Operational insights related to mapping and analysing rural place (dis)amenities

Gregorčič, Tim (author), Kropivšek, Lena (author), Potočnik Slavič, Irma (author)

This study employs collaborative mapping to identify the amenities and disamenities associated with living and working in the Slovenian rural areas, with a focus on the Košana Valley and the Upper Pivka as a case study. We conceptualize an amenity as a spatial quality or characteristic that enhances the attractiveness of a location for rural habitation and work, determined not solely by quantitative measures but also shaped by individual perceptions and mental representations. The survey on (dis)amenities was conducted over three consecutive years with a single target group comprising 109 geography students. In total, 670 amenities (classified in 10 categories) and 521 disamenities (classified in 11 categories), were geolocated, described, assigned a value and documented photographically. A systematically designed methodological approach—encompassing the preparation of ArcGIS Online data base, prefieldwork preparation, fieldwork execution, and post-processing with both exploratory and explanatory analyses —enabled the application of advanced and more complex cluster spatial analyses. Key outcomes are interpreted in terms of: (1) practical relevance for use by local authorities, decision-makers, land use planners, and the general public), (2) didactic potential of collective mapping; and (3) methodological implications for the analysis and visualization of collective mapping data.

• Language: English
• Keywords: amenity, disamenity, collective mapping, Košana Valley, Upper Pivka, Slovenia
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication date: 01.01.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 59-84
• Numbering: No. 85
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177966
• UDC: 711.3+528:004(497.471)
• ISSN on article: 2303-8950
• DOI: 10.35666/23038950.2025.52.59
• COBISS.SI-ID: 263883267

Copyright

Licenca CC BY 4.0 je navedena na spletni strani revije.

• Publication date in RUL: 14.01.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Geographical review
• Shortened title: Geogr. rev.
• Publisher: Geographical Society in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo
• ISSN: 2303-8950
• COBISS.SI-ID: 22411784

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: ugodnost, obremenitev, kolektivno kartiranje, Košanska dolina, Zgornja Pivka, Slovenija