Spatial Entities Research Articles

Geographical queries reformulation using a parallel association rules generator to build spatial taxonomies

Geographical queries need a special process of reformulation by information retrieval systems (IRS) due to their specificities and hierarchical structure. This fact is ignored by most of web search engines. In this paper, we propose an automatic approach for building a spatial taxonomy, that models’ the notion of adjacency that will be used in the reformulation of the spatial part of a geographical query. This approach exploits the documents that are in top of the retrieved list when submitting a spatial entity, which is composed of a spatial relation and a noun of a city. Then, a transactional database is constructed, considering each document extracted as a transaction that contains the nouns of the cities sharing the country of the submitted query’s city. The algorithm frequent pattern growth (FP-growth) is applied to this database in his parallel version (parallel FP-growth: PFP) in order to generate association rules, that will form the country’s taxonomy in a Big Data context. Experiments has been conducted on Spark and their results show that query reformulation using the taxonomy constructed based on our proposed approach improves the precision and the effectiveness of the IRS.

Spatial interdependence of fractal dimension and topological parameters of road network: a geographically weighted regression approach

Road networks are spatial entities that display several geometric, topological variations and fractal nature. The study of the varied properties of road networks is of paramount importance in the field of urban and transport planning. This exploratory research paper aims to study the topological parameters of the road network of Tiruchirappalli city in Tamil Nadu, India based on Graph theory at different scales, i.e., by considering the road network of the study area as 65 wards, 4 zones and the city as a whole entity. The parameters considered in this study include connectivity indices, coverage indices and fractal dimension. Correlation analysis followed by regression analysis is carried out to find the relationship between the variables. The interrelationship between the deduced fractal dimension and other topological parameters of the road network are explored using analytical modelling technique alternatives like Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) by using Geographical Information System (GIS). Results prove that fractal dimension is an indicator of coverage and the fractal dimension of the road network in Tiruchirappalli corporation has a value 1.549 when considered as a whole. It is found that the Geographically Weighted Regression model provides a better fit compared to the ordinary least square regression model. The superiority of the GWR model over the OLS model is because it takes into account the variation of entities over a spatial region. Accessibility analysis for the 65 wards is performed using Shimbel index and it was ascertained that the central wards showed greater accessibility.

A novel direction relation reasoning model based Environmental Protection GIS

To make the complicated environmental protection work simple, environmental protection GIS is widely used. Direction relation reasoning is an important branch of spatial reasoning, it is also one of the most basic theoretical issues in the Environmental Protection Geographic Information System. This paper proposes a modelling method of combining the cone-shaped direction relation model with the direction relation matrix to determine the fuzzy direction relation between spatial entities on the basis of the cone-shaped direction relation model and direction relation matrix in Environmental Protection Geographic Information System, the advantages of the two models are fully utilized to overcome the disadvantages of them. Firstly, “central-region” is divided into nine equal internal sub-regions on the basis of the Minimum Bounding Rectangle (MBR) model. Then, the central-region of the direction relation matrix is divided again by using the cone-shaped direction relation model, and a fuzzy formal description model is given by taking point entity and area entity as research objects. The application of direction relation reasoning model in Environmental Protection GIS is helpful to improve the efficiency of judging the direction of pollution sources and the level of environmental protection.

A 3D GIS mapping for landscape geovisualisation and park management: A case study in Kuala Keniam Station, Taman Negara Malaysia

The Kuala Keniam Research Station in Taman Negara has experienced severe damages to large flood and therefore this station spatial visualization and database management need to be enhanced appropriately. A meticulous park information system is required for assisting staff and users to manage the spatial park entities in an identifiable ecotourism mapping. This pilot study was proposed to develop a 3D GIS visualisation for the park and landscape management using software development life cycle (SDLC) and several 3D software. Findings from the local user requirements showed that 100% agreed for developing an interactive 3D mapping in the study area. The developed mapping has demonstrated its capabilities in modelling 3D park mapping and constructing a geopark database such as updating functions of park’s attributes, park animation and visualisation, and other basic functions of a common park system. An experienced staff from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (PERHILITAN) has been also interviewed with a testing form to evaluate the mapping’s capabilities and this evaluator was satisfied with all elements and functions developed in the digital map, but the interactivity of the map need to be improved for an advanced geoanalysis of the park.

