Can online map-based applications improve citizen participation?
Renate Steinmann, Alenka Krek, Thomas Blaschke (2004): Can online map-based applications improve citizen participation? In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Verlag, TED conference on e-government, Bozen, Italy
Public participatory geographic information systems (PP GIS) aim at enlarging citizen’s involvement and participation in decision-making processes. In this paper we review existing online PP GIS applications and present an analysis framework. We concentrate on the aspects of interactivity of such applications and on the GIS functionalities needed for their operation. First results of ongoing research exhibit that a vast majority of applications only deliver information to the citizen in a one-way process. Although the technology is available only few applications fulfil criteria of our analysis to be classified as two-way communication tools. We conclude the paper with directions for our further work.
