Neogeography
Encyclopedia
Neogeography literally means "new geography" (aka Volunteered Geographic Information
), and is commonly applied to the usage of geographical techniques and tools used for personal and community activities or for utilization by a non-expert group of users. Application domains of neogeography are typically not formal or analytical.
of production & work. The French philosopher François Dagognet used it in the title of his 1977 book Une Epistemologie de l'espace concret: Neo-geographie. The word was first used in relation to the study of online communities in the 1990s by Kenneth Dowling, the Librarian of the City and County of San Francisco.
Immediate precursor terms in the industry press were: "the geospatial Web" and "the geoaware Web" (both 2005); "Where 2.0" (2005); "a dissident cartographic aesthetic" and "mapping and counter-mapping" (2006). These terms arose with the concept of Web 2.0
, around the increased public appeal of mapping and geospatial
technologies that occurred with the release of such tools as "slippy maps" such as Google Maps
, Google Earth
, and also with the decreased cost of geolocated mobile devices such as GPS units. Subsequently, the use of geospatial technologies began to see increased integration with non-geographically focused applications.
The term neogeography was first defined in its contemporary sense by Randall Szott in 2006. He argued for a broad scope, to include artists, psychogeography
, and more. The technically-oriented aspects of the field, far more tightly defined than in Szott's definition, were outlined by Andrew Turner in his Introduction to Neogeography (O'Reilly, 2006). The contemporary use of the term, and the field in general, owes much of its inspiration to the locative media
movement that sought to expand the use of location-based technologies to encompass personal expression and society.
Traditional Geographic Information Systems historically have developed tools and techniques targeted towards formal applications that require precision and accuracy. By contrast, neogeography tends to apply to the areas of approachable, colloquial applications. The two realms can have overlap as the same problems are presented to different sets of users: experts and non-experts.
. This can be active collection of data such as OpenStreetMap
, or passive collection of user-data such as Flickr tags for folksonomic toponyms.
Neogeography is not limited to a specific technology and is not strictly web-based, so is not synonymous with web mapping
though it is commonly conceived as such.
A number of geographers and geoinformatics scientists (such as Mike Goodchild) have expressed strong reservations about the term "neogeography". They say that geography
is an established scientific discipline; uses such as mashups and tags in Google Earth are not scientific works, but are better described as Volunteered Geographic Information
.
There are also a great many artists and inter-disciplinary practitioners involved in an engagement with new forms of mapping and locative art. It is thus far wider than simply web mapping
.
Volunteered Geographic Information
Volunteered geographic information is the harnessing of tools to create, assemble, and disseminate geographic data provided voluntarily by individuals . Some examples of this phenomenon are Wikimapia, OpenStreetMap, and Google MyMaps...
), and is commonly applied to the usage of geographical techniques and tools used for personal and community activities or for utilization by a non-expert group of users. Application domains of neogeography are typically not formal or analytical.
History
The term neogeography has been used since at least 1922. In the early 1950s in the U.S. it was a term used in the sociologySociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
of production & work. The French philosopher François Dagognet used it in the title of his 1977 book Une Epistemologie de l'espace concret: Neo-geographie. The word was first used in relation to the study of online communities in the 1990s by Kenneth Dowling, the Librarian of the City and County of San Francisco.
Immediate precursor terms in the industry press were: "the geospatial Web" and "the geoaware Web" (both 2005); "Where 2.0" (2005); "a dissident cartographic aesthetic" and "mapping and counter-mapping" (2006). These terms arose with the concept of Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
, around the increased public appeal of mapping and geospatial
Geospatial
Geospatial analysis is an approach to applying statistical analysis and other informational techniques to geographically based data. Such analysis employs spatial software and analytical methods with terrestrial or geographic datasets, including geographic information systems and...
technologies that occurred with the release of such tools as "slippy maps" such as Google Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
, Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
, and also with the decreased cost of geolocated mobile devices such as GPS units. Subsequently, the use of geospatial technologies began to see increased integration with non-geographically focused applications.
The term neogeography was first defined in its contemporary sense by Randall Szott in 2006. He argued for a broad scope, to include artists, psychogeography
Psychogeography
Psychogeography was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." Another definition is "a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for...
, and more. The technically-oriented aspects of the field, far more tightly defined than in Szott's definition, were outlined by Andrew Turner in his Introduction to Neogeography (O'Reilly, 2006). The contemporary use of the term, and the field in general, owes much of its inspiration to the locative media
Locative media
Locative media or Location-based media are media of communication functionally bound to a location. The physical implementation of locative media however is not bound to the same location to which the content refers....
movement that sought to expand the use of location-based technologies to encompass personal expression and society.
Traditional Geographic Information Systems historically have developed tools and techniques targeted towards formal applications that require precision and accuracy. By contrast, neogeography tends to apply to the areas of approachable, colloquial applications. The two realms can have overlap as the same problems are presented to different sets of users: experts and non-experts.
