Web Mapping 2.0: The Neogeography of the GeoWeb

TLDR

Since 2005 the landscape of Internet mapping technologies has transformed, with new techniques, terms such as mash‑ups, crowdsourcing, neogeography, and geostack, and a range of sites from Google Maps to OpenStreetMap and Platial, marking a step change in Internet geographic applications now called the GeoWeb. This article seeks to explain and overview these rapid changes, underscoring their implications for geographers and the public perception of geography. The authors conduct a critical review that introduces key concepts, technologies, and terminology, and employ case studies to illustrate Web Mapping 2.0 and distinguish it from earlier Internet mapping. The review concludes that these new techniques present significant challenges and opportunities for geographic information science, geography, and society at large.

Abstract

Abstract The landscape of Internet mapping technologies has changed dramatically since 2005. New techniques are being used and new terms have been invented and entered the lexicon such as: mash‐ups, crowdsourcing, neogeography and geostack. A whole range of websites and communities from the commercial Google Maps to the grassroots OpenStreetMap, and applications such as Platial, also have emerged. In their totality, these new applications represent a step change in the evolution of the area of Internet geographic applications (which some have termed the GeoWeb ). The nature of this change warrants an explanation and an overview, as it has implications both for geographers and the public notion of Geography. This article provides a critical review of this newly emerging landscape, starting with an introduction to the concepts, technologies and structures that have emerged over the short period of intense innovation. It introduces the non‐technical reader to them, suggests reasons for the neologism, explains the terminology, and provides a perspective on the current trends. Case studies are used to demonstrate this Web Mapping 2.0 era, and differentiate it from the previous generation of Internet mapping. Finally, the implications of these new techniques and the challenges they pose to geographic information science, geography and society at large are considered.