Rethinking the geography of energy transitions: low carbon energy pathways through energyshed design

Energy systems are inherently spatial entities, encompassing infrastructure and land requirements; diverse perspectives of energy system stakeholders tied to locations of supply and demand; and ultimately a spatial distribution of profits, environmental impacts, and societal changes. The spatial relationships between these social and physical components of the energy system drive its ongoing evolution in response to technological advancements, economic trends, and policy directives. A low carbon energy system transition undertaken in response to climate change will require rapid and substantial changes to all of these elements and more. To capture these relationships and inform the design of a low carbon future, we propose the use of energyshed planning. An energyshed is the geographic area that contains the land, infrastructure, people, profits, and environmental impacts connected to final energy consumption. Four distinct decarbonization scenarios are explored: each pathway strikes a different balance between centralized or decentralized energy systems and corporatized or democratized energy system governance. Finally, the energyshed lens is used to perform an initial assessment of the barriers and opportunities for U.S. states to implement a near-term low carbon transition.

Development characteristics and construction prospects for a multi-integrated economic zone in the South China Sea Region

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) instigated by China is catalyzing the evolution of a new global economic landscape. To cope with the great changes in the economic landscape, China needs to view the South China Sea Region (SCSR) as a strategic focus and study carefully the characteristics of regional development and explore the possibility for construction of a strategic multi-integrated economic zone which includes China and ASEAN countries. Based on key indicators, this paper outlines the overall development characteristics of the SCSR and analyzes the regional structural characteristics of industry and global trade based on the indexes of industrial structure similarity and trade commodity structure coincidence; the paper also depicts the spatial characteristics of the nine core growth areas (CGAs) in the region and discusses the construction prospects for a multi-integrated economic zone in the SCSR. The results show that, first, from 2000 to 2017, the main economic indicators of the SCSR grew quite well, and the development trend was much better than the global average for the same period. Second, driven by the global industrial transfer stages and spatial paths, the level of comprehensive development in the SCSR has evolved into four categories. Third, the index values for industrial structure similarity and trade commodity structure coincidence for the 11 countries in the SCSR have remained at a high level, and reveal an integration trend not only from the horizontal and vertical perspective, but also from an upg]rading and downgrading standpoint. Fourth, nine CGAs have been established in the SCSR and the advantaged industries and the export commodity types between different countries exhibited the characteristics of convergence and complementarity due to the polarization and diffusion effects of the CGAs. Finally, from a long-term perspective, the SCSR has already acquired the internal and external conditions such as the 5th global industrial transfer initiative, the reconstruction of the global value chain, regional production-consumption networks and spatial entities for building a multi-integrated economic zone in the SCSR.

Mapping Priority Areas for Apiculture Development with the Use of Geographical Information Systems

Supporting local and central authorities in decision-making processes pertaining to environmental planning requires the adoption of scientific methods and the submission of proposals that could be implemented in practice. Taking into consideration the dual role that honeybees play as honey producers and crop pollinators, the aim of the present study is to identify and utilize a number of indicators and subsequently develop priority thematic maps. Previous research has focused on the determination of, and, on certain occasions, on mapping, priority areas for apiculture development, based mainly on the needs of honeybees, without taking into consideration the pollination needs of crops that are cultivated in these areas. In addition, research so far has been carried out in specific spatial entities, in contrast to the current study, in which the areas to be comparatively assessed are pre-chosen based on their geographical boundaries. The information derived from this process is expected to help decision-makers in local and regional authorities to adopt measures for optimal land use and sound pollination practices in order to enhance apiculture development at a local scale. To achieve this target, the study incorporates literature about the attractiveness of crops and plants to pollinating honeybees as well as the pollination services provided by honeybees, in combination with detailed vegetative land cover data. The local communities of each municipality were comparatively evaluated, by introducing three indicators through numerical and spatial data analysis: Relative Attractiveness Index (RAI), Relative Dependence Index (RDI), and Relative Priority Index (RPI). Based on these indicators, attractiveness, dependence, and priority maps were created and explained in detail. We suggest that a number of improvement measures that will boost pollination or honey production or both should be taken by decision-makers, based on the correlations between the aforementioned indicators and the exanimated areas. In addition, dependence maps can constitute a powerful tool for raising awareness among both the public and the farmers about the value of honeybees in pollination, thus reinforcing bee protection efforts undertaken globally. Attractiveness maps that provide a thorough picture of the areas that are sources of pollen and nectar can serve as a general guide for the establishment of hives in areas with high potential for beekeeping.

