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When Web 2.0 Meets Public Participation GIS (PPGIS): VGI and Spaces of Participatory Mapping in China

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Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge

Abstract

While existing studies provide important insights into power relations and spatial knowledge production impacted by volunteered geographic information (VGI), this chapter argues that more research is needed to investigate how these new geospatial technologies have constituted the actor’s subjectivities and the politics of citizen participation. Drawing upon public participation GIS (PPGIS) studies, critical GIS research and critical social theory, this chapter examines the mutual and complex relationships between subject formation and geospatial technology development and their implications for spaces and politics of citizen participation in a variety of contexts. A case study in China is presented with three examples of VGI mapping drawn from ethnographic fieldwork. These VGI practices in China have constituted multiple “DigiPlaces,” a notion proposed by Matt Zook and Mark Graham that is characterized by greater visibility with automatic production, increased individualism, and dynamism. Furthermore, these practices are simultaneously impacted by the complex process of subject constitution, informed by Mark Poster’s notion of “the mode of information,” marked by the proliferation of electronic communications that helps to constitute multiple subjectivities. In particular, coupling with rapid Internet and new communication technology developments, Chinese citizenship witnessed growing awareness of individual rights and more decentered self-identities compared to two decades ago. As such, new spaces of citizen participation are constructed by these VGI practices; however, significant challenges remain regarding the intersection of possibilities and existing economic and sociopolitical inequalities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Elwood (2010) for a summary of other terms such as neogeography, geoweb, map 2.0, etc.

  2. 2.

    Despite China’s increasingly sophisticated censorship system, a number of studies contend that Chinese Internet users have engaged in numerous forms of activism (Yang 2009; Tai 2006). In this way, dynamic communities have emerged that can be mobilized by the Internet to act in various issues, such as mobilizing the public for environmental protection by Web-based environmental volunteer groups (Yang 2003) and organizing workers’ strikes through the Internet and mobile technologies (Qiu 2009).

  3. 3.

    For example, a search of this editorial opinion from Google site in China (www.google.com.hk) returned 328,000 results on July 31, 2011. The number of results increased to 648,000 on October 29, 2011.

  4. 4.

    Pseudonyms are used for the interviewees.

  5. 5.

    Initially, this map used only one color for the symbols, along with description of the number of deaths in the pop-up window of each mashup. During my interview with the VGI author, I noted the possibility of using different colors to indicate different classes of values. This map in turn adopted the current set of legend.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

    Wen Lin

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  1. Wen Lin
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Correspondence to Wen Lin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Geography, Ohio State University, N. Oval Mall 154, Columbus, 43210, Ohio, USA

    Daniel Sui

  2. Dept. Geography, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-3550, Washington, USA

    Sarah Elwood

  3. College of Letters & Science, Dept. Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, Ellison Hall, Santa Barbara, 93106-4060, California, USA

    Michael Goodchild

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Lin, W. (2013). When Web 2.0 Meets Public Participation GIS (PPGIS): VGI and Spaces of Participatory Mapping in China. In: Sui, D., Elwood, S., Goodchild, M. (eds) Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4587-2_6

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