Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

4-2016

Abstract

Public participatory geographic information systems (PPGIS) have been advanced as a means to include those who have been traditionally excluded from numerous place-specific governance activities, including planning and policymaking and as a way to resolve some of the long-standing tensions between critical traditions in human geography and the ever-expanding field of GIS. Despite the rapid adoption of participatory GIS by academics, government officials, and planning professionals, there are few guidelines of best practices for PPGIS researchers and practitioners to draw on and little effort has been made to understand how and in what ways PPGIS efforts are (or perhaps are not) effective. This article contributes to these important debates by evaluating the geography of participation in a recent participatory planning project undertaken in Muncie, Indiana. Using the mapped information that was generated from a series of public meetings, we have identified the presence of significant spatial bias in the process of participation that affected the resulting plan. This was an unexamined source of bias during this process and an example of why any emerging conversations about the best practices for PPGIS must include a consideration of the geography of participation.

Keywords

citizen participation, local governance, public participatory GIS, urban planning

Discipline

Geographic Information Sciences | Geography

Research Areas

Integrative Research Areas

Publication

The Professional Geographer

Volume

68

Issue

2

First Page

202

Last Page

210

ISSN

0033-0124

Identifier

10.1080/00330124.2015.1054750

Publisher

Taylor and Francis Group

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00330124.2015.1054750

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