Participatory Planning Tools Research Articles

A machine learning application to Google Maps Reviews as a participatory planning tool

ABSTRACT Public participation is vital to achieving successful plan outcomes, whereas meaningful participation requires at least informing and consulting the public. However, collecting frequent feedback from the public is a labour-intensive process. Information technologies like Google Maps Reviews offer to collect extensive public inputs by allowing users to share their feedback and ratings about services. Machine learning methods are ideal for analyzing these reviews to understand users’ experiences. This study proposes a machine learning application using Google Maps Reviews to examine feedback on the selected parks in Istanbul, Türkiye. Reviews provide insights into not only park features but also its social structure. The introduced method supports surveys and interview methods preferred by planners.

Application of Urban Theories in Developing Participatory Planning Tools

Abstract For successful and efficient participatory planning, continuous improvement and assessment of its tools is needed. The aim of this research is to summarize the methodologies, process, and results of the participatory workshops carried out within the framework of the Genius Loci project implemented in the Šančiai neighbourhood (Kaunas, Lithuania), and to draw conclusions and insights on the effectiveness, advantages, and possibilities of using urban theories and approaches, such as mental mapping, sociotope methodology, and pattern language in participatory planning tools. The possibilities of application of the design thinking approach in facilitating the process and improving user experience are also discussed. The article includes a brief introduction to the activities of the Genius Loci project with the following focus on workshops, their methodologies, processes, and outcomes from the point of view of urban theories applied. The main outcome is the summary table demonstrating features of participatory tools (workshop sessions), elements of urban theories applied, and their evaluation followed by conclusions.

Augmented reality participatory platform: A novel digital participatory planning tool to engage under-resourced communities in improving neighborhood walkability

Engaging communities and utilizing local knowledge can alleviate the disparities faced by under-resourced neighborhoods with regard to providing sufficient opportunities for walkability. Digital technologies, and in particular smartphones, have created new opportunities to improve community engagement by expanding the inclusion of diverse stakeholders in decision-making. This paper introduces a novel digital participatory planning tool called the Augmented Reality Participatory Platform (ARPP). The platform uses mobile augmented reality (mobile AR) to engage residents, particularly in under-resourced communities, in identifying the design improvements necessary to enhance neighborhood walkability. ARPP consists of a mobile AR app, cloud database, and real-time mapping service. It provides a platform for two-way communication between residents of these communities and decision-makers, with potential benefits for both groups. ARPP enables residents to interact with street features and walkable design interventions in situ, generate walking-related spatial data, and share them and possible design solutions with decision-makers. The platform also assists decision-makers with presenting walkable street design alternatives developed based on community feedback to residents. To determine if ARPP is useful and user-friendly, experts and a group of residents from an under-resourced community evaluated the usability of the mobile AR app. We found that the app largely met the usability goals, and after we addressed must-solve issues identified by the experts, community participants faced very few issues when interacting with it. With recent technological advances in mobile AR and its potential for planning and design, integrating mobile AR into participatory planning is timely.

The potential of combining qualitative GIS and map elicitation in daily mobility studies

Mapping daily mobile experiences is a way to counter-map the mainstream status quo in transport planning and thus produce alternate ‘truths’ of mobility. Studies on the microgeographies of daily mobility and situational perspectives on transport can generate crucial knowledge, which might be used by planners and policymakers in facilitating low-carbon mobility transitions. There is great potential for rethinking and exploring new methods and techniques to study the mobile experiences and lived dimensions of mobility interventions. This paper explores the potential of an approach consisting of visualizing user-generated GPS tracks and geolocated photos in GIS and using the output for map elicitation in interviews. The participants are actively involved in the data production by using GPS trackers and taking photos. In turn, map elicitation enables the participants to be actively involved in analyzing the maps in retrospect. Thus, the method presents a bottom-up mapping tool for producing mobile knowledge, which in turn might be implemented in transport planning as a participatory planning support tool. The strengths and challenges of the proposed combination of methods are evaluated by considering (i) its potential at different stages of an idealized research process and (ii) how it can facilitate the production of microgeographical and im|mobile knowledge. This paper focuses on the practical and methodological implications of the proposed method and uses examples from a previously conducted study of an electric bike intervention in Norway to discuss the potential of combining these methods.

