Since its emergence in the 1990s, the area of Participatory GIS (PGIS) has generated numerous interactive mapping tools to support complex planning processes. The need to involve non-expert users makes the usability of these tools a... more
Since its emergence in the 1990s, the area of Participatory GIS (PGIS) has generated numerous interactive mapping tools to support complex planning processes. The need to involve non-expert users makes the usability of these tools a crucial aspect that contributes to their success or failure. While many approaches and procedures have been proposed to assess usability in general, to date there is no standardized way to measure the overall usability of a PGIS. For this purpose, we introduce the Participatory GIS Usability Scale (PGUS), a questionnaire to evaluate the usability of a PGIS along five dimensions (user interface, spatial interface, learnability, effectiveness, and communication). The questionnaire was developed in collaboration with the user community of SeaSketch, a web-based platform for marine spatial planning. PGUS quantifies the subjective perception of usability on a scale between 0 and 100, facilitating the rapid evaluation and comparison between PGIS. As a case study, the PGUS was used to collect feedback from 175 SeaSketch users, highlighting the usability strengths and weaknesses of the platform.
The main research question of this study is – What role can cultural infrastructure play in the achievement of culture-led regeneration? The question is answered through the assessment of the potential impact of cultural infrastructure... more
The main research question of this study is – What role can cultural infrastructure play in the achievement of culture-led regeneration? The question is answered through the assessment of the potential impact of cultural infrastructure within the place from a socio-spatial point of view – requiring the study of the interface/overlap between the social and spatial perspectives through ‘on the ground’ investigation of the urban fabric and close monitoring of any change therein, and the manner in which culture-led regeneration may affect the use of the surrounding urban spaces of the place. The research objectives centre primarily on the physical urban space/built environment, in terms of establishing important spatial parameters and qualities that, in turn, have direct and indirect social implications.
Managing visitor conflict is an important task in protected areas. This study used public participation GIS (PPGIS) mapping and a visitor survey to research conflicts between mountain bikers and horse riders, and other groups frequenting... more
Managing visitor conflict is an important task in protected areas. This study used public participation GIS (PPGIS) mapping and a visitor survey to research conflicts between mountain bikers and horse riders, and other groups frequenting trails for tourism and recreation in national parks in northern Sydney (Australia). The goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of the PPGIS for determining conflict locations, and to integrate stated reasons and conflict resolution measures in a model. The survey showed that 42% of mountain bikers and 69% of horse riders had experienced conflicts, with each other, motorbike riders, walkers/hikers and dog walkers. PPGIS effectively mapped concurrent usage intensity to predict potential conflict locations over a reasonably large study area thereby identifying trails of the greatest concern. PPGIS also offered high-quality GIS visualisation options, and the novelty of the PPGIS increased participant engagement. We evaluated PPGIS compared to questionnaire-based surveying, direct visitor observations, GPS tracking, traffic counters and cameras. Because visitor conflict occurs within a spatial context, conflict management will require greater spatial knowledge of visitor activity, which can be obtained through the innovative PPGIS mapping. A conflict model is presented that integrates this study’s empirical findings on conflict reasons and resolutions with existing conflict theory.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools used to collect, store, manipulate and display spatially-referenced information. They are used to support decision-making in a wide variety of contexts, including spatial... more
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools used to collect, store, manipulate and display spatially-referenced information. They are used to support decision-making in a wide variety of contexts, including spatial planning and environmental management. Because the process of GIS production, from software development to visualization of GIS output, is characterized by political, economic and social motivations, it is important that GIS practitioners are aware of issues such as access to data and the political economy of information, and the nature of GIS epistemologies vis-a-vis multiple coexisting perceptions of reality. Lack of such appreciation can lead to social and spatial marginalization of communities. Use of GIS in a research program for environmental management of the Cooum River in Chennai, and in support of participatory processes for managing environment and health in slums are used to demonstrate appropriate applications of GIS in India. Internet-distr...
This chapter discusses the ability of new technologies to support collective intelligence. The technology trend brought into the spotlight is Web 2.0 because it has a great potential to contribute to the refined understanding of planning... more
This chapter discusses the ability of new technologies to support collective intelligence. The technology trend brought into the spotlight is Web 2.0 because it has a great potential to contribute to the refined understanding of planning issues. Such an application field can be called Collective Intelligence 2.0 with crowdsourcing as its characteristic process. This chapter discusses how such an intelligence and crowd-sourced knowledge can be utilized in smartening up urban planning. Crowdsourcing has been experimented in urban planning since the late 2000s, most notably in the forms of wikiplanning, participatory sensing, and co-creation. By combining theoretical insights and empirical evidence this chapter concludes that Web 2.0 tools can be used to increase various forms of social and collective intelligence and, especially when the precondition of citizen-centered open planning culture is met, have undeniable potential to smarten up urban planning.