A Heterogeneous Geospatial Data Retrieval Method Using Knowledge Graph

Information resources have increased rapidly in the big data era. Geospatial data plays an indispensable role in spatially informed analyses, while data in different areas are relatively isolated. Therefore, it is inadequate to use relational data in handling many semantic intricacies and retrieving geospatial data. In light of this, a heterogeneous retrieval method based on knowledge graph is proposed in this paper. There are three advantages of this method: (1) the semantic knowledge of geospatial data is considered; (2) more information required by users could be obtained; (3) data retrieval speed can be improved. Firstly, implicit semantic knowledge is studied and applied to construct a knowledge graph, integrating semantics in multi-source heterogeneous geospatial data. Then, the query expansion rules and the mappings between knowledge and database are designed to construct retrieval statements and obtain related spatial entities. Finally, the effectiveness and efficiency are verified through comparative analysis and practices. The experiment indicates that the method could automatically construct database retrieval statements and retrieve more relevant data. Additionally, users could reduce the dependence on data storage mode and database Structured Query Language syntax. This paper would facilitate the sharing and outreach of geospatial knowledge for various spatial studies.

Geographical query reformulation using a geographical adjacency taxonomy builder and word senses

PurposeGeographical query formulation is one of the key difficulties for users in search engines. The purpose of this study is to improve geographical search by proposing a novel geographical query reformulation (GQR) technique using a geographical taxonomy and word senses.Design/methodology/approachThis work introduces an approach for GQR, which combines a method of query components separation that uses GeoNames, a technique for reformulating these components using WordNet and a geographic taxonomy constructed using the latent semantic analysis method.FindingsThe proposed approach was compared to two methods from the literature, using the mean average precision (MAP) and the precision at 20 documents (P@20). The experimental results show that it outperforms the other techniques by 15.73% to 31.21% in terms of P@20 and by 17.81% to 35.52% in terms of MAP.Research limitations/implicationsAccording to the experimental results, the best created taxonomy using the geographical adjacency taxonomy builder contains 7.67% of incorrect links. This paper believes that using a very big amount of data for taxonomy building can give better results. Thus, in future work, this paper intends to apply the approach in a big data context.Originality/valueDespite this, the reformulation of geographical queries using the new proposed approach considerably improves the precision of queries and retrieves relevant documents that were not retrieved using the original queries. The strengths of the technique lie in the facts of reformulating both thematic and spatial entities and replacing the spatial entity of the query with terms that explain the intent of the query more precisely using a geographical taxonomy.