Virtual participatory mapping of nature-based solutions in the Grande de Tárcoles River basin, Costa Rica: Connecting diverse knowledge systems in a context of physical immobility

Co-design processes are of key importance in planning and implementing Nature-based Solutions (NBS), but require boundary management between diverse holders of local, practical and scientific knowledge. Participatory and map-based planning tools, such as Geodesign workshops, can facilitate such boundary management through mobilising knowledge holders, and translating and negotiating between different perspectives. The COVID-19 pandemic hindered physical mobility, but offered an, albeit unintended, opportunity to explore new ways of virtual mobility for facilitating boundary management in NBS co-design through digital participatory tools.This short communication aims to demonstrate how a spatial planning process for NBS can be facilitated in an online context. We draw on an international case study for co-designing NBS in Costa Rica, conducted during the severe lock-down restriction of the COVID-19 pandemic. This novel approach showcases how physical presence and movement is replaced by virtual mobility enabled through an online geographic map-based environment that allowed participants to communicate their opinions and co-create local and regional NBS actions. The case study included developing and testing a co-design tool to understand and map local perceptions of social-ecological problems, and an actual co-design process for siting NBS options and jointly exploring their implications. We present two levels of the process: 1) the adaptation of the co-design tool, and 2) the use and usefulness of the co-design tool. Our evaluation shows that the tool served its purpose well and provided useful support to local stakeholders. We recommend to test further strategical combinations of in-person and virtual methods in NBS co-design processes to improve NBS planning and implementation.

National participant geospatial information system in urban planning

Puporse. The title of air-space in the spatial part is not just a noun, but it is quite effective in determining its conditions. National Participant using new spatial information system including software, hardware in synchronous and asynchronous environments. Also, explaining the role of the National Collaborative Spatial Information System in the effectiveness of urban planning Methods. Introducing the national software in the process of participation along with the spatial information system. Statistical analysis along with interpretations based on statistics, especially Spearman's correlation. Also Using all the criteria and factors that have been used so far to participate with GIS in a spatial and non-spatial way. Results. There are short discussion related to the formation of the software, the formation of the environment and hardware and all the existing criteria, and then the evaluation process, proposed for the participation-oriented information system, continues. The methods are discussed and then the discussion related to the case study and evaluation of the usability of the participatory spatial information system and requirements engineering as a support tool for participatory planning in the municipality was discussed. In the end, statistical analysis along with interpretations based on statistics, especially Spearman's correlation, are discussed and demonstrated. The reason for the topic of decision-making is based on statistical analysis, not just comparing decision-making with analysis, because sudden decisions like early humans are usually made in natural events and away from dangers and the like. This issue has not been seen in any dispute so far. In the following, we realized that the time factor and then being on time are the most important factors along with the economic criterion. Although planners were expected to be decisive, the results showed otherwise. In practice, it was proved that the basis of software, mathematical and statistical analysis decisions of the groups is the reason for the rise of the economic standard, along with the time factors, which are very necessary in improving the participation with GIS. The role of the power and wealth layer is still colorful and unlike the priorities, the fastest and most dominant decisions are made by this. in this study Time is a decisive factor. Conclusions. Based on the results obtained and due to the misleading nature of the time issue, it cannot be managed, and people should not worry about time management, because they lose their focus. Therefore, they should manage their concentration and be focused in the moment. It is only in this way that one can use the time effectively and continue the desired activity. Finally, by programming and creating collaborative decision-making in asynchronous and synchronous environments, NPGIS is introduced in an organizational form.

Collaboration on Urban Regeneration: Perspectives Towards Transit-Oriented Development Between Local Entrepreneurs and Key Stakeholders in Salaya Sub-District, Thailand

This study focuses on the future changes to the urban form around the Salaya railway station, which will be developed as a terminal station of the Bangkok metro service. The purpose is to investigate stakeholder attitudes to the transit-oriented development (TOD) approach to the station premises. The attitudes of local businesses and key stakeholders to joint programs on infrastructure development and the surrounding area are identified as local businesses encouraging the collaborative urban regeneration program. The approach uses scenarios as a tool for participatory planning to help identify future applications, including a workshop in two parts. The first part was conducted using group interviews with local entrepreneurs to raise the idea of the collaborative urban regeneration program. The second part was an evaluation of the program by the three key stakeholder groups: municipality, railway operators, and real estate investors. The scenarios evaluated by the key stakeholders indicate the different attitudes to the collaborative urban regeneration program depending on the role of each stakeholder. The collaborative program developed by local entrepreneurs can be classified by economic and physical factors. The findings suggest a common aspect for future collaboration in marketing strategies, such as advertising representing localness, as both local entrepreneurs and key stakeholders mostly agreed on the program. Disagreement on collaborative urban regeneration depends more on the specific role of the company or organization.

