Panoramic landscape

Jonathan Cinnamon

Associate Professor  ·  Geography  ·  University of British Columbia Okanagan

I am an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. My academic background spans GIS and human geography, and my research sits at the intersection of digital, data, visual, and urban geographies.

I teach across the geography program — courses on digital and visual geography, cartography, and human and urban geography. I am co-Editor-in-Chief of Digital Geography and Society.

SSHRC-funded

The Experimental Digital City

Explores the connections between experimental modes of urban governance and digital technology innovation through a case study of a mid-sized Canadian smart city.

SSHRC-funded

Urban Platform Aesthetics

Examines the role of digital platforms in shaping how cities around the world look, how platform aesthetics connect to 'world city' ambitions, and the attendant impact on urban inequalities. Uses an innovative visual methods approach and comparative urbanisms framework across Canada, Poland, and Turkey.

Geographies of Computer Vision

Explores novel computational visual methods for analyzing images for their spatial and aesthetic properties.

Visual Negotiations of Gentrification in Toronto: Contestation, Politicization and Resistance through Urban Signage 2026

L. Jahiu, J. Cinnamon, A. Leszczynski — International Journal of Urban and Regional Research

The Last Meter Problem in Cities: Digital Platforms, Urban Signage, and the Enduring Analog 2025

A. Leszczynski, J. Cinnamon, L. Jahiu — Urban Geography

360-degree Video for Whole Scene Capture: From Immersive Realism to Immersive Holism in Place-based Research 2025

J. Cinnamon, A. Leszczynski, S. Asa, L. Jahiu — International Journal of Qualitative Methods 24

Docklessness, Aesthetic Governance, and the Urban 'Micromobility Mess' 2025

A. Leszczynski, J. Cinnamon, S. Asa, L. Jahiu — Urban Studies 62(12), 2508–2525

Visual Imagery and the Informal City: Examining 360-degree Imaging Technologies for Informal Settlement Representation 2024

J. Cinnamon — Information Technology for Development 30(4), 590–607

An Urban Data Politics of Scale: Lessons from South Africa 2023

J. Cinnamon — Data Power in Action: Urban Data Politics in Times of Crisis, 184–203

360-degree Video for Virtual Place-based Research: A Review and Research Agenda 2023

J. Cinnamon, L. Jahiu — Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 106

Artificial Intelligence, Geography and Society 2023

S. Maalsen, J. Cinnamon, S. Kinsley — Digital Geography and Society 4

On Data Cultures and the Prehistories of Smart Urbanism in "Africa's Digital City" 2023

J. Cinnamon — Urban Geography 44(5), 850–870

Do-it-yourself Street Views and the Urban Imaginary of Google Street View 2022

J. Cinnamon, A. Gaffney — Journal of Urban Technology 29(3), 95–116

Full publication list on Google Scholar →
GEOG 128 Human Geography: Space, Place and Community
GEOG 257 Seeing our World: An Introduction to Visual Geographies
GEOG 270 Cartography and Mapmaking
GEOG 351 Urban Social Geography
GEOG 427 Digital Worlds: Space, Technology, and Society

Web tools for image analysis and visual geographies research.