Web-based PPGIS in the United Kingdom Richard Kingston Chapter 8 8.1 INTRODUCTION The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) have created many oppor- tunities for those involved in GIS and decision support research. Recently many GIS products and applications have appeared on the web (Carver and Peckham 1999), and GIS applications are becoming more frequent in many fields (Doyle et al. 1998). These systems tend to vary in nature from simple demonstrations to more complex on-line GIS and spatial decision support systems. With the increased availability and use of GIS applications, prev- ious criticism of GIS as an elitist technology (Pickles 1995) may no longer be valid. GIS and the WWW are ever evolving technologies with the poten- tial for increasing public involvement in environmental decision-making. To gain an understanding of the potential benefit of web based PPGIS, a real decision-making problem was used to develop, live test, and monitor pub- lic participation in local environmental decision-making. Traditional meth- ods of public participation were examined by working closely with several organizations in the United Kingdom (UK). The specific aims of this research have been to: • develop an example web based-PPGIS using a real decision problem, • analyse user responses to web-based PPGIS in order to evaluate the potential of these systems to democratize the decision-making process, and • theorize the future role of web-based PPGIS in improving public involvement and policy maker accountability in environmental deci- sion-making. Opportunities for direct public involvement in environmental decision- making is currently limited in the UK. This is despite the fact that public participation in environmental decision-making in the UK has a relatively lengthy history. Ever since the first Town and Country Planning Act in 1947, varying degrees of public participation have existed although it was not © 2002 Taylor & Francis until 1969 (Skeffington 1969) that widespread public participation became embedded in the process. Given the appropriate political will and sufficient public interest, the theory, methods, and practical applications developed here can contribute to radical improvements in future decision-making processes and policy formulation. 8.2 TRADITIONAL VERSUS ON-LINE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION With traditional methods of public participation, those who are interested attend public planning meetings which often take place in an atmosphere of confrontation. This can discourage participation by a less vocal majority resulting in public meetings that are dominated by vocal individuals who may have extreme views. These views may not represent the opinions of local people who may resist expressing their concerns, opinions and view- points, and who therefore ‘rarely if ever emerge as definable actors in the development process’ (Healey et al. 1988). Planning meetings often take place in the evening, limiting the number of people who are able to attend. The actual location of and physical access to public meetings can further restrict the possibility of widespread attendance, particularly for those who are disabled or without access to transport. In contrast to traditional methods, new web-based forms of participation are beginning to evolve in the UK. Although these are in the early stages of development in the UK, experience from North America (Howard 1998) suggests that there are many advantages to web-based approaches to par- ticipation, including: • the meetings are not restricted by geographical location, • access to the information is available from any location that has web access, • the information is available at any time of the day, thus avoiding the problems associated with holding meetings in the evenings, and • the concept of ‘24/7’ access opens up opportunities for more people to participate. The use of the WWW has the potential to break down some of the barriers to participation by taking away certain psychological elements which the public face when expressing their points of view at public meetings. For example, with a web-based system the public can make comments and express their views in a relatively anonymous and non-confrontational manner compared with the traditional method of making a point verbally in front of a group of relative strangers. As Graham (1996: 2) argues, the Internet generates ‘a new public sphere supporting interaction, debate, new 102 R. Kingston © 2002 Taylor & Francis forms of democracy and “cyber cultures” which feed back to support a ren- aissance in the social and cultural life of cities’. To achieve greater involvement in environmental decision-making, the public need to be provided with systems that allow them to create virtual spaces. Such systems should allow participants to proceed through the fol- lowing four stage model: 1 explore the decision problem, 2 experiment with choice alternatives, 3 formulate one or more decision choices, and 4 provide feedback and evaluation of the system. Exploration of the decision problem is an essential part of the user’s learn- ing process. Having direct and easy access to the information relating to a decision problem is a key element in learning about its various facets. In this context, information should be available on the spatial and aspatial aspects of the decision problem, and should convey the historical and policy con- text of the decision problem as well as its physical, social, cultural and eco- nomic setting. Existing community or individual ideas and perspectives on the decision problem should be presented where known. Through learning about all aspects of a decision problem, the user can begin to modify exist- ing ideas and generate new ones that can be fed back into the system. Experimentation with choice alternatives is also an essential part of the learning process. These ‘What if?’ scenarios are fundamental to many