Publishing metadata of geospatial indicators as Linked Open Data: a policy-oriented approach

Ponencias, comunicaciones y pósters presentados en el 17th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science "Connecting a Digital Europe through Location and Place", celebrado en la Universitat Jaume I del 3 al 6 de junio de 2014.Geospatial indicators are becoming increasingly important for governments in monitoring and underpinning policy planning and political decision making. Currently, the discovery, viewing and sharing of these indicators is often made possible through geoportals that are developed according the concepts of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). However, this type of ‘business information’ exceeds the scope of traditional SDIs that solely focus on the common spatial aspects constituting a generic location context. The concept of an ‘augmented’ SDI adopting Linked Data principles reveals meanwhile much potential in integrating disparate reference and non-spatial business data but requires a formal revision of underlying standards. In this study we propose an alternative and policy-oriented viewpoint for publishing geospatial indicators as Linked Open Data. Focussing on metadata, we have elaborated a profile of the Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) for describing geospatial indicators, including additional information on the related policy assessments, spatial characteristics, the provenance, and the measurement variables and dimensions of indicators. By implementing the vocabulary in an existing monitoring system it allows us to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of this approach

Why Geospatial Linked Open Data for Smart Mobility?

While the concept of Smart Cities is gaining momentum around the world and government data are increasingly available and accessible on the World Wide Web, key issues remain about Open Data and data standards for smart cities. A better integration and interoperabilty of data through the World Wide Web is only possible when everyone agrees on the standards for data representation and sharing. Linked Open Data positions itself as a solution for such standardization, being a method of publishing structured data using standard Web technologies. This facilitates the interlinking between datasets, makes them readable by computers, and easily accesible on the World Wide Web. We illustrate this through the example of an evolution from a traditional Content Management System with a geoportal, to a semantic based aproach. The Traffic Safety Monitor was developed in the period of 2012-2015 to monitor the road safety and to support policy development on road safety in Flanders (the northern part of Belgium). The system is built as a Content Management System (CMS), with publication tools to present geospatial indicators on road safety (e.g. the number of accidents with cars and the number of positive alcohol tests) as Web maps using stardardized Open Geospatial Consortium Webservices. The Traffic Safety Monitor is currently further developed towards a Mobility Monitor. Here, the focus is on the development of a business process model for the semantic exchange and publication of spatial data using Linked Open Data principles targeting indicators of sustainable and smart mobility. In the future, the usability of cycling Infrastructure for vehicles such as mobility scooters, bicycle trailers etc. can be assessed using Linked Open Data. The data and metadata is published in Linked open data format, opening the door for their reuse by a wide range of (smart) applications

Meer data meer inzicht?

Big Data is hot. Maar leidt meer data tot meer inzicht? En kunnen we dergelijke data inzetten voor beleidsvraagstukken in de ruimtelijke ordening? Op dit moment groeit de interesse van beleidsmakers voor bronnen zoals Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram of blogs die waardevolle informatie bevatten die normaal moeilijk te verzamelen zijn op korte termijn. Big Data kan een meer regelmatige, kosteneffectieve en geharmoniseerde gegevensverzameling bieden en een gelegenheid zijn om gemakkelijker nieuwe belangrijke problemen aan te pakken zoals bijvoorbeeld klimaat, gezondheid of huisvesting. De grote doorbraak betreffende praktische toepassingen van Big Data-bronnen in plannings- en ontwikkelingsprocessen moet echter nog komen.. De beschikbaarheid van tijdige, nauwkeurige statistische informatie stelt beleidsmakers, praktijk-mensen, onderzoekers en andere belanghebbenden in staat om een breed scala aan kwesties aan te pakken in het zich snel ontwikkelende economische en sociale landschap van vandaag. In toenemende mate kan informatie van het analyseren van internetactiviteiten of sociale media worden gebruikt voor het observeren van trends in ruimtelijke ordening en interessante mogelijkheden bieden om beleid te ondersteunen met actuele informatie. Spanningen op de woningmarkt hebben gevolgen voor het verhuisgedrag van mensen, wat opnieuw gevolgen heeft voor de arbeidsmobiliteit. Dit onderzoek illustreert in hoeverre 'big data' kan worden gebruikt om bestaand ruimtelijk beleid te verrijken en meer up-to-date bewijsmateriaal te leveren bij het inschatten van nieuwe trends voordat hun effecten zichtbaar worden in traditionele gegevensverzamelingen (nationale statistieken). Het onderzoek gaat dieper in op bestaande praktijkervaringen in België en Nederland, werkt een case uit m.b.t. huisvestingsdynamieken en doet voorstellen naar de toekomst om na te gaan hoe big data in beleidsvraagstukken omtrent ruimtelijke ordening een rol kan spelen. Van belang daarbij is het slim combineren van data