Assuming the huge progress achieved in public participatory geographic information system (PPGIS) techniques and its current research gaps, this study aims to explore differences in the perception of spatial distribution of ecosystem... more
Assuming the huge progress achieved in public participatory geographic information system (PPGIS) techniques and its current research gaps, this study aims to explore differences in the perception of spatial distribution of ecosystem services supply and demand between different stakeholders through collaborative mapping. The stakeholders selected included high influence stakeholder (with a high degree of interest on the ecosystem services׳ state and with an important influence into the environmental decision making process) and low influence stakeholders (with a high degree of interest on the ecosystem services׳ state and with a low influence in environmental management). Workshops took place in June 2013 in two regions of Andalusia; overall 29 participants were involved. Water provision, food from agriculture, livestock, erosion control, climate regulation, water purification, nature tourism, recreational hunting and tranquility were collaboratively mapped. Agriculture land-use and the protected area surface were also assessed in order to find patterns in ecosystem services supply, meanwhile the role of urban areas was assessed for ecosystem services demand. The results show that low and high influence stakeholders have different perceptions of the spatial distribution of ecosystem services and the scale of their demand. We call for the recognition of these knowledge differences (experiential and technical) and their inclusion in decision making processes regarding landscape planning.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools used to collect, store, manipulate and display spatially-referenced information. They are used to support decision-making in a wide variety of contexts, including spatial... more
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools used to collect, store, manipulate and display spatially-referenced information. They are used to support decision-making in a wide variety of contexts, including spatial planning and environmental management. Because the process of GIS production, from software development to visualization of GIS output, is characterized by political, economic and social motivations, it is important that GIS practitioners are aware of issues such as access to data and the political economy of information, and the nature of GIS epistemologies vis-à-vis multiple coexisting perceptions of reality. Lack of such appreciation can lead to social and spatial marginalization of communities. Use of GIS in a research program for environmental management of the Cooum River in Chennai, and in support of participatory processes for managing environment and health in slums are used to demonstrate appropriate applications of GIS in India. Internet-distributed GIS as a potential avenue to address issues of public access to data is also considered.
AUTHORS: Bowser, A., and Shanley, L. STUDY DIRECTOR: Lea Shanley. Editor: Aaron Lovell. This report showcases seventeen case studies that offer a mosaic view of federally-sponsored citizen science and open innovation projects, from... more
AUTHORS: Bowser, A., and Shanley, L. STUDY DIRECTOR: Lea Shanley. Editor: Aaron Lovell. This report showcases seventeen case studies that offer a mosaic view of federally-sponsored citizen science and open innovation projects, from in-the-field data collection to online games for collective problem-solving. Projects in citizen science and open innovation are usually designed to advance science or create new technologies. But many projects have added impacts including supporting practices in education, management, and public policy.
This article addresses the challenges to urban planning, which is a social activity that affects the development of urban communities and helps them to cope with the challenges posed by the global-local and real-virtual dialectic. The... more
This article addresses the challenges to urban planning, which is a social activity that affects the development of urban communities and helps them to cope with the challenges posed by the global-local and real-virtual dialectic. The approach to planning is influenced by an emerging creativity and knowledge-sharing culture that has an inherent connection to global and digital transformations. Such a transformation is giving urban planning a new look, which is depicted in the concept of Urban Planning 2.0. In this article this paradigm shift is explained and illustrated with a special view to identifying the ways Web 2.0 tools can be utilised in urban planning. The fundamental question emerging in the critical evaluation of Urban Planning 2.0 is how citizen-oriented practices of Planning 2.0 relate to formal decision-making within the representative system of government and professionally and technocratically oriented planning practices of city governments. There is some evidence to suggest that the new Web 2.0 tools make the difference in open, inclusive and creative contexts, where their optimal deployment requires a paradigm shift in urban governance and planning.
‘Participation’ has become a fundamental aspect of urban planning practices in western democratic countries. With the advent of digital technologies, a myriad of public participation methodologies and tools have emerged in the past few... more
‘Participation’ has become a fundamental aspect of urban planning practices in western democratic countries. With the advent of digital technologies, a myriad of public participation methodologies and tools have emerged in the past few decades ranging from digital survey and mapping to location-embedded survey and tracking with smartphones. Maptionnaire is one such map-based online survey tool. As in 2019, this tool has been used by more than 6000 projects in 80 countries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the US.
