Abstract
With the prevalence of smartphones, new ways of engaging citizens and stakeholders in urban planning and governance are emerging. The technologies in smartphones allow citizens to act as sensors of their environment, producing and sharing rich spatial data useful for new types of collaborative governance set-ups. Data derived from Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) can support accessible, transparent, democratic, inclusive, and locally-based governance situations of interest to planners, citizens, politicians, and scientists. However, there are still uncertainties about how to actually conduct this in practice. This study explores how social media VGI can be used to document spatial tendencies regarding citizens’ uses and perceptions of urban nature with relevance for urban green space governance. Via the hashtag <em>#sharingcph</em>, created by the City of Copenhagen in 2014, VGI data consisting of geo-referenced images were collected from Instagram, categorised according to their content and analysed according to their spatial distribution patterns. The results show specific spatial distributions of the images and main hotspots. Many possibilities and much potential of using VGI for generating, sharing, visualising and communicating knowledge about citizens’ spatial uses and preferences exist, but as a tool to support scientific and democratic interaction, VGI data is challenged by practical, technical and ethical concerns. More research is needed in order to better understand the usefulness and application of this rich data source to governance.
Highlights
It is widely recognized that the presence of urban nature is indispensable for a well-functioning and hospitable city (Beatley, 2011)
Even though the image-taking method is controlled in Visitor Employed Photography (VEP), this Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) method is in line with the idea that photographs can be analysed to identify a sense of place, attachment, aesthetics and other factors pertaining to the human-environment interaction in natural spaces (Garrod, 2007; Mackay & Couldwell, 2004; Stedman et al, 2004)
For ES mapping, this is of enormous value as the use of smartphones and social media applications will increase, which will enhance the quantity and representability of this data source for future research. By exploring this field, this study aims to improve our understanding of the mapping of ecosystem services so that ecosystem services become more highly valued and to support green decision-making in urban settings
Summary
It is widely recognized that the presence of urban nature is indispensable for a well-functioning and hospitable city (Beatley, 2011). Urban Planning, 2016, Volume 1, Issue 2, Pages 1-17 approach which links all types of urban nature together in a network which provides numerous benefits, or ecosystem services, such as: offering a recreational role in everyday life, playing an important part in conserving biodiversity, adding to the cultural identity of a city, easing and improving the environmental quality of the city, and providing natural solutions to technical challenges such as sewage treatment in cities (Andersson et al, 2014; Braquinho et al, 2015; Lovell & Taylor, 2013) It is generally understood and scientifically proven that GI in cities offers health benefits such as alleviating mental, physical and social pressure—as well as being associated with economic benefits (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2012; Tzoulas et al, 2007). While some ecosystem service categories are more tangible which facilitates their economic and biophysical valuation, CES values are more difficult to measure and often call for the use of more holistic and innovative approaches and methods (Gómez-Baggethun et al, 2013)
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