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GIS for Spatial/Political Participation in the Decision Making Processes of Local Administrations

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A special issue of ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (ISSN 2220-9964).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2021) | Viewed by 20515

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jiří Pánek

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Guest Editor

Department of Development and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Palacky University Olomouc, 17. Listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Interests: participatory mapping; community development; urban planning; geoparticipation; public participation in GIS

Dr. Jakub Lysek

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Guest Editor

The Department of Politics and European Studies, Faculty of Arts, Palacky University Olomouc, Křížkovského 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Interests: local politics; political participation; quality of democracy; quantitative analysis

Dr. Enzo Falco

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Guest Editor

Department DICAM, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123m Trento, Italy
Interests: urban planning; participatory planning; participatory mapping; web-based geoparticipation; co-production; digital community planning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The active involvement of citizens in the decision-making process via geoparticipatory spatial tools is becoming a widespread research field among human geographers, behavioral geographers, GIScientists, urban planners, environmental psychologists, policy scientists, and many others. The main aim of the proposed Special Issue is to analyze the state-of-the-art geoparticipatory tools for citizen participation in community decision-making processes and to suggest effective implementation of the geoparticipatory tools available for local administrations.

This Special Issue aims to create a pool of good practices, as well as to critically evaluate the research in the area of GIS for spatial/political participation in the decision-making processes of local administrations.

We invite all contributions that focus on using GIS in participatory decision-making processes in local administrations. Paper submissions may be focused regionally as well as at different geographical scales, preferably using spatial methods that overlap real-life deployments. Possible application areas include (but are not limited to):

Current state-of-the-art participatory mapping applications;
Using mobile- and web-based approaches in the area of local planning and decision-making processes, including participatory budgeting or e-planning;
Key elements, aspects, and functionality of successful geoparticipatory applications;
Development of applications for the process of increasing community participation;
Spatial and statistical analysis of political participation;
Participatory spatial planning in urban environments and cities.

Dr. Jiří Pánek
Dr. Jakub Lysek
Dr. Enzo Falco
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

community development
(digital/spatial) community planning
geoparticipation
participatory mapping
political participation
public participation in GIS
quantitative analysis
urban planning

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 249 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

The COVID-19 Crisis and the Case for Online GeoParticipation in Spatial Planning

by Jiří Pánek, Enzo Falco and Jakub Lysek

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2022, 11(2), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi11020092 - 27 Jan 2022

Viewed by 2470

Abstract

This Special Issue, titled “GIS for Spatial/Political Participation in the Decision-Making Processes of Local Administrations”, in the ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information is aimed at analysing state-of-the-art geoparticipatory tools for citizen participation in community decision-making processes, and suggesting the effective implementation of the [...] Read more.

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GIS for Spatial/Political Participation in the Decision Making Processes of Local Administrations)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

19 pages, 2417 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Between Consultation and Collaboration: Self-Reported Objectives for 25 Web-Based Geoparticipation Projects in Urban Planning

by Ian Babelon, Jiří Pánek, Enzo Falco, Reinout Kleinhans and James Charlton

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2021, 10(11), 783; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10110783 - 17 Nov 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4047

Abstract

Web-based participatory mapping technologies are being increasingly harnessed by local governments to crowdsource local knowledge and engage the public in urban planning policies as a means of increasing the transparency and legitimacy of planning processes and decisions. We refer to these technologies as “geoparticipation”. Current innovations are outpacing research into the use of geoparticipation in participatory planning practices. To address this knowledge gap, this paper investigates the objectives of web-based geoparticipation and uses empirical evidence from online survey responses related to 25 urban planning projects in nine countries across three continents (Europe, North America, and Australia). The survey adopts the objectives of the Spectrum for Public Participation that range from information empowerment, with each category specifying promises about how public input is expected to influence decision-making (IAP2, 2018). Our findings show that geoparticipation can leverage a ‘middle-ground’ of citizen participation by facilitating involvement alongside consultation and/or collaboration. This paper constitutes a pilot study as a step toward more robust and replicable empirical studies for cross-country comparisons. Empowerment (or citizen control) is not yet a normative goal or outcome for web-based geoparticipation. Our evidence also suggests that information is pursued alongside other objectives for citizen participation, and therefore functions not as a “low-hanging fruit” as portrayed in the literature, but rather as a core component of higher intensities of participation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GIS for Spatial/Political Participation in the Decision Making Processes of Local Administrations)

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24 pages, 2277 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Use of PPGIS: Towards Reaching a Meaningful Public Participation in Spatial Planning

by Edyta Bąkowska-Waldmann and Tomasz Kaczmarek

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2021, 10(9), 581; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10090581 - 28 Aug 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3892

