Geographia Technica, Vol 14, Issue no.2/2019, pp. 143-161
GEOMEDIA`S ROLE IN THE GEOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT: DRACULA`S SPATIAL IMAGINARIES IN ROMANIA
Mihai VODA, Steven GRAVES, Cristina Elena BERARIU (Târgu Mureş, Romania & Northridge, U.S.A.)
ABSTRACT: Geomedia techniques are easily acquired, freely available and easy to learn. Most of the modern mobile phones possess digital camera and have incorporated Global Positioning System. Various smartphone applications can be downloaded and used to find, create and control the virtual representations of places, emphasizing humans’ central position in the Geosystem. The focus of this research is an assessment of the power of Geomedia techniques as a tool in the identification, construction and development of functional Geosystems. Methodologically, our research in Romania used the grounded theory with data collection based on smartphone apps, web GIS and geospatial datasets from Google Earth, combined with the Geomedia analytic hierarchy (GAH) and the multicriteria decision making (MDM) processor for the geosystems` effectiveness evaluation. We demonstrate how the growing popularity of Geomedia tools can be used to efficiently sustain development in an organized way, at both the national and community levels.
Keywords: Romania, Geomedia, Dracula, Geosystem, Smartphone apps, Development.