Humanistic GIS Laboratory University of Washington
Publications

Selected work

Peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters from the lab. Conference proceedings, Chinese-language venues, and earlier work are catalogued internally and available on request.

2026

  1. Zhao, B., Y. Lin. "GeoAI collapse? Ethical implications of synthetic geospatial data use". International Journal of Geographical Information Science.
  2. Luo, C., P. Zhao, B. Wang, S. Feng, Y., L. Meng. "Ethical Spatial Analysis: Addressing Endogenous Bias Through Visual Analytics". Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis, 10(1), 4.
  3. Huang, T., X. Ye, T. Yigitcanlar, B. Xu, G. Newman, B. Zhao, et al.. "Artificial intelligence in urban design: A systematic review". Cities, 169, 106527. [DOI]

2025

  1. Hong, R., B. Zhao, S. Zhou. "Root metaphors in cartography: Bridging critical and quantitative approaches". Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, e70035. [DOI]
  2. Ma, X., Zheng, G., Xu, C., Moskal, L. M., Gong, P., Guo, Q., et al., B. Zhao, Y. Zhou. "A global product of 150-m urban building height based on spaceborne lidar". Scientific Data, 11(1), 1387. [DOI]
  3. Yang, T., B. Zhao, S. Gao, W. Dong. "Neural representation of geoinformation in the human brain: affected by abstraction levels and spatial scales". Annals of GIS, 1—16. [DOI]
  4. Frazier, A., T. Nelson, P. Kedron, E. Shook, S. Dodge, et al., B. Zhao, W. Xu. "GIScience Education in an Age of Disruptions". Transactions in GIS, 29(2), e70048.
  5. Lin, Y., B. Zhao. "Post-human cartography? Rethinking artificial intelligence, cartographic practices, and reflexivity". Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 115(3), 499—512.

2024

  1. Dodge, S., A. Frazier, M. Goodchild, P. Kedron, et al., B. Zhao, et al., J. Wilson. "A Research Agenda for GIScience and Spatial Data Science Amid Disruptions to Science". International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 39(1), 1—24.
  2. Zhao, B., J. Feng, Y. Sun, X. Chang, S. Shaw. "Neural Sensing: Towards a new approach to understanding emotional responses to place". Transactions in GIS. [DOI]
  3. Vranas, K., S. Jain, D. Costa, A. Admon, B. Zhao, J. Kahn, M. Kerlin. "Cancellation & Resumption of Elective Surgeries Over Time Across a National Sample of U.S. Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic". CHEST Critical Care, 2(3): 100080.
  4. Zhao, B., L. Zhang. "Understanding the Spatial Narratives of Puzzle Films Using Cognitive Maps". Professional Geographer, 76(4): 450—457. [DOI]
  5. Lin, B., L. Zou, B. Zhao, X. Huang, H. Cai, M. Yang, B. Zhou. "Sensing the Pulse of the Pandemic: Geovisualizing the Demographic Disparities of Public Sentiment toward COVID-19 through social media". Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 51(3): 366—384. [DOI]
  6. Peng, L., B. Zhao. "Navigating the Ethical Landscape Behind ChatGPT". Big Data & Society, 11(1). [DOI]
  7. Feng, J., B. Zhao, S. Shaw. "The Study of Emotion in GIScience: Status and Prospects". Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 1—16. [DOI]
  8. Zhao, B.. "Emplacing the disposition towards automation". Dialogue in Human Geography, 14(1): 85—88. [DOI]
  9. Zhao, B.. "Reorient GIScience for a Data-intensive Society". Dialogue in Human Geography, 14(2): 327—331. [DOI]
  10. Zhao, B.. "Humanistic GIS". Encyclopedia of Human Geography, ed. Barney Warf. Springer. [chapter]

2023

  1. Yang, Y., X. Chen, S. Gao, Z. Li, Z. Zhang, B. Zhao. "Embracing geospatial analytical technologies in tourism studies". Information Technology & Tourism, 25(2): 137—150. [DOI]
  2. Huang, X., X. Bao, Z. Li, S. Zhang, B. Zhao. "Black businesses matter: A longitudinal study of black-owned restaurants in the COVID-19 Pandemic". Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 113(1): 189—205. [DOI]
  3. Zhao, B.. "A Humanistic Rewire of GIScience". Handbook of Cartographic Humanities, eds. L.L. Presti and T. Rossetto. Taylor & Francis. 216—222. [chapter] [DOI]
  4. Zhao, B.. "Social Media Analytics". Oxford Bibliographies in Geography, ed. Barney Warf. Oxford University Press. [chapter]
  5. Zhao, B., J. Feng. "A Humanistic Future of GeoAI". Handbook of Geospatial Artificial Intelligence, eds. S. Gao, Y. Hu, W. Li. Taylor & Francis. [chapter] [DOI]

