title: Continental-scale quantification of landscape values using social media data.
abstract: Individuals, communities, and societies ascribe a diverse array of values to landscapes. These values are shaped by the aesthetic, cultural, and recreational benefits and services provided by those landscapes. However, across the globe, processes such as urbanization, agricultural intensification, and abandonment are threatening landscape integrity, altering the personally meaningful connections people have toward specific places. Existing methods used to study landscape values, such as social surveys, are poorly suited to capture dynamic landscape-scale processes across large geographic extents. Social media data, by comparison, can be used to indirectly measure and identify valuable features of landscapes at a regional, continental, and perhaps even worldwide scale. We evaluate the usefulness of different social media platforms-Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram-and quantify landscape values at a continental scale. We find Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram data can be used to quantify landscape values, with features of Instagram being especially suitable due to its relatively large population of users and its functional ability of allowing users to attach personally meaningful comments and hashtags to their uploaded images. Although Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram have different user profiles, our analysis revealed similar patterns of landscape values across Europe across the three platforms. We also found variables describing accessibility, population density, income, mountainous terrain, or proximity to water explained a significant portion of observed variation across data from the different platforms. Social media data can be used to extend our understanding of how and where individuals ascribe value to landscapes across diverse social, political, and ecological boundaries.
authors: Environmental Geography Group, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands; boris.zanten@vu.nl.
authors: Boris T
authors: BT
authors: van Zanten
authors: Center for Geospatial Analytics, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695.
authors: Derek B
authors: DB
authors: Van Berkel
authors: Center for Geospatial Analytics, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695.
authors: Ross K
authors: RK
authors: Meentemeyer
authors: Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5215.|Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5215.
authors: Jordan W
authors: JW
authors: Smith
authors: Environmental Geography Group, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Koen F
authors: KF
authors: Tieskens
authors: Environmental Geography Group, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Peter H
authors: 0000-0002-6977-7104
authors: PH
authors: Verburg
mesh_terms: D004777:Environment; D004954:Esthetics; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010781:Photography; D011998:Recreation; D061108:Social Media; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: European landscape; cross-cultural analysis; cultural ecosystem services; outdoor recreation and leisure; volunteered geolocated content