User-generated geographic content
Neogeography has also been connected with the increase in user-generated geographic content, closely related to Volunteered Geographic InformationVolunteered Geographic Information
Volunteered geographic information is the harnessing of tools to create, assemble, and disseminate geographic data provided voluntarily by individuals . Some examples of this phenomenon are Wikimapia, OpenStreetMap, and Google MyMaps...
. This can be active collection of data such as OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. Two major driving forces behind the establishment and growth of OSM have been restrictions on use or availability of map information across much of the world and the advent of inexpensive portable GPS devices.The...
, or passive collection of user-data such as Flickr tags for folksonomic toponyms.
Discussion about the definition
There is currently much debate about the scope and application of Neogeography in the web mapping, geography, and GIS fields. Some of this discussion considers neogeography to be the ease of use of geographic tools and interfaces while other points focus on the domains of application.Neogeography is not limited to a specific technology and is not strictly web-based, so is not synonymous with web mapping
Web mapping
Web mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps on the World Wide Web and its product. While web mapping primarily deals with technological issues, web cartography additionally studies theoretic aspects: the use of web maps, the evaluation and optimization of...
though it is commonly conceived as such.
A number of geographers and geoinformatics scientists (such as Mike Goodchild) have expressed strong reservations about the term "neogeography". They say that geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
is an established scientific discipline; uses such as mashups and tags in Google Earth are not scientific works, but are better described as Volunteered Geographic Information
Volunteered Geographic Information
Volunteered geographic information is the harnessing of tools to create, assemble, and disseminate geographic data provided voluntarily by individuals . Some examples of this phenomenon are Wikimapia, OpenStreetMap, and Google MyMaps...
.
There are also a great many artists and inter-disciplinary practitioners involved in an engagement with new forms of mapping and locative art. It is thus far wider than simply web mapping
Web mapping
Web mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps on the World Wide Web and its product. While web mapping primarily deals with technological issues, web cartography additionally studies theoretic aspects: the use of web maps, the evaluation and optimization of...
.
See also
- CartographyCartographyCartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
- Collaborative MappingCollaborative mappingCollaborative mapping is the aggregation of web maps and user-generated content, from a group of individuals or entities, and can take several distinct forms.-Types:...
- Geography Markup LanguageGeography Markup LanguageThe Geography Markup Language is the XML grammar defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium to express geographical features. GML serves as a modeling language for geographic systems as well as an open interchange format for geographic transactions on the Internet...
- GeoRSSGeoRSSGeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. (Web feeds are used to describe feeds ("channels") of content, such as...
- GeowebGeowebThe Geospatial Web or Geoweb is a relatively new term that implies the merging of geographical information with the abstract information that currently dominates the Internet...
- Google EarthGoogle EarthGoogle Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
- GPXGPXGPX, or GPS eXchange Format is an XML schema designed as a common GPS data format for software applications.It can be used to describe waypoints, tracks, and routes. The format is open and can be used without the need to pay license fees. Its tags store location, elevation, and time and can in this...
- KMLKeyhole Markup LanguageKeyhole Markup Language is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within Internet-based, two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Keyhole Earth Viewer. It was created by...
- Locative mediaLocative mediaLocative media or Location-based media are media of communication functionally bound to a location. The physical implementation of locative media however is not bound to the same location to which the content refers....
- OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. Two major driving forces behind the establishment and growth of OSM have been restrictions on use or availability of map information across much of the world and the advent of inexpensive portable GPS devices.The...
- Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM)
- Participatory GISParticipatory GISAs defined by the participants in the Mapping for Change International Conference which took place in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2005, Participatory GIS is an emergent practice in its own right; developing out of participatory approaches to planning and spatial information and communication...
- SoundmapSoundmapA soundmap is a form of locative media that links a place and its sonic representations. It is an example of the personalized map content described alternately as web mapping and neogeography....
- Volunteered Geographic InformationVolunteered Geographic InformationVolunteered geographic information is the harnessing of tools to create, assemble, and disseminate geographic data provided voluntarily by individuals . Some examples of this phenomenon are Wikimapia, OpenStreetMap, and Google MyMaps...
- Web mappingWeb mappingWeb mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps on the World Wide Web and its product. While web mapping primarily deals with technological issues, web cartography additionally studies theoretic aspects: the use of web maps, the evaluation and optimization of...
External links
- "A short enquiry into the origins and uses of the term neogeography" (PDF link)
- O'Reilly Where2.0 Conference
- Straight To The Point - Location based technology, local content services, and new developments in local media and journalism.
- Floatingsheep.org - A project to map user-generated content on the web.
- 50 Intute resources encompassing the artistic and creative aspects of neogeography
- How Neogeography killed GIS