Challenges and complications in neighborhood mapping: from neighborhood concept to operationalization

Yongxin Deng ()
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Yongxin Deng: Western Illinois University

Journal of Geographical Systems, 2016, vol. 18, issue 3, No 3, 229-248

Abstract: Abstract This paper examines complications in neighborhood mapping and corresponding challenges for the GIS community, taking both a conceptual and a methodological perspective. It focuses on the social and spatial dimensions of the neighborhood concept and highlights their relationship in neighborhood mapping. Following a brief summary of neighborhood definitions, five interwoven factors are identified to be origins of neighborhood mapping difficulties: conceptual vagueness, uncertainty of various sources, GIS representation, scale, and neighborhood homogeneity or continuity. Existing neighborhood mapping methods are grouped into six categories to be assessed: perception based, physically based, inference based, preexisting, aggregated, and automated. Mapping practices in various neighborhood-related disciplines and applications are cited as examples to demonstrate how the methods work, as well as how they should be evaluated. A few mapping strategies for the improvement of neighborhood mapping are prescribed from a GIS perspective: documenting simplifications employed in the mapping procedure, addressing uncertainty sources, developing new data solutions, and integrating complementary mapping methods. Incorporation of high-resolution data and introduction of more GIS ideas and methods (such as fuzzy logic) are identified to be future opportunities.

Keywords: Neighborhood; Mapping; Boundaries; Perception; Social dimension; Uncertainty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10109-016-0232-z

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