Community Participation and Geographic Information Systems - Chapter 23

Chapter 23 Spatial multimedia representations to support community participation Michael J. Shiffer 23.1 INTRODUCTION One of the criticisms levelled against GIS and similar spatial informa-tion systems (as they relate to public participation), is their relative ina-ccessibility and the lack of capacity to incorporate informal mental models, such as personal anecdotes and observations. This chapter explores some potential roles that complementary technologies to GIS can play in facilitating public participation in planning contexts. The complementary technologies, which afford the capacity to link images, text and sound to maps will be referred to in a general sense as spatial multimedia. Three perceived impediments to participation comprise: (1) the inability to physically attend meetings; (2) being unable to understand others; and (3) struggling to have competing views understood by others. For each of these, various implementations of spatial multimedia are described that begin to overcome each impediment, thus achieving an enhanced degree of public participation in a specific context. Finally, several areas where additional research is needed will be identified. 23.2 IMPEDIMENTS TO PUBLIC PARTICIPATION There are many political, organizational and institutional impediments to public participation in planning contexts. These have been explored exten-sively throughout the planning literature (cf. Forester 1989; Innes 1996; Day 1997; Tett and Wolfe 1991). This chapter focuses on the tangible impedi-ments to public participation, and how IT can address those. This chapter does not suggest that IT can be an easy cure to participation challenges. Rather, it is proposed as a potential catalyst towards a more inclusive process. © 2002 Taylor & Francis 310 M. J. Shiffer 23.3 IMPEDIMENT: JUST GETTING THERE... The results of GIS analyses are often conveyed to the public in the context of meetings. Yet one of the more significant impediments to public partici-pation in planning is simply being physically able to attend meetings. This can be particularly challenging for the elderly and physically challenged, especially in climates with diverse weather patterns. Furthermore, being at meetings can be a significant challenge to ‘two-income’ families or families with small children, where a willingness to attend such a meeting can often be superseded by simple practicality. Finally, there may be a degree of ambiguity surrounding how relevant the agenda of a particular meeting may be to a specific individual. All of this tends to lead to lessened public participation on routine matters, and perhaps even an unintentional lack of participation on matters of particular relevance. 23.3.1 How IT can help: virtual presence In recent years, IT in the United States has matured to a point where it can be employed to bridge the physical gap between planning meetings and those who wish to attend them. A category of technologies can support a degree of virtual presence at a meeting – thereby complementing the data handling and mapping capability of GIS. The most relevant technologies include cable TV access, video teleconferencing, and WWW access. GIS can play an active role in all of these forms of virtual presence due to the cap-acity of the technologies to effectively transmit live displays from GIS applications. Hence, the user can often have the option of transmitting a realtime image of a human, a place, or a map. 23.3.1.1 Public access cable television channels Cable TV has been popular in the United States since the 1970s. A key elem-ent involved in the granting of many local cable franchises is the required provision of a public affairs channel which enables broadcast of city or town council meeting and planning. Often these meetings involve a one-way inter-action between the meeting and the viewer. This level of participation is rela-tively easy to attain, for many US households have cable TV access, and it’s easy to use, as it simply involves switching on a TV and watching. Although most immediate interaction is one-way (from the meeting participants to the viewer), and traditional feedback mechanisms (such as letter writing and telephone calls) may be employed, some of the more forward-thinking munic-ipalities may actually provide a mechanism for immediate viewer feedback by taking phone calls during the meeting. These situations, however, are rare. A less-formalized mechanism for public participation that also involves cable television access and viewer participation, can be found within the © 2002 Taylor & Francis Spatial multimedia representations 311 public access model of local cable TV franchises in the United States. For example, several years ago, Cambridge (Massachusetts) Community Television developed an ‘electronic soapbox’ known as ‘BeLive’. BeLive con-sists of a desk with a phone and two chairs. Any citizen wishing to broadcast on the local cable television channel simply sits at the desk, flicks a switch to turn on the camera, and instantly he or she is broadcasting to the local com-munity. The citizen may announce the number of the phone at the desk and broadcast conversations with viewers. Although BeLive is a relatively ‘low-tech’ approach to public involvement, it demonstrates how an innovative use can be made of existing technologies. Both the BeLive and the traditional model of cable TV access have the capacity to convey limited spatial information. This information can be made available through simple mapping tools or software that provides rapid access to a set of maps (such as Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Powerpoint). Nevertheless, when using this mode of transmission, special attention must be paid to the fact that TV is an exceptionally low-resolution medium. This is further complicated by the fact that the NTSC video broadcast standard in North America scans every other line of a video signal in an alternating man-ner that leads to a ‘flicker’ of thin horizontal lines. Finally, the use of bright colours can be problematic for broadcast signals. All of this adds up to the fact that it can be useful to learn the following simple tactics from television news organizations about the broadcast of maps: (1) display maps at a scale suitable for simple and clear reading; (2) use muted colours whenever possi-ble (i.e. maroon rather than red, mustard rather than yellow); (3) Draw lines thickly to avoid flicker; (4) remember that people viewing these maps will have very limited time to see them, so keep them simple. For example, if necessary use a slow succession of simple maps rather than a single map to convey multiple attributes. 