A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Rebalancing Dockless Bike Sharing Systems

Bike sharing provides an environment-friendly way for traveling and is booming all over the world. Yet, due to the high similarity of user travel patterns, the bike imbalance problem constantly occurs, especially for dockless bike sharing systems, causing significant impact on service quality and company revenue. Thus, it has become a critical task for bike sharing systems to resolve such imbalance efficiently. In this paper, we propose a novel deep reinforcement learning framework for incentivizing users to rebalance such systems. We model the problem as a Markov decision process and take both spatial and temporal features into consideration. We develop a novel deep reinforcement learning algorithm called Hierarchical Reinforcement Pricing (HRP), which builds upon the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient algorithm. Different from existing methods that often ignore spatial information and rely heavily on accurate prediction, HRP captures both spatial and temporal dependencies using a divide-and-conquer structure with an embedded localized module. We conduct extensive experiments to evaluate HRP, based on a dataset from Mobike, a major Chinese dockless bike sharing company. Results show that HRP performs close to the 24-timeslot look-ahead optimization, and outperforms state-of-the-art methods in both service level and bike distribution. It also transfers well when applied to unseen areas

The impact of varying statutory arrangements on spatial data sharing and access in regional NRM bodies

Spatial information plays an important role in many social, environmental and economic decisions and increasingly acknowledged as a national resource essential for wider societal and environmental benefits. Natural Resource Management is one area where spatial information can be used for improved planning and decision making processes. In Australia, state government organisations are the custodians of spatial information necessary for natural resource management and regional NRM bodies are responsible to regional delivery of NRM activities. The access and sharing of spatial information between government agencies and regional NRM bodies is therefore as an important issue for improving natural resource management outcomes. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the current status of spatial information access, sharing and use with varying statutory arrangements and its impacts on spatial data infrastructure (SDI) development in catchment management sector in Australia. Further, it critically examined whether any trends and significant variations exist due to different institutional arrangements (statutory versus non-statutory) or not. A survey method was used to collect primary data from 56 regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies responsible for catchment management in Australia. Descriptive statistics method was used to show the similarities and differences between statutory and non-statutory arrangements. The key factors which influence sharing and access to spatial information are also explored. The results show the current statutory and administrative arrangements and regional focus for natural resource management is reasonable from a spatial information management perspective and provides an opportunity for building SDI at the catchment scale. However, effective institutional arrangements should align catchment SDI development activities with sub-national and national SDI development activities to address catchment management issues. We found minor differences in spatial information access, use and sharing due to varying institutional environment (statutory versus non-statutory). The non-statutory group appears to be more flexible and self-sufficient whilst statutory regional NRM bodies may lack flexibility in their spatial information management practices. We found spatial information access, use and sharing has significant impacts on spatial data infrastructure development in catchment management sector in Australia

Influence of Contextual Objects on Spatial Interactions and viewpoints sharing in Virtual Environments

International audienceCollaborative virtual environments (CVEs) are 3D spaces in which users share virtual objects, communicate, and work together. To collaborate efficiently, users must develop a common representation of their shared virtual space. In this work, we investigated spatial communication in virtual environments. In order to perform an object co-manipulation task, the users must be able to communicate and exchange spatial information, such as object position, in a virtual environment. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the contents of the shared virtual space to understand how users verbally construct a common spatial representation of their environment. Forty-four students participated in the experiment to assess the influence of contextual objects on spatial communication and sharing of viewpoints. The participants were asked to perform in dyads an object co-manipulation task. The results show that the presence of a contextual object such as fixed and lateralized visual landmarks in the virtual environment positively influences the way male operators collaborate to perform this task. These results allow us to provide some design recommendations for CVEs for object manipulation tasks

A Framework for Processing Viewer-based Directional Queries in a Simulated Mobile Environment