This article reviews some urban studies that have used Maptionnaire as a survey method and provides a commentary on its potential application particularly in Asian urban studies involving children and older adults as participants.
Recent advances in Web technologies have opened avenues to create socio-technical platforms that can empower citizens in urban planning processes. The rise of the GeoWeb and the popularity of Web 2.0 collaborative tools can facilitate the... more
Recent advances in Web technologies have opened avenues to create socio-technical platforms that can empower citizens in urban planning processes. The rise of the GeoWeb and the popularity of Web 2.0 collaborative tools can facilitate the develop- ment of a new generation of bottom-up Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) platforms that can incorporate user-generated content into Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). New service-based delivery mechanisms can provide architectural flexibility and adaptability, and enable the public to benefit from ubiquitous information access. From an e-participation perspective, Web 2.0 social networking functions support interactive communication among various PPGIS stakeholders, e.g., citizens, planners, and decision makers. The main contribution of this article is to present a reference architecture for e-planning platforms that (1) facilitates effective e-participation by allowing multidirectional map-based communication among various land development stakeholders (e.g., planners, decision makers, citizens, etc.), and (2) enables incorporation of visualization, evaluation, and discussion capabilities to support community planning processes. To achieve this, we developed a service-oriented architecture (SOA) that exploits SDI principles and Web 2.0 technologies. The platform architecture allows heterogeneous data sources, analytical functionality and tools, and presentation frameworks to be plugged into a coherent system to provide a planning and decision support platform. We present two real-world implementations of the proposed architecture that have been developed to support community engagement in the City of Calgary, Canada.
The theory and practice of participatory mapping (PM) has expanded significantly over the last two decades with proliferation of a wide range of methods and applications. The potential for synthesis and integration across four broad... more
The theory and practice of participatory mapping (PM) has expanded significantly over the last two decades with proliferation of a wide range of methods and applications. The potential for synthesis and integration across four broad domains of PM (indigenous/rural/community, urban/regional, environmental/natural resource, and mapping technology) was examined at the Participatory Mapping/GIS 2017 conference held at California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo, USA) Jul 31-Aug 3, 2017. At the conference, PM leaders in each of the four domains participated in working groups to: (1) identify the key issues, including " barriers " and " knowledge gaps " that limit effective PM outcomes, and (2) identify the most important research priorities. This paper summarizes the findings of the working groups for the purpose of identifying common and unique challenges across the four PM domains and to discuss the desirability of stronger integration of PM knowledge and practice. In the indigenous/ rural/community domain, achieving clarity in PM purpose and building trust in the process were identified as the most critical issues; in the environmental/natural resources domain, wider use and adoption of PM to inform policy and management decisions through stakeholder engagement was considered most important; and in the urban/ regional domain, developing urban indicators and adapting PM to complex and heterogeneous urban environments were identified as important needs. The key issue in the domain of PM technology was understanding how technology influences PM usability and user behavior for the development and implementation of appropriate PM technology. The most significant cross-cutting theme to emerge across all PM domains was the need to evaluate PM outcomes to provide evidence of success.
A B S T R A C T Zoning is a ubiquitous land use planning and regulatory mechanism whose purpose is to provide for orderly community growth and development by segregating land uses that are deemed incompatible. The delineation of zones and... more
A B S T R A C T Zoning is a ubiquitous land use planning and regulatory mechanism whose purpose is to provide for orderly community growth and development by segregating land uses that are deemed incompatible. The delineation of zones and related land use ordinances are traditional components of an expert-driven, local government process that produces a general or comprehensive land use plan as required by law. Public participation in the development of general land use plans has rarely used participatory mapping methods that engage the general public to explicitly inform zoning decisions. In this study, we demonstrate how participatory mapping methods can assess the consistency, compatibility, and potential conflict of zoning with public values and preferences in a general plan revision process using a coastal community in California as a case study. We describe the participatory mapping design, data collection, and data analyses in a workflow to illustrate the methods, and present the strengths and limitations of the approach for use in a general land use planning process. Future research should expand these methods to assess the potential effects of resident domicile and " NIMBYism " on the results, and importantly, assess the impact of public participatory mapping in land use decisions if actually implemented by local government authorities.