23.3.1.2 Video conferencing Another relevant form of IT with the capacity to enable ‘virtual presence’ is video conferencing. This technology has matured and is extensively used by private industry, where collaboration most often takes place over great distances. Video conferencing has only rarely been used to facilitate public involvement in local affairs, however, due to its relatively high cost (for both infrastructure and connection). It is more typically used by the private sector where elimination of travel over great distances is economically feasible. Access to the technology in the United States has changed sig-nificantly in recent years, due to the fact that many service bureaus (such as Kinko’s Copy Shop) have installed video conferencing stations and charge a small fee for access to these facilities. However, use of this technology is dominated by the private sector, where activities such as remote interviews of job candidates might make economic sense. © 2002 Taylor & Francis 312 M. J. Shiffer However, video conferencing can be relevant to public participation in local government where it may be necessary to draw upon remote expert-ise to solve a local problem. In this context, cities have the capacity to meet remotely with consultants for progress reports on projects ranging from real estate development to transit improvements. When using video confer-encing to convey spatial information, one needs to be cognizant of the same technical limitations as described above for cable TV access (regarding thickness of lines, use of colour, etc.). One exception to this is that since video conferencing is a two-way conversation, maps can be redisplayed for longer duration at the request of the other party, and it may be possible to use more complex maps in these situations. Cable TV and video conferen-cing may indeed bridge the gap of space; however, participation using these technologies still requires that all participants be involved at the same time. 23.3.1.3 ‘Getting There’ through the Internet The development of the Internet and the WWW is really a centerpiece addressing the physical inaccessibility of spatial information systems. Data and information are no longer tied to a discrete set of machines in a single location such as a planning office. Instead, Internet-based GIS makes it pos-sible to access this data from virtually any suitable machine in the world provided that it has an effective network connection. ‘Suitable machines’ can range from desktop units to hand-held devices used in the field. By virtue of the WWW’s global system of associative document links, as well as the Internet’s capacity to support remote conferencing (or less formal ‘threaded’ conversations via discussion groups and mailing lists), this tech-nology has profound implications for enhancing public participation by bridging the barriers of space and time. The Internet enables interactive conversations among multiple stakeholders. Furthermore, the WWW affords multiple channels of access to a variety of media in the form of linked maps, images, and documents. In this context, however, the concern is the capacity of the Internet to facilitate virtual presence. Access to the Internet has been growing rapidly in the last few years. This is attributable to the many thousands of households that gain access to the Internet each day through their personal computer and either a telephone line or a cable TV connection. Furthermore, wireless access to the Internet, though still in its infancy, is rapidly growing. However, for those concerned about equitable access to public participation in local affairs, the Internet can be viewed as a barrier between those who are affluent enough to afford access from the home computers and those who can’t. Fortunately, there has been movement in both the private and public sectors to address this issue. On the private side, several Internet providers have initiated programmes where they will give away personal computers to people who subscribe. This, however, is probably small consolation to those who are concerned © 2002 Taylor & Francis Spatial multimedia representations 313 with equity issues, since this model still requires a sustained outlay of cash to support Internet access. Some programmes require no cash and are instead fully supported through funds from online advertisements; however, these can be difficult to become involved with, due to high demand for these services. Another private sector model is ‘pay-as-you-go’ Internet access. This was initially popularized by so-called ‘cyber-cafés’, but has recently found its way to such routine places as the local McDonald’s. Here one finds a kiosk-like machine that accepts cash (in this case, $1 for 20 minutes) for Internet browser time. Nevertheless, the use of a McDonald’s Internet kiosk to access local-government-related information has yet to be observed! In the public sector, access to the Internet, and by implication to local government information, has been made available through libraries and other public buildings where clusters of computer terminals can often be found. These are supplemented by a significant number of community com-puter centres that have arisen in various low-income neighbourhoods. Finally, physical inaccessibility to spatial information systems can be addressed in a very ‘low-tech’ way by simply bringing a laptop computer, projector and an information specialist to a planning meeting. 23.4 IMPEDIMENT: UNDERSTANDING OTHERS For many years, planning professionals have been challenged to describe technical information to non-technical audiences. Where abstractions have been used to convey concepts such as noise and traffic levels, more descrip-tive indicators have been somewhat elusive. Furthermore, it is often chal-lenging for meeting participants to effectively describe a former, current or proposed physical environment to those who may be unfamiliar with the area or the time frame in question. Representational aids provide an imple-mentation of IT that can support the gap of understanding that often exists between the speaker and the audience. Representational aids are designed to make the abstract more concrete by employing a richer set of descriptions. They have evolved from gestural and verbal tactics such as waving of hands and copious use of adjectives, to artistic conceptualizations and the employment of linked media. The intent has been to close ‘the gap of understanding’ between technical spe-cialists and key stakeholders. This has most recently been accomplished through the augmentation of typically abstract environmental representa-tions with direct manipulation interfaces and multimedia representational aids, which have been made available in planning settings through increases in computing power over the last decade (cf. Câmara et al. 1991; Shiffer 1995 and many other works on this subject). For instance, as one observes public participation contexts, a gap often becomes evident between what is being conveyed by a specialist at the head © 2002 Taylor & Francis ... - tailieumienphi.vn