Abstract
Abstract. Due to the importance of spatial data in decision making and the cost of collecting these data, in recent years various communities have collaborated on spatial data collection. In these communities some expert and non-expert volunteers record their observations of a region in order to create a map. In these activities one of the most effective tools for recording observations is the sketch map. Due to ease of use and no need to comply with the common rules in Geospatial Information Systems, sketch maps can be drawn by a wide range of people. Because these maps are easy to use and following the GIS rules is not required, sketch maps can be drawn by a wide range of people. Although several studies have focused on raising the level of participation of ordinary people in the field of mapping, less attention has been given to the role of kids as an important part of the society. Hence, this paper including a field study examines the effect of collective spatial cognition of kids in a community mapping activity. For this purpose, the sketches drawn by some school kids are matched and then integrated together, and finally, the output of this process is compared with available metric maps. The results of this study show that despite the stringent conditions and the low age of the participants, the results have been beyond expectations. In this study, kids have provided several points of interest as well as more descriptive information of the region compared to the available data downloaded from OpenStreetMap and Google Maps. Therefore, the output of this study can be used to enrich the available metric map.
Highlights
During the human lifetime, place has always been one of the most effective parameters that effects on decision making, and as a result, collecting spatial data has been in great importance
Kanyara et al in (2009), in a Community mapping activity, try to collects information on land rights and basic services in a region in Cambodia. They used sketch maps as an informal but useful method to minimize the cost of data collection and allowing more people to participate in this project
By simulating a community mapping activity with kids, we tried to examine the role of kids in spatial data collecting activities
Summary
Place has always been one of the most effective parameters that effects on decision making, and as a result, collecting spatial data has been in great importance. The need for special equipment and experts has led to a limited range of people working in mapping fields. Anyone can potentially collect and share data with regard to his/her daily interactions with the surrounding environment. This potential has led some non-expert people to start working in mapping fields. Community mapping is a term used to collect spatial data by a team of experts and Non-expert volunteers. Community mapping can play an effective role, especially in cases which the collecting of spatial data is costly and time-consuming and does not require a high degree of data accuracy, or depending on the conditions, it is not possible to collect data with equipment (for example, in critic conditions)
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