Studies of mapper conflict in OpenStreetMap (OSM) have focused exclusively on cartographic vandalism and its effect on data quality. This paper takes a broader view on mapper conflict in OSM. Using a Delphi survey method, we collect qualitative data on perceived conflict from long-time OSM mappers. We ask mappers about four aspects of conflict in OSM: (1) topic of conflict, (2) factors leading to conflict, (3) effects of conflict, and (4) potential conflict management methods. Our results show that conflict in OSM can be explained by clashing values and opinions within and across different mapper subgroups and can be exacerbated by negative mapper behaviors. The boundaries of these subgroups, while implicit, are often defined by gender, mappers’ geographic location, level of expertise, and mappers’ professional affiliation. Based on these results, we discuss design options for OSM’s existing public communication channels that often become foci of mapper conflict management.

Producers of online peer-production communities (OPPCs) regularly experience conflicts with other producers. A deeper understanding of the producer conflict management approaches employed by community members could help OPPCs improve their conflict management tools. In this paper, we analyze the effectiveness of conflict management approaches employed by producers. Using OpenStreetMap (OSM) as a case study, we manually annotate OSM mappers’ conflict management approaches from 384 online discussion threads contained in one of OSM’s public communication channels. We investigate the effectiveness of conflict management by verifying whether producer discussions led to a solution. Our results show that online producer conflict management approaches with empathetic and proactive listening behaviors were more likely to reach a productive solution, whereas those approaches with negative online behaviors were less likely to do so. Based on these results, we reflect on how the user interface of OSM’s public online communication channels could better support producers to manage conflict behaviors.

3D geospatial data are being progressively adopted in urban land administration to represent 3D ownership rights in multistorey buildings. The integrity of urban land administration highly depends on the validity and quality of cadastral data. However, a large portion of research deals with the conceptual principles of internal and external spatial consistencies of 3D cadastral data. This article integrates the principles in practice and develops methods to check the validity of 3D parcels and their relationships in complex ownership settings. To evaluate the methods, this research adopts a case study using an 18-floor multistorey building with 248 lots and three types of common properties. The ownership rights of this building are delineated as polyhedral surface models, including non-2-manifold and non-simple polyhedra, and evaluated by implemented principles. The results reveal that the integrated methods can identify 3D cadastral errors, overlaps and gaps. The developed integrated approach can significantly advance urban land administration, as it facilitates complex 3D cadastral data validation.

In the cadastral system of Victoria, the legal extent of properties is defined by a wide range of property boundaries referencing physical objects. These boundary types are typically represented in 2D plans. However, to address the challenges of 2D plans in complex buildings, there has been a growing trend towards the adoption of 3D models. These 3D models have been mainly used for visualization purposes, with no spatial query developed for identifying property boundaries in 3D models. Among 3D models, the Building Information Modelling (BIM) environment provides the potential capabilities for modelling property boundaries. In this paper, a spatial query approach predicated on topological relationships between a legal space and physical objects is developed to identify four types of property boundaries. A BIM model based on a case study in Victoria is used for implementation of the developed approach and the retrieved boundaries related to several properties with different levels of structural complexities are represented. In addition, various challenges during this process such as the impact of different design methods, and issues related to balconies and doors are discussed. The importance of this study is highlighted by a common scenario related to querying property boundaries.

Three-dimensional (3D) spatial information models are increasingly being adopted to help communicate the spatial dimensions of complex built environments. Land administration practices in multi-owned developments include the subdivision, registration and management of legal interests associated with private, communal and public properties, which are often located along the vertical dimension. The spatial structure of each legal interest is normally composed of invisible spaces, defined as the inside and outside of multi-owned developments, as well as physically built structures. Additionally, a wide variety of legal boundary types mark out the spatial limits of the individual parts of each legal interest. These legal boundaries are typically delineated by either relying on fixed surveying measurements or referencing physically existent objects. This article provides a critical assessment of 3D spatial information models in terms of their capabilities for modelling legal interests and legal boundaries defined in the Victorian jurisdiction. We classify these models into three categories: purely legal, purely physical and integrated. This assessment provides the basis for developing a new 3D spatial information model, which would subsequently support a pathway towards realising the Victorian land administration system in a 3D digital environment.

