时间地理学研究最新进展

Recent Development in Time Geography

近10年来,伴随着GIS技术的结合及对虚拟空间行为的研究,时间地理学在经历了一段低迷发展期后,又进入了全新的发展阶段。时间地理学不仅对早期的理论假设、空间表达方式进行了修正,以至于有人提出"新时间地理学"的概念,而且其实践应用领域也得到扩展,在城市交通规划、女性研究、城市空间结构及通讯技术使用的应用范围逐步扩大。

Time geography is a powerful conceptual framework for understanding the constraints on human activity participation in space and time. However, it entered a downturn during the 1980s owing to methodological shortages and technological restricts. The last decade has witnessed a resurgence of time geography as researchers have improved methodology and Geographical Information Systems （GIS） develops rapidly, which broaden its application. The improvements of methodology can be concluded from four aspects ： the redefinition of activities, the consideration of emotions, individual preferences, and the modification of behavioral objects. ＂New time geography＂ has been introduced which includes virtual interactions because virtual space behavior becomes as important as physical space behavior. Researchers extend the theory to include virtual interactions by introducing two new time-geography objects, which are portals and message windows, and identifying their relationships in space and time. Emotion and preference while traveling and undertaking activities in urban space, neglected in the past, have been taken into account recently and added into the presentation of space-time path in the form of different colors. In addition, assumptions of behavioral objects are modified to extensive ones including attention to vulnerable groups, especially women. Since the development of methodology, new methods of collecting spatial-temporal data, managing behavior data and representing behavior patterns have been promoted by combining with GIS. The resent development of location-aware technologies （LAT） and location-based services （LBS） provide excellent means for data collection about subjects. The principles of object-orientation have potential to manage and explore these available data, which is intensive and time consuming previously. Furthermore, it is GISbased geo-computation and three-dimensional geo-visualization methods that make time-geographic construction more feasible than ever before. As a result, time-geographic perspective is so powerful for the analysis of human activity patterns and movements in urban space that its applications have been widened in urban transportation planning, feminine research, urban spatial structure, information and communication technologies, etc. This paper also reviews recent development of time geography in China briefly and summarizes the shortages of Chinese research in order to inspire related studies in China.