A novel similarity measure for spatial entity resolution based on data granularity model: Managing inconsistencies in place descriptions

Tremendous amounts of data are generated every day by different sources and stored in heterogeneous databases. Providing an integrated view by fusion of data is essential to enhance data utilization. An indispensable type of data is spatial data, with diverse application domains, including GIS, e-commerce, military, and tourism. The concept of location forms a key part of user-generated data with serious challenges, including uncertainty. A particular location may have different names, and conversely, various locations may have the same name. Furthermore, geographical coordinates of locations may not be expressed accurately in datasets. More challenges also exist that have received less attention. Various data sources might describe locations in different levels of detail. This increases data inconsistency and decreases the quality of data fusion. This paper focuses on spatial data granulation to deal with this variety. If these diversities are not taken into consideration, the different descriptions of a location may be interpreted differently and, in turn, not be fused. The contribution of this paper are: (a) Introducing a granular approach to measure the similarity between two place description for managing apparent differences. The proposed method improves the quality of the geocoding and data fusion phases, (b) Introducing a novel data blocking method to decrease pairwise comparisons based on geographical features. For result evaluation, we developed a dataset from two real aviation accident datasets. The evaluation shows that the quality of entity recognition and data fusion improved by using our proposed data granulation technique.

A Hole in the Box and a Pain in the Mouth

AbstractThe following argument is widely assumed to be invalid: there is a pain in my finger; my finger is in my mouth; therefore, there is a pain in my mouth. The apparent invalidity of this argument has recently been used to motivate the conclusion that pains are not spatial entities. We argue that this is a mistake. We do so by drawing attention to the metaphysics of pains and holes and provide a framework for their location which both vindicates the argument's validity and explains why it appears invalid. To this end, we show that previously proposed explanations for the apparent invalidity of the argument fail. Moreover, we show that our account accommodates and explains seemingly opposing linguistic data. We conclude that the ‘pain-in-mouth argument’ does not undermine the view that pains are spatial entities.

МЕТРОПОЛІТЕНСЬКИЙ РЕГІОН: ЕВОЛЮЦІЯ ПІДХОДІВ ТА ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ПРОСТОРОВОЇ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ НА ПРИКЛАДІ НЬЮ-ЙОРКА, США

Aim. The article is aimed to show the evolution of approaches and current thinking on metropolitan regions in the context of world urbanization; to analyze the main tendencies of New York metropolitan area development – one of the biggest metropolitan regions in the world with a core in a global city; basing on the case of New York, to illustrate the evolution of the methodology for metropolitan region delineation, its planning and spatial development in long-term perspective. Methodology. The methodology is based on a long-term analysis of the dynamics of New York city as well as spatial organization of the metropolitan region from the viewpoint of the evolution of approaches for delineation of the urbanized areas in the US and spatial planning perspectives, basing on several generations of New York metropolitan area regional plans. Results. The article reflects the evolution of ideas and basic concepts of metropolitan regions development as spatial entities. Basing on the US experience in the methodology of urban areas delineation, the main changes over recent decades and their relation to urbanization processes are reflected, in particular the role of low-density corridors, population density and housing density as criteria for urban areas identification is analyzed. This experience can be used to develop a methodology for identifying metropolitan regions in Ukraine, making delineation process and providing more balanced governance policy for these regions. Using the example of New York, the article shows the need to constantly update and adapt governance and planning policies in such regions, which is reflected in changes of managing growth, now mostly focusing on reducing segregation, preventing climate change, enhancing institutional transformations and strengthening the role of spatial planning. Novelty. Revealing the experience of metropolitan regions delineation, challenges for their spatial development and planning strategy for the case of New York metropolitan area, the article reflects actual methodological approaches to metropolitan regions delineation, making governance policy and spatial planning that can be adapted in Ukraine. Among the key proposed changes aimed at strengthening the sustainable development of such regions in Ukraine - development the methodology for their delineation, elaboration of metropolitan region development strategy and spatial planning for the whole region.

Analysis and Research of uncertain radius in constructing geo - spatial buffer

Buffer analysis is one of the most important functions in GIS spatial analysis, which is used to establish the scope of influence around spatial entities. The conventional buffer radius is fixed. However, in practical situations, the buffer radius should be dynamically adjusted by considering the specific environment of the space entity such as nature and socio-economy condition. Therefore it is able to achieve accurate and scientific spatial analysis, which aims to provide efficient decision-making services and intellectual support for the construction of the social economy and the ecological civilization. In this paper, based on analysis of the shortcomings of conventional buffer, several special buffers are discussed and the uncertain buffer radius is calculated under different conditions. Finally, an example is harnessed to illustrate the existence of uncertain buffer radius.