With the steady and fast advancements in the integration of geographic information systems and mobile location-based services, interest in exploiting this technology for Cultural Heritage (CH) data sharing has become apparent. In this area there has been an increasing need to integrate positional information with non-positional data and add a spatial dimension to the definition of a users “context” In this research the integration of Cultural Heritage information coupled with spatial technologies is investigated. The idea is based on a 3-tier architecture that positions the user at the client layer with a mobile device, a spatial query processor in the middle layer and a Cultural Heritage dataset layer. This novel idea applied in this context is the basis for this study. The research aims to develop a framework that enables the simulation of a mobile environment in which spatial applications can be implemented and evaluated without the current restriction of mobile bandwidth in the context of availability and operational costs. The prototype system is demonstrated using a spatial application that processes user-based directional queries. The application gathers information about the position and orientation/direction of the user in a 3D environment. These parameters are evaluated along with the users profile and preferences and a user-based query is formulated. The query is processed using an Oracle spatial engine and the user-tailored results are delivered to the mobile device. Finally, an experimental implementation shows how the query processor performs within a VRML model of Dublin linked to a spatially enabled CH dataset

Technical assessment of GeoSUR and comparison with INSPIRE experience in the context of an environmental vulnerability analysis

The use of spatial information has become an important resource for decision support making at national and regional levels. In this respect, several private and public organizations are continuously collecting and producing geospatial data. However, there are still problems that affect the usage of spatial information. As a response to these problems, several spatial data sharing initiatives have been implemented at national, regional and global level. This is also the case of the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) and the Integrated Geospatial Information Network for South America (GeoSUR), both created in 2007. GeoSUR works together with the PAIGH, the Geocentric Reference System for the Americas (SIRGAS) and the Permanent Committee on Geospatial Data Infrastructure for the Americas (PC-IDEA) to consolidate the Spatial Data Infrastructure of the Americas. In this context, the role of GeoSUR is to provide the distribution platform for the SDI and develop geoservices and applications based on institutional spatial databases. This research performs a technical assessment of GeoSUR to identify the extent to which the spatial resources provided by the network area accessible, applicable and usable for decision making processes at regional (multinational) level. In order to do so, this study is conducted in the context of a real case study that implements Spatial Multicriteria Evaluation to assess the environmental vulnerability of the Amazon IIRSA region. Results show strengths at finding spatial resources, and regarding the accessibility to regional datasets in GeoSUR. However several obstacles still limit accessibility, applicability and usability of spatial data to perform regional analysis. In this respect, elements considered by INSPIRE such as common implementing rules and technical guidelines are identified as useful to tackle these obstacles and make the spatial services and datasets of the participant institutions compatible to perform regional analysis.The use of spatial information has become an important resource for decision making. In this respect, several private and public organizations are continuously collecting and producing geospatial data. However, there are still problems that limit the access and usage of spatial information for all people requiring it. As a response to these problems, several initiatives to share and reuse spatial data have been created. The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) and the Integrated Geospatial Information Network for South America (GeoSUR) -both created in 2007- are examples of such initiatives. This study aims to identify to which extent the technical characteristics of the spatial resources available in GeoSUR website allow to support decisions at multinational level in Latin America. In order to do so, an evaluation of how sensitive is the natural environment to degradation is conducted as a case study to select the resources to be assessed. Results show that is relatively easy to discover spatial resources in GeoSUR, but is difficult to download them. Considering INSPIRE as a model in spatial data sharing, it is concluded that some elements from INSPIRE can be gathered and adapted by GeoSUR to improve the characteristics of the spatial data offered

Revealing Cultural Ecosystem Services through Instagram Images: The Potential of Social Media Volunteered Geographic Information for Urban Green Infrastructure Planning and Governance

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 #sharingcph, 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