Currently, 2D-based analogue building subdivision plans are used to represent the spatial extent of private, public and communal property ownership rights. These plans are recognized as posing a range of challenges in terms of communicating the spatial complexity of ownership spaces within multi-storey buildings. In response to these challenges, three-dimensional (3D) digital data environments are being investigated as a potential approach for managing complex, vertically stratified ownership arrangements. The argument presented in this article is that Building Information Modelling (BIM) can be adopted for 3D digital management of data related to complex ownership spaces. BIM provides a common and 3D digital data sharing space, underpinning a reliable basis for facilitating collaboration and decision-making over the lifecycle of buildings. However, ownership attributes and the spatial structure of ownership arrangements inside buildings are yet to be accommodated within the BIM data environment. In this article, we present a range of required data elements for managing complex ownership spaces, which have been elicited by investigating current practices pertaining to subdivision of ownership spaces within multi-storey buildings in Melbourne, Australia. An open data model in the BIM domain is extended with these data elements and a prototype model for a real multi-storey building is implemented to demonstrate the viability of the extended data model for 3D digital management and visualization of data related to complex ownership arrangements.

The present study examined and compared spatio–temporal interaction of the theft of car parts, shop burglary and motorcycle theft in the central business district (CBD) of the city of Zanjan in Iran. The Knox test was selected to detect spatio–temporal interaction. This test has been criticized as being subjective because the selection of critical distances is arbitrary; thus, a method is proposed to detect critical distances in the Knox test using the mean distance, natural breaks classification of nearest neighbour (NN) distance and Ripley’s k function. Results show obvious differences between the spatio-temporal clusters of the three sets of crimes. They also indicate that changing the spatial cut-offs within a cluster creates different temporal patterns. Of the three criteria for determining critical distances, NN classification based on natural breaks showed more interactions than the other methods.

One of the factors affecting the housing supply is closely linked to the time taken to complete the land development assessment approval. Delays in completing the development process on time often results in difficulties of increasing housing supply. In parallel, housing demand continues to increase with increasing net population in Australian urban areas. This research aims to identify the current issues and challenges of releasing land for housing development in the established suburbs of Melbourne north-west area (involving six local government areas: Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Moreland, Moonee Valley, Hume and Melton). An application of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) using the strategic residential potential assessment (SRPA) method is considered. This is designed to improve the method of land administration strategies for housing development. The analysis is set within the context of investigating land preparation processes and their impacts on land availability for housing supply. The research adopts interview techniques to gain insight into the processes of land release through the activities of town planners in the selected local council areas. The proposed SRPA methods are based on a land-use assessment approach that is underpinned by the current residential land-use schemes legislated by the Department of Transport Planning and Local Infrastructure.1 The results of applying the proposed model reveal the associated spatial pattern of areas with potential for residential development relative to the public transport and public service locations.

With the huge amount of spatial data created and updated in short time frames and exchanged frequently over the Web, the demand for updating dataset and metadata in real time to provide users with the most up-to-date, precise, reliable, and complete metadata is increasing dramatically. So far, different metadata-updating approaches have been introduced to the spatial industry of which their issues and challenges have prohibited them from being adopted widely. Using the detached metadata data model and being limited to some dataset formats are some of these issues. To respond to this challenge, this article presents a new synchronization approach to automatically update the ISO 19115 core metadata elements which are affected by the (vector-based) dataset modification. Based on this approach, this article describes the major technical requirements considered necessary for the implementation phase, such as an integrated data model to couple dataset and metadata rooted in Geography Markup Language (GML) Application Schema, a mapping software application to support required Web Services, a user-friendly interface providing a visual modification facility, and an automatic metadata-updating process which is dataset format neutral. In order to prove the synchronization concept, the automatic synchronization approach has been prototyped and integrated with the GeoNetwork opensource environment. This article discusses the architecture designed for implementing the prototype system which contains three layers: storage, service (consisting of a synchronization service entitled ‘SYNC’), and application. The standards and open source technologies selected to develop the prototype system such as deegree, GeoNetwork, PostGIS, GML, Web Feature Service-Transaction, and CSW are then explained in more detail. Finally, the issues and challenges encountered during the implementation phase and the future direction are discussed in this article.