"El MP3D es un método de mapeo participativo que integra conocimiento territorial indígena con datos sobre la elevación de la tierra y la profundidad del mar, para producir modelos de relieve autónomos, a escala y georreferenciados.... more
"El MP3D es un método de mapeo participativo que integra conocimiento territorial indígena con datos sobre la elevación de la tierra y la profundidad del mar, para producir modelos de relieve autónomos, a escala y georreferenciados. Basadas esencialmente en el conocimiento territorial local, el uso y la cobertura de la tierra y otras características son representados por los informantes en el modelo, utilizando chinchetas para los puntos, hilos para las líneas y pinturas para los polígonos. Al completarse, se aplica un cuadriculado a escala y georreferenciado para facilitar la extracción o la importación de datos. Los datos representados en la maqueta son extraídos, digitalizados y trazados. Al completarse el ejercicio, el modelo permanece en la comunidad.
El modelado participativo tridimensional (MP3D) ha sido concebido como un método para acercar el potencial de SIG a las comunidades rurales y para superar la brecha que existe entre las tecnologías de la información geográfica y las capacidades encontradas entre comunidades marginadas y aisladas que frecuentemente dependen de recursos naturales.
Este manual apunta a asistir a activistas, investigadores y profesionales del aprendizaje y acción participativos (PLA) y SIG en llevar el poder de los SIG a nivel popular mediante el uso de MP3D. Proporciona las manos-sobre las orientaciones sobre cómo organizar y poner en práctica un ejercicio MP3D. Además, incluye puntos de vista sobre el aprendizaje y la cognición espacial, sobre la historia de las maquetas y sobre la utilización del método en todo el mundo.
El 5 de noviembre de 2007, P3DM fue galardonada con el Premio de la Cumbre Mundial de 2007 en la categoría de e-cultura. P3DM fue considerado como uno de los 40 ejemplos de mejores prácticas de calidad de los contenidos digitales en el mundo."
With the emergence of Web 2.0, new applications arise and evolve into more interactive forms of collective intelligence. These applications offer to both professionals and citizens an open and expanded access to geographic information. In... more
With the emergence of Web 2.0, new applications arise and evolve into more interactive forms of collective intelligence. These applications offer to both professionals and citizens an open and expanded access to geographic information. In this paper, we develop the conceptual foundations of a new technology solution called WikiGIS. WikiGIS’s strength lies in its ability to ensure the traceability of changes in spatial-temporal geographic components (geometric location and shape, graphics: iconography and descriptive) generated by users. The final use case highlights to what extent WikiGIS could be a relevant and useful technological innovation in Geocollaboration.
Participatory mapping has emerged as a powerful tool for the collection and use of geospatially oriented traditional and local ecological knowledge (LEK) across a variety of disciplines. The growth of this initiative in small island... more
Participatory mapping has emerged as a powerful tool for the collection and use of geospatially oriented traditional and local ecological knowledge (LEK) across a variety of disciplines. The growth of this initiative in small island developing states (SIDS) has been widely applied to strengthen public awareness and capacity, particularly for environmental conservation, cultural preservation, and climate change adaptation. Participatory mapping strives to build community resilience and has proven to be a valuable technique in taking positive steps towards sustainable development especially in vulnerable communities. This paper examines participatory mapping and community engagement, the value of this practise in Caribbean SIDS facing the impacts of global climate change, and the lessons learnt from a variety of case studies that have been conducted in the wider Caribbean.
Citizen participation should be an essential part of an urban planning process if the needs of the local population are to be addressed. Citizen participation should also improve acceptance of private construction projects by residents... more
Citizen participation should be an essential part of an urban planning process if the needs of the local population are to be addressed. Citizen participation should also improve acceptance of private construction projects by residents that live in or near such development. A complementary form of citizen participation to public planning meetings is to permit citizen engagement via Web 2.0 technologies, which also has the potential to get citizens involved that are usually difficult to reach. We aim to build a social, i.e. participatory, planning platform that allows technology savvy citizens to inform themselves of future and ongoing development projects and to also discuss them online. In this work we discuss the functional needs and context-of-use constraints of such an e-planning platform. A conceptual model of the technical architecture is outlined and a prototype implementation is presented. This prototype is built on free and open source software components, including a social network, to enable platform adoption in other locations. Finally, we discuss the research needs that are to be addressed if the development of participatory e-planning platforms should advance.
PPGIS is often presented and promoted as a more people-centered GIS compared to a traditional technocratic, expert- driven tool or methodology. Yet, the umbrella of PPGIS is quite broad. Within such a wide context, it may be helpful for... more
PPGIS is often presented and promoted as a more people-centered GIS compared to a traditional technocratic, expert- driven tool or methodology. Yet, the umbrella of PPGIS is quite broad. Within such a wide context, it may be helpful for practitioners and scholars of PPGIS to better understand exactly what PPGIS is. Or, in other words, having a clearer conception of what “public” and “participation” are, and how they relate to expected outcomes and outputs within a GIS context, is very important as the ideas and ideals of PPGIS continue to gain momentum. Understanding the variations in the types of “public,” cross-referencing them against the distinctions in “participation” and linking the intersection of types of “public” and “participation” to expected GIS outcomes and outputs would greatly enrich the fi eld. Moreover, such delineation would allow PPGIS practitioners and those considering PPGIS approaches to appreciate the linkages of certain types of participation processes, specifi c elements of the public, and particular types of expected project results. This paper offers a review of key literature relevant to public participation and presents potential integrated matrices to guide future PPGIS thought.