Distributed Spatial Data Sharing: a new era in sharing spatial data

The advancements in information and communications technology, including the widespread adoption of GPS-based sensors, improvements in computational data processing, and satellite imagery, have resulted in new data sources, stakeholders, and methods of producing, using, and sharing spatial data. Daily, vast amounts of data are produced by individuals interacting with digital content and through automated and semi-automated sensors deployed across the environment. A growing portion of this information contains geographic information directly or indirectly embedded within it. The widespread use of automated smart sensors and an increased variety of georeferenced media resulted in new individual data collectors. This raises a new set of social concerns around individual geopricacy and data ownership. These changes require new approaches to managing, sharing, and processing geographic data. With the appearance of distributed data-sharing technologies, some of these challenges may be addressed. This can be achieved by moving from centralized control and ownership of the data to a more distributed system. In such a system, the individuals are responsible for gathering and controlling access and storing data. Stepping into the new area of distributed spatial data sharing needs preparations, including developing tools and algorithms to work with spatial data in this new environment efficiently. Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks have become very popular for storing and sharing information in a decentralized approach. However, these networks lack the methods to process spatio-temporal queries. During the first chapter of this research, we propose a new spatio-temporal multi-level tree structure, Distributed Spatio-Temporal Tree (DSTree), which aims to address this problem. DSTree is capable of performing a range of spatio-temporal queries. We also propose a framework that uses blockchain to share a DSTree on the distributed network, and each user can replicate, query, or update it. Next, we proposed a dynamic k-anonymity algorithm to address geoprivacy concerns in distributed platforms. Individual dynamic control of geoprivacy is one of the primary purposes of the proposed framework introduced in this research. Sharing data within and between organizations can be enhanced by greater trust and transparency offered by distributed or decentralized technologies. Rather than depending on a central authority to manage geographic data, a decentralized framework would provide a fine-grained and transparent sharing capability. Users can also control the precision of shared spatial data with others. They are not limited to third-party algorithms to decide their privacy level and are also not limited to the binary levels of location sharing. As mentioned earlier, individuals and communities can benefit from distributed spatial data sharing. During the last chapter of this work, we develop an image-sharing platform, aka harvester safety application, for the Kakisa indigenous community in northern Canada. During this project, we investigate the potential of using a Distributed Spatial Data sharing (DSDS) infrastructure for small-scale data-sharing needs in indigenous communities. We explored the potential use case and challenges and proposed a DSDS architecture to allow users in small communities to share and query their data using DSDS. Looking at the current availability of distributed tools, the sustainable development of such applications needs accessible technology. We need easy-to-use tools to use distributed technologies on community-scale SDS. In conclusion, distributed technology is in its early stages and requires easy-to-use tools/methods and algorithms to handle, share and query geographic information. Once developed, it will be possible to contrast DSDS against other data systems and thereby evaluate the practical benefit of such systems. A distributed data-sharing platform needs a standard framework to share data between different entities. Just like the first decades of the appearance of the web, these tools need regulations and standards. Such can benefit individuals and small communities in the current chaotic spatial data-sharing environment controlled by the central bodies

Constructing delta realities; Joint Fact Finding challenges in Serious Game Design

__Abstract__ This paper addresses the challenges of Joint Fact Finding (JFF) in spatial planning and design. JFF is an important component of a deliberative planning practice: The construction of (problematic) realities is fundamental for the formulation of challenges and solutions. Information is often contested in complex planning processes due to different interests, values and perspectives. Carefully designed interaction procedures are needed to negotiate the relevance and validity of information sources. Particularly promising procedures for this are Serious Games: Facilitating joint reality construction through immersive simulations, they are appealing ways to engage not only knowledge-oriented researchers, but also practice-oriented stakeholders and professionals. Their concreteness speaks to spatial planning and design as crafts. Still, the development of such games is not without its challenges and trade-offs. As procedures for reality construction, they cannot escape the power-laden nature of knowledge. We present a case study on developing a spatial design-oriented game, and analyze it in the tradition of the sociology of translations, aided by literature on serious game development. As indicated, Serious Games could function as JFF procedures in spatial planning and design. Moreover, their architecture can be considered a ‘boundary object’ providing actors an environment that accommodates information sharing, learning and joint reality construction. In this way the game facilitates the building of capacity to generate and integrate knowledge for spatial planning and design. In our project on integrative planning in delta areas, the game architecture accommodated researchers and practitioners in governance, spatial design and geo-information. Striving for interdisciplinary synergies, the game architecture was to be accordingly polyvalent. Its main innovative features would be its generative and integrative capacity, i.e. its capacity to both co-produce and integrate a diversity of information sources and to co-develop/generate spatial designs on this basis. How can joint fact finding in spatial planning and design be organized through a serious game in such a way that it develops integrative and generative capacity, and which challenges and trade-offs are faced in realizing this goal? In this paper we describe and discuss the practical sh