Interactive visual representations of social and spatial relations through a web platform with integrated data collection.

Prototype Link:

Master-Thesis SoSe 2014

Eleni Digidiki

Betreuung:

Professur Bauformenlehre

Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dipl.-Des. B. Rudolf

Professur Stadtsoziologie

Prof. Dr. F. Eckardt

This master thesis is inspired by the works of Lynch, Milgram, Jodelet, Whyte on social and spatial representations and approaches meeting places and urban space through the concepts of Lefebvre, Joseph, Simmel, Oldenburg, McQuire and Wood.

The scope of this master thesis is to enable both qualitative and quantitative exploration of meeting places. The expectation is that statistical analysis would support a cognitive understanding of socio-spatial relations, while interactive visual representations would enhance a participatory narrative of individual stories and create a collective image of the city. Interactive visualization as research practice provides the opportunity to share interdisciplinary research in other forms beyond the written word.

To fulfill this scope, Our Meeting Places web platform was developed as prototype and the city of Weimar was chosen as case study. OurMeetingPlaces.org is a web platform with integrated data collection, which mission is to acquire and visually represent favourite meeting places. The platform was launched on June 11, 2014 and is available at www.ourmeetingplaces.org.