In recent years there have been huge advancements in GIS as a technology and as a science. Previously, GIS was critiqued as a segregating science used exclusively by geospatial experts. In recent years however, various studies have... more
In recent years there have been huge advancements in GIS as a technology and as a science. Previously, GIS was critiqued as a segregating science used exclusively by geospatial experts. In recent years however, various studies have investigated the potential for communities without geospatial training to contribute towards, or benefit from, the use of GIS. Indeed, innovations such as open source and internet based packages like Google Earth and Open Street Map as well as mobile navigation devices have already popularised the importance of geospatial data. This study sought to investigate one way of providing up-to-date maps to fishermen and tourists using dams in South Africa. The paper reports on a pilot case study in the use of web based GIS service for mapping on the Theewaterskloof dam in South Africa. It presents a case study methodology for the development and testing of a web GIS that can be optimised for smartphones and tablets so that communities can access updated information while using the dam, which is rated as dangerous, for fishing or other recreational activity
The concept of residential housing preferences has been studied across multiple disciplines, with extensive literature supporting both stated and revealed preference methods. This study argues that both preference types, stated and... more
The concept of residential housing preferences has been studied across multiple disciplines, with extensive literature supporting both stated and revealed preference methods. This study argues that both preference types, stated and revealed, should be assessed concurrently to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of residential housing choices. To provide evidence, this research used findings from a public participation GIS survey that identified the stated housing preferences associated with three categories of urban residents, which were called urban “tribes”. We implemented an analytical framework using fuzzy modelling to relate stated preferences with revealed preferences for the same individuals using empirical data describing the urban structure in Tampere, Finland. Following an analysis of the relationships between residents’ revealed preferences and urban structural variables, we examined the consistency of stated housing preferences with revealed preferences. The resul...
Zoning is a ubiquitous land use planning and regulatory mechanism whose purpose is to provide for orderly community growth and development by segregating land uses that are deemed incompatible. The delineation of zones and related land... more
Zoning is a ubiquitous land use planning and regulatory mechanism whose purpose is to provide for orderly community growth and development by segregating land uses that are deemed incompatible. The delineation of zones and related land use ordinances are traditional components of an expert-driven, local government process that produces a general or comprehensive land use plan as required by law. Public participation in the development of general land use plans has rarely used participatory mapping methods that engage the general public to explicitly inform zoning decisions. In this study, we demonstrate how participatory mapping methods can assess the consistency, compatibility, and potential conflict of zoning with public values and preferences in a general plan revision process using a coastal community in California as a case study. We describe the participatory mapping design, data collection, and data analyses in a workflow to illustrate the methods, and present the strengths a...
Protected area management can be highly contentious. Information about the acceptability of conservation actions can help environmental authorities design policies that are accepted locally, and identify potential areas of conflict... more
Protected area management can be highly contentious. Information about the acceptability of conservation actions can help environmental authorities design policies that are accepted locally, and identify potential areas of conflict between land users and conservation objectives. In this study, we implemented a spatially-explicit method for eliciting public preferences for land use and conservation policy (web-based public participation GIS; PPGIS). We invited randomly selected local residents in two mountainous regions in Norway to map their preferences for consumptive resource use, motorized use, land development and predator-control. We assessed whether local communities favored or opposed these human activities in nearby protected areas using mixed-effects logistic regression and controlling for landscape characteristics, accessibility and demographics. Local residents strongly favored consumptive resource use and predator control regardless of protected area status, and were more likely to oppose than favor land development inside protected areas. These preferences are largely consistent with the present protected area policy in Norway and Europe that promotes traditional consumptive use and the maintenance of cultural landscapes, but restricts land development. Our results suggest that use-based framing of conservation is more likely to resonate with these communities than narratives tied to the preservation of pristine nature and emerging conservation ideas of the rewilding of nature. Mapped community preferences can be a valuable tool for policy makers and stakeholders representing community interests in participatory processes, and for assessing the local acceptance of alternative management actions within protected areas.