Web data extraction systems versus research collaboration in sustainable planning for housing: Smart governance takes it all

To date, there are no clear insights in the spatial patterns and micro-dynamics of the housing market. The objective of this study is to collect real estate micro-data for the development of policy-support indicators on housing market dynamics at the local scale. These indicators can provide the requested insights in spatial patterns and micro-dynamics of the housing market. Because the required real estate data are not systematicly published as statistical data or open data, innovative forms of data collection are needed. This paper is based on a case study approach of the greater Leuven area (Belgium). The research question is what are suitable methods or strategies to collect data on micro-dynamics of the housing market. The methodology includes a technical approach for data collection, being Web data extraction, and a governance approach, being explorative interviews. A Web data extraction system collects and extracts unstructured or semi-structured data that are stored or published on Web sources. Most of the required data are publicly and readily available as Web data on real estate portal websites. Web data extraction at the scale of the case study succeeded in collecting the required micro-data, but a trial run at the regional scale encountered a number of practical and legal issues. Simultaneously with the Web data extraction, the dialogue with two real estate portal websites was initiated, using purposive sampling and explorative semi-structured interviews. The interviews were considered as the start of a transdisciplinary research collaboration process. Both companies indicated that the development of indicators about housing market dynamics was a good and relevant idea, yet a challenging task. The companies were familiar with Web data extraction systems, but considered it a suboptimal technique to collect real estate data for the development of housing dynamics indicators. They preferred an active collaboration instead of passive Web scraping. In the frame of a users’ agreement, we received one company’s dataset and calculated the indicators for the case study based on this dataset. The unique micro-data provided by the company proved to be the start of a collaborative planning approach between private partners, the academic world and the Flemish government. All three win from this collaboration on the long run. Smart governance can gain from smart technologies, but should not loose sight of active collaborations

The impact of the 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels on tourism

Scientists as well as the general public remember the terrorist attacks that took place in Brussels in March 2016. This was not a stand-alone event since other places were hit previously. This changes people’s perception of places – in tourism terms, destinations - and may affect tourists’ behavior.In this paper, we explore the effects on two levels. First we compare, for 2015 and 2016, the month-by-month evolution of the number of (international) arrivals, overnight stays and hotels’ occupancy rates which tend to respond very quickly, affected by tourists staying away. It is much more difficult to detect changes of feelings and attitude among tourists. We explored the latter via a survey in Brussels and also in Antwerp and Bruges as a kind of benchmark.The results represent bad and good news for the tourism industry in Brussels and Belgium and for Brussels/Belgium as a destination. The bad news is that terrorist attacks did not pass unnoticed. On the contrary, they had an effect on the visitors’ behavior in terms of arrivals and overnight stays (with effects on e.g. hotel occupancy) for several months. We see that the effects are felt far beyond the place that suffered from the attack(s), particularly if this place is a brand for the region or for the country. The good news is that tourists, after ca. six months, seem to feel safe again. Therefore, our results are in line with the international literature but our attention is drawn towards the fact that some did adapt their behavior by self-moderation and by avoiding certain places from a safety perspective as well as differences among countries of origin.Les scientifiques comme le public se rappellent les attaques terroristes de mars 2016 à Bruxelles. Ces événements ne constituaient pas un élément isolé dans la mesure où d’autres endroits furent également touchés. Cela change la perception des gens concernant certains lieux – en termes touristiques, les destinations –, ce qui peut influencer l’attitude des touristes. Dans cette contribution, nous explorons les effets de ces attentats à deux niveaux. D’abord, pour 2015 et 2016, nous comparons l’évolution, mois par mois, du nombre d’arrivées (internationales), des nuitées et des taux d’occupation dans l'hôtellerie qui réagissent très vite à ce genre d'événements en raison du nombre de touristes qui annulent leur voyage ou décident de ne pas venir. Il est plus difficile de sonder les changements d’appréciation et de comportement parmi les touristes. C’est pourquoi nous avons exploré cet aspect au moyen d'une enquête menée à Bruxelles ainsi qu’à Anvers et Bruges, prises comme références.Les résultats représentent à la fois de bonnes et de mauvaises nouvelles pour l’industrie du tourisme à Bruxelles et en Belgique et pour Bruxelles/Belgique en tant que destination. La mauvaise nouvelle, c’est que des attaques terroristes laissent des traces. Elles ont un effet sur les comportements en termes d’arrivées et de nuitées (et donc sur les taux d’occupation hôtellerie) pendant plusieurs mois. En outre, ces effets sont aussi ressentis loin de l’endroit qui a souffert de l’attaque, en particulier si cet endroit constitue une marque de la région ou du pays. La bonne nouvelle, c’est qu'au bout de six mois les touristes semblent se sentir en sécurité de nouveau. Ainsi, nos résultats sont en ligne avec la littérature internationale mais il est clair également que certains adaptent leur comportement par une auto-modération et par un réflexe d’évitement de certains endroits à cause des problèmes de sécurité, quoique différemment selon le pays d’origine

