ABSTRACT
Quantitative assessment and visual analysis of the multidimensional features of international bilateral product trade are crucial for global trade research. However, current methods face poor salience and expression issues when analysing the characteristics of China—Australia bilateral trade from 1998 to 2019. To address this, we propose a new perspective that involves period division, feature extraction, construction of product space, and spatiotemporal analysis by selecting the display competitive advantage index using the digital trade feature map (DTFM) method. Our results reveal that the distribution of product importance in China—Australia bilateral trade is heavy-tailed, and that the number of essential products has decreased by 68% over time. The proportion of products in which China dominates increased from 71% to 77%. Furthermore, Australia consistently maintains dominance in the most crucial development in trade, and the supremacy of the head product is becoming stronger. Based on these findings, the stability of bilateral trade between Australia and China is declining, and the pattern of polarisation in the importance of traded products is worsening. This paper proposes a novel method for studying Sino—Australian trade support. The analytical approach presented can be extended to analyse the features of bilateral trade between other countries.
ABSTRACT
Purpose>Many heritage-listed gaols in Australia have become obsolete in terms of their original function and were decommissioned decades ago. As a default management practice, decommissioned gaols are usually transformed into museums which are mostly empty and underused without considering other viable alternatives. This research challenges this mainstream thinking and demonstrates that among the entire stock of heritage-listed gaols in Australia, even the least ranked gaol in terms of its potential for reuse can be turned into a thriving and vibrant new function.Design/methodology/approach>Hypothetically, if the least ranked Australian heritage-listed gaol in terms of its potential for reuse is in fact “reusable”, then the remaining heritage gaols have more chance of being successfully reused to accommodate a vibrant new function. To be able to test this hypothesis, first, the Adaptive Reuse Potential (ARP) model is applied to rank Australia's decommissioned heritage gaols which are spatially and structurally sound to accommodate new uses. Second, an architectural design concept was designed to adaptively reuse the lowest scored gaol (Richmond Gaol) to a boutique hotel. The conceptual design proposal was then assessed by three local heritage architecture firms to validate its applicability and viability.Findings>The research showed that Richmond Gaol can be reused successfully to at least one function, and accordingly, the whole stock of heritage gaols can be expected to also be reused to more sustainable purposes. The research identifies several considerations for the reuse of heritage gaols in Australia: the careful intervention to their significant fabric;maintaining sufficient evidence of the gaol's original components, the importance of the new use being compatible to the gaol's morphology to ensure minimum alterations or demolitions in the significant fabric of the site;and evaluating the new use and its components to achieve financial viability.Research limitations/implications>Due to the continuing closure of Tasmania's state borders amid the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the researchers were not able to travel to Tasmania to conduct a site visit and to run the in-depth interviews with the architects in person. Most of the data of the current status of the site, its current layout, museum elements, historical data and photos were provided by Heritage Authorities in Tasmania and the Tasmanian State Library and Archive Service. Supplementary information and photos were acquired in March 2020 from visitors of the gaol who uploaded their trip images to Google maps or to their travel blogs. Topographical data of the site was gathered from Topographic Base-map of Land Information System Richmond Tasmania (2020). Due to travel restrictions, in-depth interviews with the local architects were done virtually, or over the phone in one case.Practical implications>Challenges discussed in this research encourage creating nationally designed support programs to better vitalise and help preserve Australia's carceral heritage.Originality/value>This research utilises architectural design in an empirical research paradigm.