AUTHOR: John Crowley, Harvard HHI. STUDY DIRECTOR: Lea Shanley. Editors: Aaron Lovell and Zach Bastian. Leaders in disaster response are finding it necessary to adapt to a new reality. Although community actions have always been the core... more
AUTHOR: John Crowley, Harvard HHI. STUDY DIRECTOR: Lea Shanley. Editors: Aaron Lovell and Zach Bastian. Leaders in disaster response are finding it necessary to adapt to a new reality. Although community actions have always been the core of the recovery process, collective action from the grassroots has changed response operations in ways that few would have predicted. Using new tools that interconnect over expanding mobile networks, citizens can exchange information via maps and social media, then mobilize thousands of people to collect, analyze, and act on that information. Sometimes, community-sourced intelligence may be fresher and more accurate than the information given to the responders who provide aid. This report explores approaches to the questions that commonly emerge when building an interface between the grassroots and government agencies, with a particular focus on the accompanying legal, policy, and technology challenges.
This paper presents a procedure for the structuring of a problem hierarchy by involving key stakeholders, rep-resenting a first step towards a participatory decision-making process. The case study re-gards the building of a new metro... more
This paper presents a procedure for the structuring of a problem hierarchy by involving key stakeholders, rep-resenting a first step towards a participatory decision-making process. The case study re-gards the building of a new metro station in Catania (Italy), which will be the closest station to a high-demand district where healthcare and university services and a park-and-ride facility are located. Due to the distance and the high slope between the station and the district, a dedicated transit system linking the two nodes is under study, and four different alternatives have been proposed. Key stakeholders have been identified and in-volved via in-depth interviews. A questionnaire, a GIS map and a SWOT-like graph have been used to present them the problem and capture their preferences and opinions. From the results of the interviews, a first hierarchy of the problem has been built, that can be used for stakeholder-driven multicriteria analysis.
The remote Kimberley region in Western Australia presents a unique nature-based tourism destination. One of the world's last wildernesses, the Kimberley is one of the least-impacted marine environments in the world. Tourism in the region... more
The remote Kimberley region in Western Australia presents a unique nature-based tourism destination. One of the world's last wildernesses, the Kimberley is one of the least-impacted marine environments in the world. Tourism in the region is growing rapidly, driven by stunning natural landscapes, unparalleled nature-based experiences and a vibrant indigenous culture. Despite this, there has been virtually no research into how stakeholders value the Kimberley and spatially explicit investigations are lacking. State marine protected area planning, currently in a formative stage in the region, requires such spatially explicit social data to complement existing biophysical information. This paper reports on findings from a Public Participation GIS survey with 206 stakeholders undertaken in 2015 as part of a broader research project into socio-cultural values and management preferences for the Kimberley coast. Stake-holders' spatially linked values were collected via an internet-based mapping survey for the purpose of supporting future planning and management in the region. Stakeholders mapped over 4,100 value locations, with values relating to scenery/aesthetics, recreational fishing, Aboriginal culture and nature-based tourism being most prominent. Analysis identified a clear spatial clustering of values across the region with a number of value 'hotspots' evident. Tourism planners and managers can analyse these hotspots to identify areas of potential congruence and conflict, thus assisting in retaining the qualities of the region that support ongoing tourism. By generating spatially explicit information on stakeholder values and areas of importance, this research makes an important contribution to tourism planning and management in the Kimberley.
This dissertation aims to analyze the communicability of digital mapping platforms Google Maps and OpenStreetMap, based on a collaborative experience of the city of Cachoeira, located in a geographical area named Recôncavo da Bahia, in... more
This dissertation aims to analyze the communicability of digital mapping platforms Google Maps and OpenStreetMap, based on a collaborative experience of the city of Cachoeira, located in a geographical area named Recôncavo da Bahia, in the Northeast region of Brazil. The theoretical framework that guides the research comes from the interdisciplinary confluence of Geographies of Communication and Geocommunications, new subfields of the Communication that deal with digital cartography as a technique and with online maps as a sociotechnical product. For the study of these maps based on their media potential, a dialectical approach is proposed, based on the visibilities and territorialities of the maps in relation to the sociospatial reality. For the empirical analysis, we present a comparative experimental method between two different online maps of Cachoeira, produced under the same cartographic scale, with the objective of critically assessing the dichotomies of sociospatial represen...
