R. Daniel Jacobson

Is there an association between spatial access to parks/green space and childhood overweight/obesity in Calgary, Canada?

BackgroundThe recent increase in childhood obesity is expected to add significantly to the prevalence of chronic diseases. We used multivariate multilevel analysis to examine associations between parks/green space and childhood overweight/obesity across communities in Calgary, Canada, a city characterized by intensified urban sprawl and high car use.MethodsBody Mass Index was calculated from measured height and weight data obtained from 6,772 children (mean age = 4.95 years) attending public health clinics for pre-school vaccinations. Each childs home postal code was geocoded using ESRI ArcGIS 9.2. We examined four measures of spatial access to parks/green space (based on Geographic Information Systems): 1) the number of parks/green spaces per 10,000 residents, 2) the area of parks/green space as a proportion of the total area within a community, 3) average distance to a park/green space, and 4) the proportion of parks/green space service area as a proportion of the total area within a community. Analyses were adjusted for dissemination area median family income (as a proxy for an individual childs family income) community-level education, and community-level proportion of visible minorities.ResultsIn general, parks/green space at the community level was not associated with overweight/obesity in Calgary, with the exception of a marginally significant effect whereby a moderate number of parks/green spaces per 10,000 residents was associated with lower odds of overweight/obesity. This effect was non-significant in adjusted analyses.ConclusionOur null findings may reflect the popularity of car travel in Calgary, Canada and suggest that the role built environment characteristics play in explaining health outcomes may differ depending on the type of urban environment being studied.

Design Considerations for Haptic and Auditory Map Interfaces

Communicating spatial information to the blind and visually impaired using maps and graphics presents many difficulties. Past research has offered advice to cartographers on topics such as tactile areal, point, and line symbolization; on perceptual problems related to dense linear features on tactile maps; and on the relationship between categorical data, measurement theory, and tactile discrimination. With this previous work as a foundation, we describe our research efforts with haptic and auditory maps—the Haptic Soundscapes Project. Haptic Soundscapes maps allow blind and visually-impaired individuals to feel map features through force feedback devices and hear auditory cues that add both redundant and complementary information. Recent experimental work by the authors has led to several recommended practices for cartographic data simplification, object size discrimination, shape identification, and general interface navigation. The authors also present haptic and auditory mapping examples to illustrate design ideas, algorithms, and technical requirements. Future prospects for automated haptic and auditory map creation are discussed and presented in the context of the past work in generating maps for the blind and visually impaired from cartographic data.

EXEMPLIFYING ACCUMULATION BY DISPOSSESSION: MINING AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE PHILIPPINES

Abstract. Using a case study from the Philippines, this article applies David Harveys theory of accumulation by dispossession to show how neoliberal policies enable mining corporations to locate, lay claim to, and develop mineral resources in formerly inaccessible areas, which for centuries have provided safe haven for indigenous peoples and their cultures. It explains why these factors are leading to an increase in armed conflict between military forces and guerrilla groups, which recruit their members from displaced indigenous people. The article concludes that the theory of accumulation by dispossession offers an appropriate analytical tool for understanding these processes.

A Commentary on the Use of Touch for Accessing On-Screen Spatial Representations: The Process of Experiencing Haptic Maps and Graphics

Abstract The growth of the Internet and the digital revolution have meant increased reliance on electronic representations of information. Geospatial information has been readily adapted to the world of cyberspace, and most Web pages incorporate graphics, images, or maps to represent spatial and spatialized data. But flat computer screens do not facilitate a map or graph experience by those who are visually impaired. The traditional method for compensating for nonvisual access to maps and graphics has been to construct hard-copy tactile maps. In this article, we examine an electronic accommodation for nonvisual users—the haptic map. Using new and off-the-shelf hardware—force feedback and vibrotactile mice—we explore how touch can be combined with virtual representations of shapes and patterns to enable nonvisual access to onscreen map or graphic material.

Supporting Accessibility for Blind and Vision-impaired People With a Localized Gazetteer and Open Source Geotechnology

Disabled people, especially the blind and vision-impaired, are challenged by many transitory hazards in urban environments such as construction barricades, temporary fencing across walkways, and obstacles along curbs. These hazards present a problem for navigation, because they typically appear in an unplanned manner and are seldom included in databases used for accessibility mapping. Tactile maps are a traditional tool used by blind and vision-impaired people for navigation through urban environments, but such maps are not automatically updated with transitory hazards. As an alternative approach to static content on tactile maps, we use volunteered geographic information (VGI) and an Open Source system to provide updates of local infrastructure. These VGI updates, contributed via voice, text message, and e-mail, use geographic descriptions containing place names to describe changes to the local environment. After they have been contributed and stored in a database, we georeference VGI updates with a detailed gazetteer of local place names including buildings, administrative offices, landmarks, roadways, and dormitories. We publish maps and alerts showing transitory hazards, including location-based alerts delivered to mobile devices. Our system is built with several technologies including PHP, JavaScript, AJAX, Google Maps API, PostgreSQL, an Open Source database, and PostGIS, the PostgreSQLs spatial extension. This article provides insight into the integration of user-contributed geospatial information into a comprehensive system for use by the blind and vision-impaired, focusing on currently developed methods for geoparsing and georeferencing using a gazetteer.

