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Session organizers: Christian Bittner (University
Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Sterling Quinn (Central Washington
University)
For about a decade, geographers have reflected on
new forms of online cartographies, assessing their nature, scope
and impacts through terms like “volunteered geographic
information” (VGI), “neogeography,” “new spatial media”, or “web
2.0 cartographies.”
Much of this literature deals with the broader
implications of web 2.0 cartographies for society and is often
linked to constructivist and normative approaches from critical,
participatory or feminist GIS. Generally, this kind of research
investigates the risks and potentials of VGI and user-generated
online maps for the greater goals of justice, equality and
democracy.
Meanwhile, web 2.0 cartographies have ceased to be
something new. The once revolutionary collaborative mapping
platforms OpenStreetMap and Wikimapia, as well as the triumphant
incursion of a technology called the “map mashup” have long
passed their tenth anniversaries. Today, interactive maps have
become a standard feature of user’s online experiences.
Contemporary “neo”-geographers have at their disposal a diverse
range of APIs, script libraries and data repositories, enabling
them to create beautiful maps for all kinds of purposes.
Yet, it is exactly the prevalence and mainstreaming
of web 2.0-cartographies which demands an ongoing investigation
of their societal imprints and implications, which have not been
satisfyingly explored so far.
In this session, we
welcome papers discussing:
- Characteristics and
motivations of contributors to crowdsourced web maps such as
OpenStreetMap, Google Map Maker, and Wikimapia
- Studies of the political
economy surrounding the online production of VGI, including
corporate influence in maintaining or supporting VGI platforms
- Effects of Web 2.0
cartographies on human perceptions of the landscape
- Critical analysis of
cartographic selection, classification, and symbolization in Web
2.0 maps
- Critical code studies
investigating the anatomy and genesis of web maps
- Innovative uses of VGI
or Web 2.0 maps for social or environmental justice efforts
- Impacts and embeddedness
of collaborative web maps in political debates and conflicts
- Questions of nation
state sovereignty vis à vis user-generated geodata beyond the
jurisdictional access of authorities
- Postcolonial
perspectives on reproductions of power relations and
inequalities through web cartographies
Interested participants
should (1) register and submit the abstract to AAG, and (2) send
a presenter PIN, paper title, and abstract to [log in to unmask]
or [log in to unmask]
by October 27, 2016.
Dipl. Geogr. Christian Bittner Institut für Geographie Universität Erlangen Wetterkreuz 15 D-91058 Erlangen