Geographic citizen science has much potential to assist in wildlife research and conservation, but the quality of observation data is a key concern. We examined the effects of sampling design on the quality of spatial data collected for a... more
Geographic citizen science has much potential to assist in wildlife research and conservation, but the quality of observation data is a key concern. We examined the effects of sampling design on the quality of spatial data collected for a koala citizen science project in Australia. Data were collected from three samples-volunteers (n = 454), an Internet panel (n = 103), and landowners (n = 35)-to assess spatial data quality, a dimension of citizen science projects rarely considered. The locational accuracy of koala observations among the samples was similar when benchmarked against authoritative data (i.e., an expert-derived koala distribution model), but there were differences in the quantity of data generated. Fewer koala location data were generated per participant by the Internet panel sample than the volunteer or landowner samples. Spatial preferences for land uses affecting koala conservation were also mapped, with landowners more likely to map locations for residential and tourism development and volunteers less likely. These spatial preferences have the potential to influence the social acceptability of future koala conservation proposals. With careful sampling design, both citizen observations and land use
A B S T R A C T Traditional urban park research has used self-reported surveys and activity logs to examine relationships between health benefits, park use, and park features. An alternative approach uses participating mapping methods.... more
A B S T R A C T Traditional urban park research has used self-reported surveys and activity logs to examine relationships between health benefits, park use, and park features. An alternative approach uses participating mapping methods. This study sought to validate and expand on previous participatory mapping research methods and findings and address spatial scaling by applying these methods to a large urban park system. Key challenges for spatial scaling included ambiguity in park classification and achieving representative sampling for larger and spatially-dis-bursed urban residents. We designed an internet-based public participation GIS (PPGIS) survey and used household and volunteer sampling to identify the type and locations of urban park benefits. Study participants (n = 816) identified locations of physical activities and other urban park benefits (psychological, social, and environmental) which were analyzed by park type. Consistent with previous suburb-scale research, we found significant associations between urban park type and different urban park benefits. Linear parks were significantly associated with higher intensity physical activities; natural parks were associated with environmental benefits; and community parks were associated with benefits from social interaction. Neighborhood parks emerged as significantly associated with psychological benefits. The diversity of park activities and benefits were positively correlated with park size. Distance analysis confirmed that physical benefits of parks were closest to participant domicile, while social and environmental benefits were more distant. These results validate previous suburb-scale findings despite greater variability in park types and sample populations. Future urban park research using participatory mapping would benefit from greater effort to obtain participation from under-represented populations that can induce nonresponse bias, and analyses to determine whether system-wide results can be disaggregated by suburb or neighborhood to address social inequities in urban park benefits.
The marine environment provides significant benefits to many local communities. Pressure to develop coastal waterways worldwide creates an urgent need for tools to locate marine spaces that have important social or ecological values, and... more
The marine environment provides significant benefits to many local communities. Pressure to develop coastal waterways worldwide creates an urgent need for tools to locate marine spaces that have important social or ecological values, and to quantify their relative importance. The primary objective of this study was to develop, apply and critically assess a tool to identify important social-ecological hotspots in the marine environment. The study was conducted in a typical coastal community in northern British Columbia, Canada. This expert-informed GIS, or xGIS, tool used a survey instrument to draw on the knowledge of local experts from a range of backgrounds with respect to a series of 12 social-ecological value attributes, such as biodiversity, cultural and economic values. We identified approximately 1500 polygons on marine maps and assigned relative values to them using a token distribution exercise. A series of spatial statistical analyses were performed to locate and quantify ...
The urban environment is composed of multiple narratives, as many as those who live in it. They are the invisible cities of Italo Calvino whose description, in the dialogues imagined between Marco Polo and Mongol emperor Kublai Kan, is... more
The urban environment is composed of multiple narratives, as many as those who live in it. They are the invisible cities of Italo Calvino whose description, in the dialogues imagined between Marco Polo and Mongol emperor Kublai Kan, is far beyond the geographical concepts of geometry and of objectivity. Only the use of poetry and the subjectivity allows the author to reveal the complexity of the different cities visited. The difficulties increase when, if you want to represent this same complexity in maps, it is necessary to add perspectives of transformation of the urban space through the initiative of planning actions. Calvino imagines in a city a great carpet, which reflects the different individual images that each person has. We could consider that the true realization of the potential of geographic information systems (GIS) would put its skills and analysis of geographic information available to the citizens, so that we could all make a great carpet reflecting the order of space and that the order would make it possible to project a future that matched the negotiation of different wills.
