Title: Using API services to visualise urban activities in Japan

Authors: Takafumi Arima; Ryo Yamato

Addresses: Department of Architecture and Urban Design, Faculty of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Hakozaki6-10-1, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan ' Department of Urban Design, Planning and Disaster Management, Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Hakozaki6-10-1, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan

Abstract: Nowadays, we can find plenty of information on urban activities, which has been archived on the World Wide Web (Web). Recently, the number of internet users in Japan has been outstanding compared to other countries. Also, several servers have started providing the stored information via API (application program interface) services. This study tries to propose a new viewpoint to understand urban conditions and human activities by utilising the API services to obtain dynamic data based on information from the Web. Furthermore, it has been examined how to visualise the geographical characteristics of the information by using GIS in order to provide better and clearer understanding for various users.

Keywords: application program interface; API services; mush up; urban activities; visualisation; Japan; GIS; geographic information systems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKBD.2013.054093

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 2013 Vol.4 No.2, pp.173 - 184

Published online: 31 Mar 2014 *

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