
Victorelli E. Z., Dos Reis J. C., Hornung H., Prado A. B., 2020, “Understanding Human-Data Interaction: Literature Review and Recommendations for Design”, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, no. 134, p. 13-32.
Wang L., Wang G., Alexander C. A., 2015, “Big Data and Visualization: Methods, Challenges and Technology Progress”, Digital Technologies, 1(1), p. 33-38.
Kitchin R., Alauriault T.P., MacArdle G., 2017, Data and the City, London, Routledge.