A modelagem tridimensional participativa (MP3D) é um método de mapeamento participativo que integra conhecimento geográfico nativo com dados sobre elevação do terreno e a profundidade do mar para produzir modelos 3D autônomos, em escala e... more
A modelagem tridimensional participativa (MP3D) é um método de mapeamento participativo que integra conhecimento geográfico nativo com dados sobre elevação do terreno e a profundidade do mar para produzir modelos 3D autônomos, em escala e georreferenciados. Essencialmente com base em memórias, o uso e a cobertura da terram, além de outras características, são descritos no modelo por informantes usando alfinetes para pontos, fios para linhas e tintas para polígonos. Finalmente, uma grade em escala e georreferenciada é aplicada para facilitar a extração ou importação de dados. Os dados descritos no modelo são extraídos, digitalizados e plotados. Após a conclusão do exercício de mapeamento, o modelo permanece com a Comunidade.
A Modelagem Participativa (MP3D) foi concebida como um método para aproximar o potencial do SIG das comunidades rurais e para ultrapassar o fosso que existe entre as tecnologias de informação geográfica e as capacidades encontradas nas comunidades marginalizadas e isoladas, que frequentemente dependem dos recursos naturais.
Este manual se destina a ajudar os ativistas, pesquisadores e praticantes da Aprendizagem e Ação Participativa (AAP) e do SIG a conduzirem a força do SIG até o nível mais básico por meio do uso da MP3D. Ele fornece orientações práticas sobre como organizar e implementar um exercício de MP3D. Além disso, inclui percepções sobre a aprendizagem de adultos e da cognição geográfica, sobre a história dos modelos em relevo e sobre a utilização do método em todo o mundo.Em 5 de novembro de 2007, a Modelagem Tridimensional Participativa (MP3D) foi agraciada com o Premio de la Cumbre Mundial de 2007 (Prêmio Cúpula Mundial), na categoria de e-cultura. A MP3D foi considerada como sendo um dos 40 exemplos de boas práticas de qualidade e de conteúdo no mundo.
Managing complex problems in socio-ecological systems (SES) requires innovative approaches, which account for multiple scales, large datasets, and diverse lived experiences. By combining two commonly utilized mixed-methods, public... more
Managing complex problems in socio-ecological systems (SES) requires innovative approaches, which account for multiple scales, large datasets, and diverse lived experiences. By combining two commonly utilized mixed-methods, public participation GIS (PPGIS) and Q-method (Q), Q ? PPGIS has the potential to reveal competing agendas and reduce conflict, but its benefits and weaknesses are comparatively understudied. Using a systematic review, we evaluated how different studies have employed and implemented the Q ? PPGIS method. We found 16 studies, comprising 30 publications, with considerable variation in their geographic foci, research disciplines, and addressed SES challenges. These studies exhibit a lack of cohesion between methodological design and implementation and the absence of a consistent application of the method. Nonetheless, Q ? PPGIS offers a tool that can guide policy, better inform stakeholders, and reduce conflict based on misconceptions. Resolving the shortcomings identified here will broaden Q ? PPGIS utility in geographically situating and representing multiple realities within complex socio-ecological systems challenges.
Methods have been proposed for identifying land use conflict potential using participatory mapping data and models. In a case study from Finland, we extend conflict mapping research by evaluating the capacity for participatory mapping to... more
Methods have been proposed for identifying land use conflict potential using participatory mapping data and models. In a case study from Finland, we extend conflict mapping research by evaluating the capacity for participatory mapping to identify conflict for land uses that include mining, tourism development, commercial forestry, recreation, and nature protection. We evaluated two conflict models using reference sites where conflict was expected and assessed whether conflict potential was influenced by participant social group (resident, visitor, holiday home owner). The conflict models correctly identified the locations of current and proposed mining projects and major tourism locations (ski areas) in the region, while conflict for commercial forestry and reindeer herding was spatially distributed. Preferences for land use by social group were more similar than different across the study region. Identification of conflict potential using participatory mapping can provide a useful planning diagnostic but would benefit from additional research for validation.
This paper situates the birth and death of anti-eviction protests correlative with San Francisco's Tech Boom as temporally mediated by the media itself. Specifically, I look at the media's conflation with anti-eviction and... more
This paper situates the birth and death of anti-eviction protests correlative with San Francisco's Tech Boom as temporally mediated by the media itself. Specifically, I look at the media's conflation with anti-eviction and anti-technology, and its fictive narrations of anti-eviction protests as being anti-technology. Because of the thinness of this fiction and its impossibility of materializing, the media had to kill its own spectacle - a death which reverberated in the material realm. Drawing upon cultural and media analysis, along with critical race and feminist science and technology studies, I question ontological differences between representation and objects of representation. At the same time, I look to alternative media technology projects, such as the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, that have emerged to offer variant technological possibilities, as well as alternative temporal approaches to protest materiality. How do these projects shatter the dialectical narrative structure clung to by other media— the idea of technology either being good or bad, or of the anti-gentrification movement envisioned as dead or still breathing?