There is a persistent need for improved tools and techniques to facilitate public involvement in transportation decision making.

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Journal Articles & Reports

Planning Processes

Public Participation: Technology and Democracy

Description: A computerized visualization method offer planners and architects some new ways to support and facilitate democratic decision-making. However, the uses of this technology in public participation are just beginning to be explored. This paper describes a community planning process in which a combination of high- and low-tech visualization methods-a Geographic Information System (GIS) and a human artist-was used to increase public participation and draw out local knowledge.
Citation: Sieber, R E. "Public Participation: Technology and Democracy." The Canadian Geographer, 2003: Volume 47 (1).

Visioning vs. Modeling: Analyzing the Land Use - Transportation Futures of Urban Regions

Description: In an effort to better appreciate what each approach offers, this paper compares and contrasts these two methods, featuring the Austin metropolitan statistical area as a case study. The preferred vision, produced by the Envision Central Texas organization, offers the greatest potential for public involvement in identifying regional development goals for the future. The land-use models have a strong theoretical foundation and allow for interactions with a transportation model. Moreover, the land-use models have the potential to identify key strategies that can be used in achieving the region's goals. Thus, the combination of these two approaches seems to offer the greatest opportunities for planners to achieve a future that accommodates all stakeholders.
Citation: Lemp, Jason. "Visioning vs. Modeling: Analyzing the Land Use - Transportation Futures of Urban Regions." Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 2008, Volume 134 (3).

Developing Ordinary Cities: City Visioning Processes in Durban and Johannesburg

Description: This paper draws on the examples of city visioning processes in Johannesburg and Durban in South Africa to illustrate how developmentalist and growth-oriented urban policy agendas have been brought together in the complex political environments of these cities. These case studies suggest that the process of formulating a citywide strategy, and of thinking about the future of the city as a whole, required that policy makers attend to the many different and often competing demands in the locality.
Citation: Robinson, Jennifer. "Developing ordinary cities: city visioning processes in Durban and Johannesburg." Environment and Planning A,2008, Volume 40 (1).

Constructing Neighborhoods From the Bottom Up: The Case for Resident-generated GIS

Description: Given the fact that GIS are essentially about providing and analyzing spatial data, it is difficult to envision how their use in local communities could be construed otherwise. This paper makes the case for the need to channel intellectual energy into developing an approach and methodology for resident-generated GIS. Specifically I argue that there is a need to exploit GIS in the investigation of residents' perceptions of local neighborhood environments.
Citation: Talen, E. "Constructing neighborhoods from the bottom up: the case for resident-generated GIS." Environment and Planning B, 1999, Volume 26 (4).

Public Participation in a Spatial Decision Support System for Public Housing

Description: It features a robust, non-proprietary data structure incorporating 3D spatial models, use of VRML/X3D for graphics customized and incorporating XML based data and customized tools to support effective web-based user interaction. Although the broader project aims to develop an SDSS that supports all aspects of the management of public housing for a governmental authority, this paper focuses specifically on a module to support public participation through the capture of community feedback and other input.
Citation: Barton, Jack. "Public participation in a spatial decision support system for public housing." Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 2005, Volume 29 (6)

Lessons for PPGIS From the Application of a Decision-support Tool in the Nova Forest Alliance of Nova Scotia, Canada

Description: The effectiveness of a decision-support tool created to identify protected-area potential within the Nova Forest Alliance (NFA) of Nova Scotia, Canada is assessed from the perspective of a public participatory geographic information system (PPGIS) approach. The application sought to create an integrated GIS-based decision-support tool for community-focused communication and conservation assessment among NFA partners (including private woodland owners, government agencies, forest companies, and non-government organizations) and potential application within other model forests in Canada.
Citation: Anderson, Candace. "Lessons for PPGIS from the application of a decision-support tool in the Nova Forest Alliance of Nova Scotia, Canada." Journal of Environmental Management, 2009, Volume 90 (6).