Кey signs of ecosystem assets valuation

The purpose of the article is to develop scientific approaches and identify key features of the assessment of ecosystem assets of territorial communities.
 The article examines modern scientific approaches to the assessment of ecosystem assets of territorial communities in the context of deepening processes of decentralization of management. The essence of the definition of ecosystem assets from the standpoint of ecosystem accounting is revealed, in particular, it is focused on one of their main characteristics: the ability of natural reserves (stocks) to provide a constant flow (flow) of ecosystem services. The necessity of taking into account the market value of ecosystem assets in the process of monitoring their use and involvement in economic circulation at the local level has been determined. In this sense, the role of ecosystem services in providing links between ecosystem assets and benefits is considered. The main characteristics of ecosystem assets are investigated, their common and distinctive features from natural resource and production assets of spatial territorial entities are revealed. A systematization of generalized approaches to the methodology for assessing ecosystem assets according to the recommendations of the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity), which is advisable to apply for territorial communities as key strategic guidelines for sustainable spatial development, is proposed. It is recommended to include the indicator “ecosystem assets” (EA) as a mandatory component of annual national accounts.
 Further research has prospects in the following areas:
 
 formation of an integrated strategic approach to the implementation of ecosystem asset valuation at the local level;
 development and implementation of effective methodological approaches to the assessment of ecosystem assets for the formation of investment attractiveness of the territory through the use of local natural resources as ecosystem assets for sustainable spatial development.

A sphere askew: operations, territory and the public in the digital age

PurposeThe public is often associated with a spatial entity: the sphere. Recent technical developments, however, raise questions about the applicability of the sphere as a concept in social, political or economic studies. This paper aims to discuss two different intuitions related to spheres regarding operational and territorial attributes. It identifies a growing discrepancy between these intuitions as a result of the spread of digital technology in society. The notion of the sphere must therefore be used more carefully in the future.Design/methodology/approachThe paper takes a conceptual approach based on constructs developed by Habermas for the analysis of the bourgeois public. The resulting twofold model is validated on the background of current research in organisational science and general considerations about the effect of digital technology on society.FindingsThe paper identifies an increasing inconsistency in the conceptions of social spheres, which implies that accustomed spatial concepts cannot further be used as before in this context. Exemplary evidence about this divergence is gathered from extant work in the field.Originality/valueWhile a lot has already been said about social dynamics in the digital age, their consequences for the applicability of the sphere as a spatial concept have not yet been properly addressed. The paper identifies a fundamental problem in the discourse on social spheres in the digital age that challenges the internal consistency of the concept, independently from any further epistemological or ontological considerations.

The European block as a renewed spatial entity among collective living, functional autonomy and sustainability

Nell’attuale crisi sanitaria diviene prioritario focalizzare l’attenzione sulla comprensione e sulla definizione di nuove soluzioni all’interno del contesto urbano, riflettendo sulle potenzialità rigenerative del tessuto esistente. In quest’ottica, il presente lavoro si pone l’obiettivo di esplorare le potenzialità di un modello tipo-morfologico pienamente inserito nella linea di sviluppo della città europea: l’isolato urbano, nucleo strutturale generatore del tessuto della città. La sua attualizzazione risiede nel possibile mantenimento delle caratteristiche tradizionali ed allo stesso tempo nella sua reinterpretazione, garantendo una dimensione abitativa in collettività pur nella potenziale isolabilità – sul piano sanitario, funzionale ed energetico – rispetto al tessuto circostante.

Building the Nation: Sovereignty and International Law in the Decolonisation of South Asia

Abstract The position of the territorially sovereign nation-state as the fundamental building block of the contemporary world order has come under increasing challenge. Historians have long focused on social, cultural, economic, and technological factors to examine the constructed nature of the nation-state. In this article, I explore the role of law, and specifically the concept of sovereignty, in the creation of the unified spatial entity constituting the nation-state. I focus in particular on the decolonisation of South Asia and analyse legal arguments made in two international disputes (over Hyderabad and the river Indus) to understand the process through which the Indian nation-state came into being.