2022

  1. Yu, Y., B. Dylan, B. Zhao. "Digital geographies of the bug: A case study of China's contact tracing systems in the COVID-19". GeoForum, 137: 94—104. [DOI]
  2. Bennett, M. M., J. Van Den Hoek, B. Zhao, A. V. Prishchepov. "Improving Satellite Monitoring of Armed Conflicts". Earth's Future, 10(90): 1—6. [DOI]
  3. Chen, X., B. Zhao, X. Yang. "The obesogenity of restaurant food: Mapping the nutritional foodscape of Franklin County, Ohio using food review images". Applied Geography, 144(2022): 1—8.
  4. Zhang, S., D. Xu, B. Zhao. ""Small" analysis of Big Data: An evaluation of the effects of social distancing in the United States". Methodological Innovations, 15(2): 142—151. [DOI]
  5. Huang, X., Y. Xu, R. Liu, Siqin Wang, Sicheng Wang, M. Zhang, Y. Kang, Z. Zhang, S. Gao, B. Zhao, Z. Li. "Exploring the spatial disparity of home-dwelling time patterns in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic via Bayesian inference". Transactions in GIS, 26(4): 1939—1961. [DOI]
  6. Zhao, B.. "Humanistic GIS: Towards a Research Agenda". Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 112(6): 1576—1592. [DOI]
  7. Yu, Y., B. Zhao. "Can TikTok Promote a Healthier Ageing Paradigm? A Case Study of Older Digital Celebrities from China". Area, 54(2): 322—329. [DOI]

2021

  1. He, C., Q. Huang, X. Bai, D. T. Robinson, P. Shi, Y. Dou, B. Zhao, J. Yan, Q. Zhang, F. Xu, J. Daniel. "A Global Analysis of the Relationship between Urbanization and Fatalities in Earthquake-prone Areas". International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 12: 805—820. [DOI]
  2. Zhao, B., S. Zhang, C. Xu, Y. Sun, C. Deng. "Deep fake geography? When geospatial data encounter artificial intelligence". Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 48(4): 338—352. [DOI]
  3. Mathews, K. S., K. P. Seitz, K. C. Vranas, A. Duggal, T. S. Valley, B. Zhao, S. Gundel, M. O. Harhay, S. Y. Chang, C. L. Hough. "Variation in initial U.S. Hospital Responses to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic". Critical Care Medicine, 49(7): 1038—1048. [DOI]
  4. Zhang, S., B. Zhao, Y. Tian, S. Chen. "Stand with #StandingRock: Envisioning an epistemological shift in understanding geospatial big data in the "post-truth" era". Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 111(4): 1025—1045. [DOI]
  5. Huang, X., B. Zhao. "A Permanent Virtual Memorial for a Whistleblower of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Crypto Place on the Blockchain". Mapping COVID-19 in Space and Time, eds. S. Shaw and D. Sui. Springer. 47—59. [chapter]

2020

  1. Zhao, B., X. Huang. "Encrypted monument: The birth of crypto place on the blockchain". GeoForum, 116: 149—152. [DOI]
  2. Chen, Z., D. Chen, C. Zhao, M. P. Kwan, J. Cai, Y. Zhuang, B. Zhao, et al.. "Influence of meteorological conditions on PM2.5 concentrations across China: A review of methodology and mechanism". Environment International, 139 (105558). [DOI]
  3. Huang, X., B. Zhao, Y. Liu, D. Xue. "Belonging to a Place: An Analysis of the Perceptions of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China". Geographical Review, 110(3): 406—424. [DOI]
  4. Zhao, B., S. Zhang, C. Xu, X. Liu. "Spoofing in Geography: Can we trust Artificial Intelligence to manage geospatial data?". Spatial Synthesis: Computational Social Science and Humanities, eds. X. Ye and H. Lin. Springer. 325—338. [chapter] [DOI]
  5. Ye, X., B. Zhao, T. H. Nguyen, S. Wang. "Social media and Social Awareness". Manual of Digital Earth, eds. H. Guo, M. F. Goodchild, A. Annoni. Springer, Singapore. 425—440. [chapter] [DOI]

2019

  1. Chen, Z., D. Chen, N. Cheng, Y. Zhuang, M. P. Kwan, B. Chen, B. Zhao, et al.. "Evaluating the recent 2+26 regional strategy for air quality improvement during two orange air pollution alerts in Beijing". Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19(10): 6879—6891. [DOI]
  2. Zhao, B., X. Huang, D. Z. Sui. "Place spoofing: A case study of the xenophilic copycat community in Beijing, China". Professional Geographer, 71(2): 265—277. [DOI]
  3. Zhao, B., S. Zhang. "Rethinking spatial data quality: Pokémon Go as a case study of location spoofing". Professional Geographer, 70(4): 1—13. [DOI]

2017

  1. Zhao, B., D. Z. Sui. "True lies in geospatial big data: detecting location spoofing in social media". Annals of GIS, 23(1): 1—14. [DOI]
  2. Zhao, B., D. Z. Sui, Z. Li. "Visualizing the gay community in Beijing with location-based social media". Environment and Planning A, 49(5): 977—79. [DOI]
  3. Liu, J. C., B. Zhao. "Who speaks for climate change in China? Evidence from Weibo". Climatic Change, 140(3-4): 413—422. [DOI]
  4. Zhao, B., Q. Chen. "Location Spoofing in a Location-Based Game: A Case Study of Pokémon Go". Lecture Notes Geoinformation, Cartography, Advances in Cartography and GIScience, ed. M. P. Peterson. 21—32. [chapter] [DOI]