Assessing Expanding Space Use versus Infill for Economic Activities

In order to limit additional (net) land take for economic activities, the reality of space use needs to be properly understood since the location of economic activities and the patterns of space use vary in different environments. This was assessed by comparing the spatial patterns obtained from a field inventory with those from existing data for 5 case areas in Flanders (Belgium). Each case area is a transect from a high density urban area to a suburban neighbourhood or even a semi-rural zone, in different (types of) regions: inland-coastline transect, transects in the metropolitan areas of the major cities Antwerp and Ghent (exluding the city centres), in the medium sized city of Hasselt (and its suburbs) and th smaller city of Aalst (and the zone along an important access road), and transects incorporating small towns such as Deinze and Veurne . The observations in the field were made from what is visible from the street, thus representing what is normally perceived as economic activity. The statistics are based on official data, mostly derived from tax returns and social security contributions, and on commercial retail data. The location of economic activities and the patterns of space use vary in different settlement environments. The analysis then compared similar settlement environments in different regions, and identified typical characteristics for 8 location environments (with some further subcategories). These were presented to experts in workshops and (group) interviews. This revealed that, in some environments, (the combination of) data and statistics give a good understanding of the space use while, in other environments, gaps with realities in the field are obvious. Therefore, suggestions are made for targeted new data collection methods, such as remote sensing, crowd sourcing, and web data extraction

Overcoming barriers to the implementation of alternative fuels for road transport in Europe.

The success of implementing alternative fuels for road transport depends on their cost, performance and reliability. This paper focuses on the use of natural gas and LPG, hydrogen and biofuels in Europe. A brief presentation is given of their technical development status, their market potential, and barriers to their implementation in various market segments. Some market barriers are common to many new technologies, and can be overcome through adequate policy measures at European level. Generally, a combination of policies is required, and a number of supporting measures increase their effectiveness. The following policies affecting energy use in transport are discussed: market incentives, policies targeting technology and vehicle efficiency, and overall system improvement

Monitoring and Evaluation

no ISBN/ISSNstatus: publishe

Support study on data collection and analysis of active modes use and infrastructure in Europe

Overview of statistics on active modes and infrastructure in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherands, Norway, Poland, Protugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdomnrpages: 400status: publishe

Spatial clustering of events on a network

In this paper a methodology is proposed to compute spatial concentrations of point-based events on a network. The distance along the network is used as a measure of the spatial closeness of events. The network is divided into statistical units, based on a random distribution of points of measurement and corresponding network segments, which are the statistical units of reference. For each segment a dangerousness index is computed which indicates the distance-weighted number of traffic accidents in the neighbourhood. The statistical significance of clusters of accidents is tested using a Monte Carlo simulation. The methodology is applied to traffic accidents to detect dangerous locations on the road network of the city of Brussels in Belgiu