A Fuzzy Spatial Region Extraction Model for Object’s Vague Location Description from Observer Perspective

Descriptions of the spatial locations of disappeared objects are often recorded in eyewitness records, travel notes, and historical documents. However, in geographic information system (GIS), the observer-centered and vague nature of the descriptions causes difficulties in representing the spatial characters of these objects. To address this problem, this paper proposes a Fuzzy Spatial Region Extraction Model for Object’s Vague Location Description from Observer Perspective (FSREM-OP). In this model, the spatial relationship between the observer and the object are represented in spatial knowledge. It is composed of “phrase” and “region”. Based on the spatial knowledge, three components of spatial inference are constructed: Spatial Entities (SEs), Fuzzy Spatial Regions (FSRs), and Spatial Actions (SAs). Through spatial knowledge and the components of FSREM-OP, an object’s location can be inferred from an observer’s describing text, transforming the vagueness and subjectivity of location description into fuzzy spatial regions in the GIS. The FSREM-OP was tested by constructing a group of observers, object position relationships and vague descriptions. The results show that it is capable of extracting the spatial information and presenting location descriptions in the GIS, despite the vagueness and subjective spatial relation expressions in the descriptions.

Chronotopic information interaction: integrating temporal and spatial structure for historical indexing and interactive search

Abstract Domain-based learning and research are important applications driving the development of exploratory search systems. A wealth of historical information about events from around the world resides within documents on the web, yet contemporary search engines do not take advantage of the closely integrated temporal and spatial information found within these web pages for indexing and design of search user interfaces. This gap limits the use of the web as a resource for historical and geohistorical information seeking. In this article, we propose chronotopic information interaction as a new interaction concept for web search that explicitly links temporal and spatial entities to keywords using a space–time grid index and a paired search user interface. The space–time grid index allows different modes of interaction between spatial, temporal, and keyword-based views in the search user interface. We demonstrate the use of the space–time grid index and chronotopic information interaction concept with the development of Pteraform, a prototype of a search engine that enables users to explore information in the English version of Wikipedia through a geohistorical lens.

The Textuality of the Modernist Rural Landscape: Belgrade Agricultural Combine (PKB) as a Driver of the Urban Development of Third Belgrade

This paper considers the landscape as both a material and an ideological representation and starts from the assumption that spatial patterns arise as a result of the ideological imperative of the process that forms the landscape. The research takes on a historical-interpretative approach in the domain of architectural and urban studies, enabling in-depth qualitative exploration of the textuality and layering of the modernist rural landscape through a case study of the PKB Agricultural Combine as a driver of the urban development of Third Belgrade, the spatial framework of the left riverbank of the Danube in the administrative area of Belgrade. The research was conducted by chronologically interpreting primary sources, notably planning documents of different levels and scope, as well as studies, programs and development models for the urbanization of this territory. The research aims to decode the impact of socialist agrarian policy on the land-use in the wider metropolitan area of Belgrade, as well as the impact of the agricultural combine as a spatial, social, economic, environmental and political entity on the urban development process at different spatial levels. The research has identified four periods in the development of Third Belgrade: (1) Production of the Modernist Rural Landscape, (2) Establishment of the Self-Management Planning Framework, (3) Humanization of Environment, and (4) Post-socialist Transition and the Collapse of the Agricultural Combine. The paper demonstrates not only that environmental transformation cannot be separated from social transformation but also that they are in constant interaction and that their synergy has had a profound impact on the development of the PKB Agricultural Combine system in socialist conditions. The textuality of the modernist rural landscape confirms that an object-oriented approach is not enough to explore and interpret the landscape, but rather, we should look at the way it is socially produced through decoding the planning, institutional and policy frameworks determining the urban development of a territory.