Thoughts on place, code, and spatial data science.
7 Feb 2026
5 Feb 2026
Exploring place, systems, and human-computer interaction.
A comprehensive, grounded-theory framework for curating personalised leisure walking experiences, creating a bridge between subjective human narratives and computational routing systems.
A collaborative impact initiative bridging the gap between academic research and industry practice to create safer, more engaging digital walking experiences.
Python library for modeling the human experience of place
Rust crate for spatiotemporal event analysis
Modules, lectures, and educational resources
Lecture Materials
Access slides, quizzes, and interactive content.
Outreach Games
Interactive CS concepts for students.
Exploring place-aware computing, geographic information science, and spatial analysis.
Introducing Chora, the first Python library to model the human experience of place. Built on rigorous theory from GIScience, cognitive geography, and social physics, Chora provides tools for processing GPS traces, detecting routines, mapping emotions, and understanding places as lived experiences rather than coordinate pairs.
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Modelling, indexing, and analysing events across geographic space and chronological time
Events happen in places, at times, and within contexts. Spatial Narrative is a Rust library built for researchers who need to work with spatiotemporal data—whether that is historical archives, GPS tracks, conflict records, or urban mobility patterns.
An itinerary-centred agent-based framework for simulating pedestrian movement on urban networks
Urban life is made by the places that people merge together into formal routines. PlaceAgents is a framework for modelling multi-stop pedestrian itineraries on city networks using open and reproducible data—treating the city as linked places rather than abstract space.
A web-based geospatial tool for identifying place-based regions in cities using OpenStreetMap data
The world is not just made of streets, buildings, and zones—it is shaped by how people engage and interact with places in their everyday lives. PlaceCrafter supports researchers in identifying platial regions: functional, human-centred areas that cross administrative and formal boundaries.
Bridging academic research with practical industry applications in place-based walking systems
The Leisure Walking Systems Working Group (LWSWG) impact project represents a significant milestone in bridging academic research with practical industry applications in the domain of place-based walking systems.
Presented at W2GIS 2025 in Mexico City
Diabetes remains one of the most pressing global health challenges of the 21st century. In Mexico, the burden of the disease is deeply shaped by social inequalities, with hospitalisations and deaths reflecting broader patterns of deprivation and exclusion. Our recent work, presented by Carlos Hernández Nava at W2GIS 2025, brings a spatio-temporal lens to this urgent problem.
Deliberately vulnerable, modular, and instructor-friendly labs for cyber security education and engagement
OS³ (Open Source Security Studio) is a free, open-source platform for teaching cyber security through safe, practical labs. Built in Python/Flask for CMU540 at Birmingham Newman University and STEM outreach, it offers paired insecure vs. secure demos of common vulnerabilities and network security simulations.
Rethinking how we describe the world through lived experience and coordinates
Digital maps are dominated by the spatial: coordinates, polygons, and networks. Yet when we talk about the world around us, we rarely think in such precise terms. We think in places. This distinction between the platial and the spatial is more than semantics—it changes how we represent, analyse, and live with geography.
A global research project redefining place through lived experience rather than coordinates
Traditional maps often delineate our world with rigid lines and boundaries, yet these divisions seldom reflect the nuanced ways individuals experience and interact with their environments. The Platial Atlas project seeks to bridge this gap.
A practical tutorial for understanding and implementing Uber's H3 hexagonal grid system
Why are Uber, Foursquare, and every major location intelligence company switching to hexagonal grids? This tutorial will teach you H3 fundamentals with interactive examples you can run in your browser.
A manifesto for place-aware software development and spatial computing
Most navigation apps don't know where you really want to go. This opening post explores why we need code that understands the difference between space and place, and introduces the philosophy behind jwilliams.science.
An overview of my new academic portfolio website architecture, explaining the design considerations and organisation.
Over the past couple of months I have been re-designing and building a new online portfolio for my work. This article will explore my design choices and experience in developing jwilliams.science.
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