New Data, New Directions: A Commentary on Emerging Big Geospatial Data for Population Research

This commentary primarily discusses new data sources featuring fine grained spatio-temporal data that have emerged in recent years from a variety of sources that previously did not exist or that were not easily accessible either from public or commercial entities. The focus here is on mobile phone location data (MPLD) as one avenue for potential new directions that have emerged and become increasingly relevant to a constellation of thematic areas across population research. I also discuss how new data sources, principally MPLD, aid in addressing some of the longstanding challenges and limitations of existing secondary data sources, while simultaneously creating both opportunities and limitations for researchers. Furthermore, a discussion of some salient potential applications and pitfalls of big geospatial data are articulated when these are applied to population research internationally, but also in Aotearoa New Zealand. It could be argued that there is an explicit challenge to the longstanding conceptualisation of static residence-based measures applied to a range of thematic areas across population research, such as understanding movement or migration. We further posit that it is timely to (re)consider the role that big geospatial data, specifically MPLD, plays in understanding central questions in both geography and demography, such as where, when and why do people move? It can be demonstrated that there is a wealth of big geospatial data that now can be exploited leading to opportunities for better understanding of the dynamic processes related to people and places. It could be argued that it is time for a more fulsome engagement with MPLD and other big geospatial data sets and techniques to grapple with both the opportunities and challenges for understanding population dynamics, as well as the patterns and processes that give rise to inequalities and inequities between people and places in Aotearoa New Zealand and further afield.