This contribution reports on ongoing research carried on by the authors on the role of Social Media Geographic Information in spatial planning, design, and decision-making. Explicit and Implicit Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) from social media platforms, namely Social Media Geographic Information (SMGI) resources, were used to explore novel methods and tools for analysis and knowledge construction. The results concern three main research streams carried on with the common feature of integrating social media and other volunteered and authoritative sources of information from Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). These findings demonstrated that the integration of SMGI with more traditional Authoritative Geographic Information (A-GI) may offer a high potential for eliciting pluralist knowledge for spatial planning.

This paper proposes a discussion concerning the use of social media-related geographic information in the context of the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of Sardinian Municipal masterplans (MMPs). We show that this kind of information improves, substantially, the SEA process since it provides planners, evaluators, and the local communities with information retrieved from social media that would have not been available otherwise. This information integrates authoritative data collection, which comes from official sources, and enlightens tastes and preferences of the users of services and infrastructure, and their expectations concerning their spatial organization. A methodological approach related to the collection of social media-related geographic information is implemented and discussed with reference to the urban context of the city of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). The results are very effective in terms of provision of information, which may possibly increase the spatial knowledge available for planning policy definition and implementation. In this perspective, this kind of information discloses opportunities for building analytical scenarios related to urban and regional planning and it offers useful suggestions for sustainable development based on tourism strategies.

This contribution focuses on two types of georeferenced User-Generated Content (geo-UGC): Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and Social Media Geographic Information (SMGI): both can be proftably used in spatial planning practices, thanks to the high potential of the information they enclose. Several case studies, developed by the authors, are presented to illustrate how geo-UGC can be used in different stages of spatial planning processes, supporting a more multifaceted understanding of places, contributing to more participatory processes, and fostering the collaboration between decision-makers in spatial planning practices. The Geodesign approach has been used as a base framework to underpin the discussion. In addition, the case studies show how geo-UGC can be advantageous in knowledge building on the current regional and urban dynamics, in identifying possible alternatives and in fnding agreement on preferred future developments.

Since last decade, advances in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are increasingly enabling the voluntary sharing of user generated contents. Among different emerging digital resources, georeferenced multimedia data publicly shared through social media platforms, or Social Media Geographic Information is starting to stand out in quantity and value as data resource. In spatial planning, where the majority of information required to support analysis, design, and decision-making is inherently spatial in nature, SMGI may foster notable innovations in methodologies and practices, allowing the integration of both experiential and professional knowledge on places, events and ambient. However, this hypothesis should be carefully tested. With the above premises, this chapter more specifically concerns the concept of Social Media Geographic Information, arguing that it may represent an unprecedented resource for expressing pluralism in such domains as spatial planning where it may convey the community collective preferences contributing to enrich knowledge for decision-making.

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