Crowdsourcing techniques for augmenting traditional accessibility maps with transitory obstacle information

One of the most scrutinized contemporary techniques for geospatial data collection and production is crowdsourcing. This inverts the traditional top-down geospatial data production and distribution methods by emphasizing on the participation of the end user or community. The technique has been shown to be particularly useful in the domain of accessibility mapping, where it can augment traditional mapping methods and systems by providing information about transitory obstacles in the built environment. This research paper presents details of techniques and applications of crowdsourcing and related methods for improving the presence of transitory obstacles in accessibility mapping systems. The obstacles are very difficult to incorporate with any other traditional mapping workflow, since they typically appear in an unplanned manner and disappear just as quickly. Nevertheless, these obstacles present a major impediment to navigating an unfamiliar environment. Fortunately, these obstacles can be reported, defined, and captured through a variety of crowdsourcing techniques, including gazetteer-based geoparsing and active social media harvesting, and then referenced in a crowdsourced mapping system. These techniques are presented, along with context from research in tactile cartography and geo-enabled accessibility systems.

Integrating User-contributed Geospatial Data with assistive Geotechnology Using a localized Gazetteer

We present a methodology for using cartographic-based processes to alert the vision-impaired as they navigate through areas with transitory hazards. The focus of this methodology is the use of gazetteer-based georeferencing to integrate existing local cartographic resources with user-contributed geospatial data. User-contributed geospatial data is of high interest because it leverages local geographic expertise and offers significant advantages in dealing with hazard information in real-time. For blind and visionimpaired people, information about transitory hazards encountered while navigating through a public environment can be contributed by end-users in the same public environment, and quickly integrated into existing cartographic resources. For this project, we build collections of user-contributed geospatial updates from email, voice communication, text messages, and social networks.

Ecclesial Opposition to Nonferrous Metals Mining in the Philippines: Neoliberalism Encounters Liberation Theology

This paper discusses the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines to the efforts of that nation’s government to attract foreign investment by mining corporations into the Philippines. The paper follows previous investigations, such as those by Nadeau (2002), in examining the conflict between state-sponsored neoliberal economic policies and Christian liberation theology. Drawing on fieldwork interviews with members of the Church engaged in anti-mining advocacy, the paper employs a political ecology framework, as outlined by Bryant and Bailey (1997, p. 8), to argue for seeing environmental conflict in a developing country as predominantly livelihood based. The Republic of the Philippines, an archipelago of approximately 7,000 islands (see Figure 1), shares many characteristics with the former Spanish colonies of Latin America (Gaspar, 2004, p. 134). In both places Catholicism is preponderant. In the Philippines, approximately 80 per cent of the population is Roman Catholic (Linantud, 2005, p. 93). The Philippines, like many parts of Latin America, also belongs to the “developing world” (World Bank, 2005, p. 174) and families suffering from extreme poverty make up between 30 and 60 per cent of the population (Luna, 2001, p. 223). Asian Studies Review June 2007, Vol. 31, pp. 133–154

Mapping the location, design and decline of London's psychiatric asylums (1831–2012)

ABSTRACT This research analyses the location of psychiatric hospitals, previously known as ‘mental asylums’ built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in London, UK. Twenty of the largest facilities are geo-referenced using a mixed-methods approach including the use of archival documents, historical Ordnance Survey mapping, and a variety of recent digital datasets. The hospital locations are plotted on Ordnance Survey© [2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013, from http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/opendata/viewer/] Meridian™2 vector data. Inset maps provide comparative mapping of historic and current hospital sites using historic Ordnance Survey©, and recent Google™ Satellite data. Two of the largest former asylums of the ‘Epsom Cluster’ are explored in detail, Long Grove Hospital and West Park Hospital. Architectural design details and on-site photographs from 2007 and 2011 are used to demonstrate changes to luxury housing and of hospital decay. Of the 20 hospital sites mapped, 14 were converted into luxury housing, while only 2 remain as mental health facilities.