SAFETY MONITORING BY MEANS OF SENSOR NETWORKS DISTRIBUTED WITHIN THE FOSSA SITE PLAN

Abstract. The seismic event of 6 April 2009 has inevitably left its mark on the history of the entire territory of L'Aquila (Italy), completely devastating the town and much of the province. Within such frantic and extensive reconstruction activity, the resulting construction works could not but draw attention to some issues of fundamental importance such as coordinated planning, safety, respect for the rules and above all the rebirth of the territory. This research is aimed at drawing up the site plan for Fossa, a municipality in the Province of L'Aquila and not far from the region capital of Abruzzo, Italy. The main objective is to create a monitoring standard by means of a dedicated sensors network and detailed strategies in order to coordinate, guide and support the single actions of intervention through design behaviours and highly technological tools. The Plan is configured as a tool for participatory planning, with the active involvement of planners, companies and citizens, whose common goal is the preservation of the identity of locations, the mitigation of seismic risk and the enhancement of the cultural heritage of the Municipality of Fossa. Implementation of this work is the application of technological systems for construction site monitoring: a concrete response to the growing demand for organized management of the construction process on site and safety in the workplace can be achieved through the use of systems and rational control and management procedures that include the use of innovative technologies.

The value of participatory urban policy councils: engaging actors through policy communities

Despite considerable literature exploring Brazil’s participatory management, less academic attention focuses on Brazil’s public policy councils ( conselhos gestores de políticas públicas), which are permanent political-institutional structures on a range of policy issues mediating between society and the state. This article analyses urban policy councils in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, and Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, considering whether this participatory planning tool advances democratic inclusion. We approach participatory planning through the lens of policy communities. Through these cases, we demonstrate that these two councils do not, in fact, enable all those affected and interested to influence and define policies. Yet even if the views of the most disenfranchised do not ultimately prevail, these urban policy councils contribute to publicizing urban policy issues and democratizing the range of stakeholders that gain access to the policy community. We conclude by highlighting suggestions for improving public policy councils as mechanisms for participatory planning.

Análisis socioeconómico de los productores de maíz para autoconsumo: caso de los indígenas en el Estado de Nayarit

Este artículo tiene como objetivo caracterizar la situación social y económica que enfrenta la población indígena del estado de Nayarit en relación con la producción de maíz para autoconsumo. La investigación se centró en la producción de maíz como elemento esencial para el acceso a la alimentación y disminución de la pobreza alimentaria presentes en esta población. Los resultados y análisis presentados son producto de un diagnóstico socioeconómico perteneciente al proyecto: “Modelo Institucional para la Producción Sostenible de la Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit”. Este es un estudio mixto (cuantitativo – cualitativo), con enfoque multidisciplinario. Se utilizó el método etnográfico, con herramientas de planeación participativa, con análisis de estructuras latentes y análisis de los discursos sociales de los actores participantes en las comunidades de estudio, bajo un diseño de investigación evaluativo. Se concluyó que, el maíz ha sido un elemento activo en la producción social de los pueblos originarios, porque representa las formas de relacionarse entre los pobladores y comunidades, así como el modo de organización interna para la producción, manejo de sus recursos, de las actividades familiares y de cada pueblo originario.

Mapeamento cultural. Enfrentar o desafio de políticas e planeamento culturais mais participativos e pluralistas

The term cultural mapping refers to both an interdisciplinary field of research, encompassing an array of approaches used in diverse contexts as a tool and method of inquiry, organization, and presentation; and an insight-generating praxis, as a participatory planning and development tool embedded in “communal engagement and the creation of spaces to incorporate multivocal stories” (Duxbury and Saper, 2015: n.p.). The evolution of cultural mapping intertwines academic and artistic research with policy, planning, and advocacy contexts. Its current methodological contours have been informed by five main cultural mapping trajectories: community empowerment and counter-mapping, cultural policy, municipal governance, mapping as artistic practice, and academic inquiry. This article provides an overview of this field, identifies some of the objectives and issues with which researchers are currently engaging, and offers questions and suggestions to guide efforts to build closer connections with the realms of cultural policy and planning.