ABSTRACT
The Regional Topographic Geodatabase (DBTR) was officially defined in 2005 as the multi-scale (1:1,000 - 1:2,000 - 1:5,000 - 1:10,000) cartographic reference for urban and regional planning in Lombardy Region. The DBTR had been previously introduced at national level to take over traditional numerical topographic maps adopted for urban planning, with the aim to provide a base map to be implemented either at regional level (Regional Geoportal) and by local administrations. The DBTR is structured by following some national guidelines that define either the content and the topological structure, that makes simple its implementation in GIS environment. The construction of the entire DBTR has historically gone through different phases, with the consistent support of the regional subsidiary policy. But when the effects of the world economic crisis in 2008 became tangible in the budget of public administrations, the growth of the project faced an important break. In 2017 the administration of Lombardy Region has promoted and financed a new project finalized to the completion of the DBTR. A temporary association of mapping companies won the tender and completed the project by summer 2020, despite of the difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A team led by Politecnico di Milano was appointed for the quality assessment. The proposed paper would like to present this project and the operational solutions applied for the production of the new subsections of the DBTR, as well as its quality assessment/validation.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the spatial accessibility of tourism attractions in the urban destination city. An analytical framework for assessing urban tourism accessibility at different spatial scales was proposed to provide references on the interaction of urban transport and tourism systems. In addition to the travel time-based measure, a modified gravity model integrating the tourism destination attractiveness, urban transport system characteristics, and tourist demand distribution was developed to evaluate tourism accessibility in this study. Real-time travel data obtained from the Web Maps service were used to take the actual road network operation conditions into consideration and improve the accuracy of estimation results. Taking Nanjing as an example, the analysis results revealed the spatial heterogeneity of tourism accessibility and inequality in tourism resource availability at different levels. Road transport service improvement plays a dominant role in increasing tourism accessibility in areas with insufficient tourism resources, such as the outskirts of the destination city. As for areas with abundant attractions, authorities could pay attention to destination attractiveness construction and demand management in addition to the organization and management of road network operations around attractions during holidays. The results of this study provide a potentially valuable source of information for urban tourism destination management and transport management departments.
ABSTRACT
Edutourism is a tourism development model that combines fun and recreational tourism activities while still presenting educational values that can be done outside of school. UNESCO Global Geopark Batur, Bali, is one of the leading tourist attraction locations that can be developed to support edutourism activities., The COVID-19 pandemic has limited the public’s ability to access geoparks and carry out edutourism activities. However, the number of internet users via smartphones in Indonesia continues to increase during the pandemic and encourages digital acceleration in all sectors, including education and tourism. This study aims to introduce and evaluate a mobile GIS application as a spatial data-based information media for the geopark area at UNESCO Global Geopark Batur Bali in a more exciting and informative way for edutourism. The study adopted ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) to develop and evaluate the mobile GIS application. The feature of the application provides edutourism itineraries, navigation, interpretive information, digital maps, guide route selection for users, geopark areas, geographical diversity, biodiversity, cultural diversity, tourist destinations, and geological disaster hazards map of the volcanic eruption of Batur. Additionally, the evaluation indicates that the application is categorized as appropriate to be used for edutourism purposes.
ABSTRACT
The onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020 changed the approach to work, research, and study. This period has been a wake-up call for public administrations, the private sector, and the academic community, to digitise their data. In Italy, digital and information technologies for the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage, which were an imperative for more than a decade, have been accelerated. This paper aims to collect and to process openly available data on patrimony from OpenStreetMap and the Lombardian Geoportal. The study is divided into two phases: a simple statistical analysis of cultural heritage in Monza is obtained, and the results are presented graphically. Firstly, built-in tools and Python Console of QGIS are evaluated, to filter attributes and add geometrical values to the downloaded material. Secondly, plug-in DataPlotly and an online coding application named Replit are assessed. The results are presented and compared in terms of their flexibility, quality of visual representation, customisation, and simplicity of use. Tools developed through and for QGIS are easy to use and available to everyone. Additionally, coding applications can be integrated for more refined results. This approach fosters interdisciplinarity, bridges the gap between professionals and non-expert users of GIS, and opens a range of opportunities for future collaborations. The citizen, as a mapper, can be involved in the administrative decision-making process, contributing with data collected in situ. Collaboration between these two sides can potentially produce the better for evaluating the contemporary built environment and its undividable part of cultural heritage.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has had a traumatic effect on both the way people live and work in their everyday lives, and the way places function. The rapid transformation of employment practices, including the necessity to stay at home for lockdown periods, has given rise to increased digitisation and technological use to enable people to continue to work and to remain in contact with friends and colleagues. Digital planning, and the enhancement of digital citizen engagement, has been one area that has started to inform local government's online activity. This is coincidental to the UK government's interest in transforming planning into a digital and map-based service. This article examines digital planning activity in English local planning authorities since COVID-19 hit the UK, reporting on two interrelated research studies that analysed statements of community involvement and planners' perceptions of digital planning activity. The article shows that COVID-19 has certainly accelerated the adoption and deployment of digital planning, but it is an activity that has been developing in local planning incrementally for more than two decades.
