Evaluating Urban Public Spaces Based on User-Generated Geographic Data

Dear Colleagues,

Urban planners and designers recognise how well-designed urban public spaces can become a symbolic place in the urban fabric, for example, by providing opportunities for conviviality and physical exercise, as well as additional benefits related to the contrast of urban expansion and densification. In order to ensure the effective sustainability of urban public spaces, it is necessary that they guarantee, in addition to the presence of basic functional requirements, further characteristics to be modulated according to the environmental and socio-economic context of reference. Therefore, the evaluation of public spaces is an essential activity to guide possible improvements of existing public spaces, for example, in terms of allocations and/or extension, or to foresee new ones, especially in the context of urban regeneration processes.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to provide insights into how similar assessment activities can benefit from geographic information directly generated by the users of public spaces. This information is characterised by being highly dynamic in terms of spatial and temporal extent, as it is generated by different mobile devices and social media platforms, which provide location information, the activities, and preferences of people using the sites.

For this Special Issue we welcome manuscripts focusing on methods and techniques, including interdisciplinary ones, which support the assessment of urban public spaces based on user-generated geographic data, including, but not limited to, the following themes:

• The identification and selection of digital data sources (e.g., social media, mobile telephones, and sports tracking apps) involving interaction between active and/or passive users and site-based technologies;
• The spatial accuracy of data and related interpolation processes in a GIS environment for empirical mapping useful for informing decision-making activities;
• The potential and challenges associated with the use of user-generated data to support the definition of urban public space planning and design interventions, both from a technical point of view and from the management of uses by public administrations.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Annunziata Palermo
Dr. Lucia Chieffallo
Guest Editors

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• urban public space
• urban fabric
• urban regeneration
• geographic information systems
• user-generated geographic data
• mobile device
• social media
• participation