Journal of Location Based Services, Special Issue: Neogeography: Theory and Tools :: Guest Editors – Sanjay Rana, University College London, UK; Thierry Joliveau, University of Jean Monnet-St. Etienne, France :: Submission Deadline: May 30, 2008.

In the last few years some of the most exciting new developments in location-aware computing, mobile GIS and web cartography have come from a new wave of developers, hackers, bloggers and entrepreneurs from outside the traditional GIS industry and research community. These new players have developed a new type of geo-application that is service-oriented, collaborative and web-oriented in nature and have pioneered mass market and collaborative applications. These applications range from niche tools like Zurfer to browse photos taken by others around you to mass applications like Plazes to manage your social network on the move, and are supported by developers like Metacarta who produce the supporting spatial tools. The underlying philosophy of this loosely-knit movement has become known as ‘Neo-geography’ in a term coined by Di-Ann Eisnor of Platial Inc., to characterise the break-away nature of this new movement.

The innovation and promise of Neo-geography has begun to change cartography and GIS by engaging with consumer audiences and campaigning on public policy issues, and as a consequence government, academia and the GIS industry has had to rethink its priorities and methods. LBS is one of the areas where Neo-geography has had the greatest impact. With the arrival of mass market smartphones and PDA’s with positioning and wireless networking has come an opportunity to develop for new audiences and to begin to deliver location-sensitive content that earn revenues and engage users. This Special Issue of the Journal of Location Based Services aims to bring together some of the key developers, academics and writers on Neo-geography to document its lineage, debate its philosophy and methods and to envision its future. Contributions are welcome from any source, and in any style appropriate to the arguments being made. More >> [PDF]