Abstract

Together with technological innovations and the development of a digital society, PPGIS approaches have been rapidly growing popular in the last years, in Poland’s local administration. Local governments take significant interest in online tools; however the principles of public participation, which, in fact, should also be applied to e-consultations, are still missing. One of the assumed roles of PPGIS is to support public participation—not just in terms of the number of stakeholders, but especially in terms of the impact on decision making. The present paper discusses the results of investigations into two decision-making processes, regarding local spatial planning in the Poznań agglomeration, Poland, conducted in 2015–2021. Its aim is to verify the hypothesis that the use of PPGIS facilitates more meaningful involvement of citizens in spatial planning. As a result of the case study analysis, in-depth interviews with local authorities and officials, and analysis of the planning documents and the role of PPGIS in public participation in decision making, was investigated. It was shown that in both processes there was no direct participation of society in decision making. However, the use of PPGIS, according to local authorities, had implications in the context of the wider process of local governance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GIS for Spatial/Political Participation in the Decision Making Processes of Local Administrations)

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22 pages, 2836 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Digital and Non-Digital Urban Participatory Approaches on Public Access Conditions: An Evaluation Framework

by Thibaud Chassin, Adeline Cherqui, Jens Ingensand and Florent Joerin

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2021, 10(8), 563; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10080563 - 19 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3292

Abstract

The gradual institutionalization of public participation increasingly compels local authorities to partially share their power over the transformation of urban areas. The smooth running of a participatory session is based on selecting the appropriate type of interaction, or medium, which supports the local authorities to reach and interact with a targeted public. However, local authorities often appear unfamiliar with the organization of interactive sessions with the population. This article introduces an evaluation framework that focuses on the access conditions of participants to the sessions of interaction. This novel perspective aspires to assist the local authorities in their decision to adopt a participatory medium (or method of interaction). Seven dimensions are investigated to this aim, namely accessibility, availability, adequacy, affordability, acceptability, awareness, and attractiveness (the last dimension is introduced in this article). In light of two real case scenarios that occurred in Western Switzerland, the use of the access framework is investigated for two potential purposes: (1) supporting the choice of a medium for an interactive session according to the urban project’s context and the targeted public; and (2) improving future participatory approaches by assessing the representativeness of participants attending a past session in comparison to the originally targeted public. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GIS for Spatial/Political Participation in the Decision Making Processes of Local Administrations)

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16 pages, 1847 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Dimensions of Female Political Participation: Regional Perspective of Women’s Descriptive Representation in Czech Local Councils, 1994–2018

by Pavel Maškarinec

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(12), 729; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9120729 - 7 Dec 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2425

Abstract

This paper focusses on the analysis of female political participation in the decision-making processes at the local level. We analyse women’s descriptive representation in Czechia on a very detailed spatial structure and an extended yearly time series (1994–2018). The main goal of the paper is to examine the spatial dimension of the disparities in female representation in local elections at the level of all Czech municipalities. To achieve this goal, global and local spatial autocorrelation methods were used. The observed spatial patterns of women’s descriptive representation in Czech local councils proved to be very stable. Furthermore, an analysis of the spatio-temporal (in)stability of women’s representation across different elections demonstrated that despite the divergent spatial autocorrelation of women’s descriptive representation across Czechia’s territory, there were no substantial changes in the clustering of women’s representation between elections, except for an identified overall decline in the homogeneity of the clusters. This suggests the existence of considerable spatio-temporal stability of women’s representation between local elections in the different municipalities. Thus, women’s descriptive representation attained in a municipality in a specific election reproduces at a similar level in the following elections rather than diffusing to surrounding municipalities in the form of a contagion effect. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GIS for Spatial/Political Participation in the Decision Making Processes of Local Administrations)

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21 pages, 4770 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating a Workflow Tool for Simplifying Scenario Planning with the Online WhatIf? Planning Support System

by Muhammad Qadeer ul Hussnain, Abdul Waheed, Khydija Wakil, Junaid Abdul Jabbar, Christopher James Pettit and Ali Tahir

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9(12), 706; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9120706 - 26 Nov 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2919

Abstract

In an era of smart cities and digitalisation, there has been a noticeable increase in the development and application of planning support systems (PSS). However, a significant challenge in the broader adoption of these PSS can be attributed to the user experience, which includes the efforts required in pre-processing data. It has been observed that typically 80% of the PSS usage time goes into pre-processing, cleaning, and loading data—a significant barrier for new users. This research focuses on improving user experience by developing and evaluating a new workflow tool called EasyUAZ. This workflow tool directly supports the iterative data preparation needs of scenario planning with the Online WhatIf?—a widely used PSS to develop land-use suitability, demand and land-allocation scenarios. A comparative evaluation has been conducted to quantify the time taken for data preparation with ArcGIS, QGIS, and the EasyUAZ. The study found that EasyUAZ offers a time saving of 30%–35% when compared with other options. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GIS for Spatial/Political Participation in the Decision Making Processes of Local Administrations)

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