Technological cartography

Due to factors including population growth, urbanization and globalization, cities are becoming more dynamic and complex. A greater density of population characterizes the contemporary urban environment than was previously the case. Furthermore, the horizontal and vertical relationships between urban areas are more complex than they were in the past. As posited by Huang et al. (2021, p. 4), contemporary urban centers are confronted with a plethora of challenges, including congestion, traffic congestion, criminal activity, and uneven development. To address these challenges, technology-based approaches are frequently employed, with the objective of enhancing the efficiency and intelligence of urban governance and operations. This phenomenon has led to the concept of what Huang et al. (2021, p. 4) refer to as "smart cities," which are characterized by aspects such as smart economics, smart mobility, smart environment, smart people, smart lifestyle, and smart governance. As defined by Huang et al. (2021, p. 4), a smart city exploits digital technology in the interests of improving its operation and management, addressing the problems that afflict the modern city. This concept has gained considerable popularity, resulting in an increase in the use of information and communication technology, in conjunction with sensors in urban environments.

LocBigData is a geospatial data set that encompasses both Earth observation data and human behavior data. Earth observation data is concerned with the physical environment and records the properties of the Earth's surface, employing a range of techniques including satellite and remote sensing equipment. In contrast, human behavior data is focused on human and social environments. The latter category of data encompasses records of a range of human behavioral and social activities, including social interaction, socio-economic activities, political voting, and urban dynamics. As stated by Huang et al. (2021, p. 3), a variety of sensors and data collection methods are employed to gather this information, including GPS trajectory data, social media data, and smart card travel data.

LocBigData together with ICT technology makes available a large amount of data on how a city and its inhabitants behave. This data can be used to characterize both physical and social aspects of space and by analyzing the characteristics of LocBigData, the data can contribute to the realization of smart cities by answering, according to Huang et al (2021:4), four types of questions which are what happened or what is happening now? Why did it happen or why is it happening? What might happen in the future? And What action should be taken? These four questions go from descriptive analytics to diagnostic analytics, to predictive analytics, and finally to enabling prescriptive analytics. On the other hand, there are many technical challenges with the use of LocBigData and it is also important to consider many social, ethical and legal aspects. According to Huang et al (2021:4-5), some important challenges with the use of LocBigData are that it contains a high volume of data, a high speed of collection and high variation of data, that the data generates a self-selected sample instead of randomly, that the data is often messy and that it can highlight correlations but not causality.

There is a research trend aimed at developing new analytical techniques to address the challenges of LocBigData. An example of a new clustering technology technique is the head/tailbreak technique which according to Huang et al (2021:5) is useful for LocBigData analysis and visualization because head/tailbreaks provides better understanding of urban structures and dynamics because the method has a bottom-up perspective, in other words, the data is allowed to speak for itself.