Augmenting physical 3D models with projected information to support environmental knowledge exchange

Abstract. Participatory GIS has emerged as a useful tool for participatory planning and collaborative decision making. Many participatory GIS approaches are low-tech methods, including using physical objects such as 3D topographical models to assist with landscape recognition. More recently, physical 3D models have been augmented with light projection of digital landscape information and simulation models. Here we describe approaches currently being employed using 3D Projection-Augmented Landscape Models (3DPALM). We also explore the potential of emerging approaches that bridge traditional 3D participatory GIS and geosimulation models. Case studies are presented from Australia, Mexico and Canada that use physical 3D landscapes augmented with geosimulation models to support participatory planning, education and cross-cultural knowledge exchange. The work described in this paper suggests there are significant opportunities for the wider use of 3DPALM application to support a broad range participatory planning applications.

A framework to assess the performance of participatory planning tools for strategic delta planning

Participatory planning tools are increasingly applied in strategic delta planning processes. Additional to its design criteria, such tools commonly promote a variety of aspects including (1) facilitation of communication, (2) knowledge sharing, (3) social learning, (4) decreasing differences in power, (5) integration between sectors, and (6) supporting agreements. Yet tools are rarely assessed systematically on these participatory process dimensions. This paper presents a participatory planning tool assessment framework. The paper shows how the framework is tested on its usefulness in a training workshop on participatory planning tools for strategic delta planning. It is concluded that the framework offers potential to assess participatory planning tools beyond a tool’s technological design criteria and that it can contribute to advancing our knowledge on the performance of tools in participatory planning activities.

Playful civic skills: A transdisciplinary approach to analyse participatory civic games

Although civic participation is an inseparable part of contemporary urban planning, the civic skills needed for meaningful engagement in the planning process and the way citizens learn them are still controversial issues. Digital transformations establish thematic connections between hitherto separated disciplines like media and communication studies and urban planning around citizen participation. Using playful digital media as participatory tools is a recent development. The learning and engagement affordances of games suggest there is potential to enhance civic skills and build a deeper form of civic engagement. Building on theories of urban planning, media and communication studies, and game design, this study proposes an analytical framework for investigating game affordances to enhance and expand civic skills. The model enables us to recognise how different aspects of a game -mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics- can increase civic knowledge, expand expression and communication skills, establish new ways to join publics, and provide new spaces for taking civic action. This study analyses the case of a civic game, developed as a participatory urban planning tool in the Dutch context, and proposes the notion of ‘playful citizenship’ as a new civic engagement style in urban planning.

Scenario workshops as a tool for participatory planning in a case of lake management

As a part of a scenario planning process, or other futures oriented study, workshops are often arranged. They are participatory events where the intention can be to produce future-related knowledge, strengthen the futures thinking of the participants, network and co-operate, enhance the mutual understanding and social learning, communicate research results, or resolve a conflict. This paper reviews the literature of scenario planning and future oriented workshops, and discusses the findings of five scenario workshops arranged for lake management stakeholders in Finland. The findings suggest that scenario workshops can act as empowering events that enhance the futures consciousness of the participants, network people interested in the same topic, and enhance social learning. Scenario workshops are also an effective tool for participatory planning, enabling collecting of the views of the future of a certain topic and creating scenarios, as well as a platform for research communication. However, it is unlikely that the in-depth perceptions of the participants would drastically change due to the new knowledge obtained at a single workshop. The previous assumptions and cognitive schemas dominate the thinking, and are converted into workshop outcomes. To change the conventional paradigms, a longer-term process and typically a competitive new paradigm is required.

