Computer-mediated participation is at the crossroads. In the early heady
days of the digital revolution, access to "high" technologies such as
GIS promised the empowerment of marginalized communities by providing
data and information that was previously hidden away from public view.
To a great extent, this goal has been achieved at least in the U.S. and
Western Europe - data about a range of government initiatives and raw
data about different aspects of spatial planning such as land use,
community facilities, property ownership are available a mouse-click
away. Now, that we, the public, have access to information, are we able
to make better plans for the future of our cities and regions? Are we
more inclusive in our planning efforts? Are we able to foster
collaborative governance structures mediated by digital technologies?
In the book, I will discuss these issues, using a three-part structure.
The first part of the book will be theoretical - it will review the
literature in the field, establish a framework to organize the
literature and to link three different subject areas (participation and
community development, GIS and other related technologies, and planning
processes). The second part of the book will be a series of success
stories, case studies that review actual situations where participatory
planning using GIS has enabled community wellbeing and empowerment.
These case studies will vary in scale and focus on different planning
issues (planning broadly defined). The final part of the book will step
back to review alternative scenarios for the future, exploring where we
are headed, as the technologies we are using to plan rapidly change.
