Community-Generated Mapping and Mobility

Otto Khera, ResearcherBen Stokes, Researcher/PhD Candidate

George Villanueva, Researcher/PhD Candidate

Annenberg School for Communication and JournalismUniversity of Southern California

Pro Walk Pro Bike: Pro Place 2012Long Beach, CA

September 10, 2012

The Context:

Image?

Reality?

USCSouth LA

The Catalyst and Sponsor:

innovation _design+art + science +engineering

Media, culture, society:transformation__participatory cultures

François BarBen StokesGeorge Villanueva Otto KheraCésar Jiménez Teresa Gonzalez

Annenberg Innovation Lab Projects that Connect Bicycling, Community, Mapping,

and Participatory Culture:• ParTour.net – a mobile platform for simple text-

messaging-enabled (SMS) cell phones that enables real-time image,\ text, and audio postings on a web site.

• RideSouthLA.com – a web site that aggregates and represents group bike rides in South LA and related events for the community, Los Angeles, and outside observers.

• USCBikeCommuters.com – a web site pilot that connects USC bike commuters with each other, bike commuter resources, and related events.

ParTour.net

Story telling(in South LA)Through SimpleAccessible Mobile Technology :

VozmobMetamorphosis

EastSide Riders Bike Club

Collaborators

Real Rydaz

Situated Engagement/Situated Learning

• Micro-local• experienced together• invites participation• open eyes and ears• toward justice social, transportation, food, media, security

Urban Space: Physical to Social Production

Perceived space

Conceivedspace

Trialectics ofSpatiality

Lived space

(Lefebre 1991)

ParTour Mobile Mapping Platform

Mobile Phones

Geo-Located Observation of Physical

Environment or Event

Crowdsourced Data

Representation and Re-Usage

Participatory Citizens and Community

Partners

ParTour Platform Overview

ParTour live map

Context, Location, Stories

How can these engagements be captured and presented to communities as a sustainable activity?

RIDE SOUTH LAridesouthla.com

Ride South LA:Connect, Sustain, Inform, Disseminate

USC as a Community: USC Bike Commuters

• Up to 7% of USC commuters use bicycles to commute during a regular semester (7 times higher than the average in Los Angeles)

• 15,000 bicycles on campus on any given day during the regular semester.

• USC is LA’s largest private employer.• Growth of bicycling significant at USC and in LA.

• Profile + Map• Wall for events and updates• Resources link

Wall Map

Lessons Learned

• Collaboration with community is essential.• Simple technologies and simple goals lead to

next steps more efficiently …• Maps are a critical tool that help us engage

our conceptions of space and environment, and help us tell a story as well as orienting ourselves.

• Media matters …

Latest – pictures from Yesterday’s walk&ride Healthy Food Mapping