Gobernanza ambiental: el Consejo Asesor (CA) del Parque Nacional Huatulco (PNH) como un instrumento de conocimiento transdisciplinario1

La gobernanza ambiental en México abre un nuevo paradigma para la conservación de ecosistemas. Los Consejos Asesores (CA) de las Áreas Naturales Protegidas (ANP) son instrumentos de gobernanza, son arenas políticas en las que el fin es la democratización de la toma de decisiones. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en presentar los resultados de un diagnóstico realizado al CA del Parque Nacional Huatulco (PNH). Esta investigación se realizó entre 2012 y 2015 mediante el empleo de la investigación-acción. La recolección de datos fue cualitativa a través de la observación participante en dos casos donde fue activada la función del CA. Los resultados demostraron que en las relaciones entre los actores y el Consejo Asesor, la participación ciudadana emerge y coadyuva a resolver conflictos, aunque también cumple una función que permite legitimar las decisiones impuestas (top-down) por los altos funcionarios. Los hallazgos permiten reconocer que el CA opera como parte de un modelo de control de daños donde se convoca a la participación ciudadana, en lugar de fungir como un instrumento de planeación participativa. Los CA deberían ser una herramienta de intercambio constante de conocimiento transdisciplinario y consciente de la conservación viable. Este artículo contribuye a desmitificar el resultado del proceso de interacción que se vive en los CA.

Reconstructing spatial narratives as a mode of action research and planning – Dialogical community actions of urban regeneration in the neighborhoods of Ka-la̍k-á, Taipei

Urban regeneration has presented new opportunities and alternative routes of development for historical and marginalized communities in Taipei, while strategically avoiding wholesale renewal demolition of existing urban fabrics. Yet the neo-liberalist mode of regeneration meets local challenges of sustaining place identity and social inclusion in the declining but lively neighborhoods of Ka-la̍k-á, and the bottom-up initiatives, facilitated by the collaboration of academic practicum, planners in residency, and local residents and activists, adopt different tactics of narrative operations to reinstate Ka-la̍k-á’s identity grounded on its agricultural past and everyday-life stories of the community. From launching experimental filmic narratives to reiterating the narrative routes and reprogramming narrative spaces of the local, the action research of reconstructing narratives is regarded as the cornerstone of dialogical community planning to counterbalance the impending top–down implementation of urban renewal or regeneration projects. The premeditated methodology can also be applied as a dialogical tool for participatory planning and as spatial reconfiguration of social relations and community networks.

An analytical framework for strategic delta planning: negotiating consent for long-term sustainable delta development

Sectoral planning on water, agriculture and urban development has not been able to prevent increased flood risks and environmental degradation in many deltas. Governments conceive strategic delta planning as a promising planning approach and develop strategic delta plans. Such plans are linked to actions and means for implementation in the short-term, in line with long-term strategic choices. This paper introduces an analytical framework that focuses on the role of actors, innovative solutions and participatory planning tools in negotiating consent for the strategic choices in a delta plan and its implementation. Cases of Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Vietnam are discussed as a plausibility probe to explore the framework's potential. The probe reveals that the framework is promising to explain the process and outcomes of strategic delta planning in urbanizing deltas. The paper ends with an initial research agenda to stimulate research and discussion on this new delta planning approach.

Disminución de la participación de la población en organizaciones sociales durante los últimos trece años en Chile e implicaciones para la construcción de una política de planificación urbana más participativa

The 2014 National Urban Development Policy of Chile defines among its objectives an “effective” public participation. However, as this article shows, participation in member-based organizations of diverse types has significantly decreased in Chile in general, and especially in the city of Santiago. The research conducted analyses data about participation in the national surveys CASEN 2000 and CASEN 2009, as well as in the survey Santiago Como Vamos 2013, demonstrating that participation in member-based organizations has decreased significantly in Santiago in the last thirteen years and that citizens lack interest in participatory urban planning tools. This article furthermore identifies the implications and challenges that these low levels of participation pose for building a more participatory urban planning policy.

Decision-Making Tool for Participatory Urban Planning and Development: Residents’ Preferences of Their Built Environment

AbstractUsually, people pursue settlements that fulfill their needs and realize their aspirations. Since the 1970s, the Egyptian government has established new urban communities to fulfill the increasing demand for housing. At the national level, the population of Egypt’s 20 new cities did not exceed 766,000 persons in 2006, or only 1.06% of Egypt’s total population. The population of these new cities reached only approximately 30% of the targeted population of 2006. On the other hand, the environmental and urban conditions in existing urban areas are deteriorating, which caused them to become expellant areas. This indicates a gap between housing supply and demand, or in other words, between what government provides and people need; in addition, there is a misallocation of resources. The present study suggests a participatory planning tool where residents elaborate on the planning/replanning process by defining their priorities. The tool, based on the analytical hierarchy process, helps professionals and ...