ABSTRACT
This paper is an Editorial for the Special Issue titled “OpenStreetMap as a multidisciplinary nexus: perspectives, practices and procedures”. The Special Issue is largely based on the talks presented in the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Academic Track at the State of the Map conferences. As such, it represents the most pressing and relevant issues and topics considered by the academic community in relation to OpenStreetMap (OSM)—a global project and community aimed to create and maintain a free and editable database and map of the world. In this Editorial, we survey the papers included in the Special Issue, grouping them into three research perspectives: applications of OSM for studies within other disciplines, OSM data quality, and dynamics in OSM. This survey reveals that these perspectives, while being distinct, are also interrelated. This calls for the formalization of an ‘OSM science’ that will provide the conceptual grounds to advance the scientific study of OSM, not as a set of individualized efforts but as a unified approach.
ABSTRACT
Because of its interdisciplinary approach as a social science directly related to the natural sciences, geography is the academic discipline and school subject that equips students well with knowledge, skills, and values related to education on sustainable development goals. This study is part of the results of MyGEO, a project funded by the European Commission, and it is based on a collaborative mapping of streets named after women in a medium-sized city (Zaragoza, Spain), in connection with the international initiative GeoChicas (GeoGirls) on OpenStreetMap. Its main objective is to obtain evidence to emphasize, through public and digital space, gender equality and the empowerment of women in teacher education by means of their achievements. The learning methodology consists of (i) standardization and correction of alphanumeric information referring to street names contained in the OpenStreetMap spatial database that identify gender and (ii) linking and creating thematic information through Wikipedia editing. The results show that Zaragoza is at the top of the ranking of Spanish and Latin American cities mapped to date in the “Women’s Streets” viewer, with 18% of the streets named after women, compared to the average 15% in the rest of the 30 cities involved in GeoChicas. The direct participation of trainee primary and secondary schoolteachers in this project makes it possible to consolidate a narrative as well as a specific instructional design on education for sustainable development, particularly on SDG number 5 (gender balance) and SDG number 11 (sustainable cities and communities).
ABSTRACT
Rapid technological evolution defines the first two decades of the millennium. This phenomenon has increased the digital gap, disparities, and inequalities in global and local contexts. This paper reports a systematic literature mapping of 180 articles published from 2000 to 2021 discussing the digital gap. The documents were retrieved using boolean operations in two databases, adding terms related to gender, age, ethnicity, and disabilities, focusing on population groups that are especially vulnerable to the effects of this phenomenon. The method included categorizing the retrieved documents to provide a general view of the most concerning topics in the academic and research community. This analysis concludes (a) the approaches to address this topic are diverse, as this is a multilayered, complex, and interconnected issue;(b) many studies refer to developed countries;however, fewer are those who observe or analyze the underdeveloped regions;(c) the majority of published papers in the last decade report information and communication technologies (ICT) and their role in bridging the gap, showing an opportunity area for designing these technologies considering more accessible approaches through flexible technology approaches;(d) this study’s results are a valuable source of information to identify the design requirements for accessible products and service systems. The last section provides a detailed explanation of the findings.