analyses undertaken by a GIS. With this in mind, web-based GIS should also be capable of allowing the user to: • test basic theories or hypotheses regarding their decision alternatives, • develop decision models or pathways applicable to the decision prob- lem, and • approach consensus or compromise through comparison and trade-off with users’ ideas. Formulation of decision choices should aim to maximize consensus and min- imize conflict. This is often difficult to achieve particularly if the decision problem is complex, but it may be possible to identify the best compromise solution and thereby maximize the acceptability of the final decision. The ability to formulate decision choices based on exploration and experimenta- tion is an essential part of any web-based decision support system. Finally, the system should allow for feedback and evaluation by the pub- lic. Feedback by the public throughout the decision process can inform the local authority how and why particular choices are made. Also in a reverse scenario, the local authority can provide feedback to the public so they know how and why certain decisions are taken. This two-way process Web-based PPGIS in the UK 103 © 2002 Taylor & Francis keeps the local planning authority aware of how users are formulating their decisions. This will also allow designers to improve future systems. 8.3 VIRTUAL SLAITHWAITE The Planning for Real ® (PfR) exercise arranged in the village of Slaithwaite in June 1998 by the Colne Valley Trust (CVT), a local community action group, emerged as a good case study to investigate the potential of a web- based PPGIS. PfR was developed as a means of getting local people more involved in local planning decisions through interaction with large scale physical models of their community. The Slaithwaite PfR exercise was coor- dinated for the CVT by planning consultants from The Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation 1 (NIF) and was partially funded by the local council. A 1:1000 scale three dimensional model of a 2 km 2 area of the village was constructed by CVT and the planning consultants with the help of local school children. This was used as a focus for local discussion about planning issues within the village. Local people were invited to register their views about par- ticular issues by placing flags containing written comments at any location on the model. The results of this exercise were then collated by the NIF consult- ants, and subsequently fed back into the planning process through appropri- ate policy documents and plan formulation mechanisms. One of the main aims of CVT was to consult with local people to find out their views, and involve them in local decision-making. The main features of the PfR method include: • providing a large scale model of the chosen area on which the public can place ideas and comments about their community, • offering a completely open-ended approach in which anything can be said or suggested, • allowing the community to assume leadership of the input process, • providing a mechanism for input open to all members of the commun- ity at a time when most can participate, and • providing information and local opinion that can be of use to both the community and local authorities in future planning. The Slaithwaite PfR exercise provided an ideal opportunity to develop and live test a simple PPGIS that mirrored the physical PfR model. This system was called ‘Virtual Slaithwaite’ and was still available on-line at the time this book was published. The virtual version of the exercise was launched on the web and displayed alongside the physical PfR model at a local vil- lage event organised by CVT called ‘Shaping Slaithwaite’. Eight networked Windows NT machines with Netscape Communicator installed were made available for public use in the local sports hall. This helped to overcome problems associated with access to GIS technology. 104 R. Kingston © 2002 Taylor & Francis 8.3.1 System design The Virtual Slaithwaite PPGIS was arguably among the first such system available to the general public in the UK as part of a real public participa- tion process. The web browser window consists of four frames, each con- taining particular pieces of information (see Figure 8.1). The system design revolves around a Java map application called GeoTools (Macgill 2000). Using this Java map applet, users can view a map of Slaithwaite, perform zoom and pan operations to assist in visualization and navigation, perform simple spatial queries (e.g. ‘What is this building?’ or ‘What is this road?’), and then make suggestions or comments about specific features identified from the map. All user input is stored in the web access logs for future analysis and feedback into the planning process. In this manner a commun- ity database is created, representing a range of views and feeling about planning issues in the village. User responses were handled using perl server- side scripts and html forms. The map applet displays ESRI ® ArcView shape files and allows the retrieval of attribute information from the associated dbf file. Web-based PPGIS in the UK 105 Figure 8.1 Virtual Slaithwaite website. (Source: http://www.ccg.lecds.ac.uk/slaithwaite) © 2002 Taylor & Francis When users first enter the site, they see an initial welcome window, and then are prompted to fill in a profile. This was seen as an essential part of the system design as it could be used to build a database of users to help validate responses and analyse the type of people who were using the sys- tem. Of course, this assumes that users enter correct information about them- selves, and collated evidence suggests that not everyone was truthful. However, it is possible to cross-check certain information such as age and occupation. For example, a nine-year-old professional can be assumed to be an invalid profile. Then again, on this evidence alone should the suggestions provided by this person be ignored? It may be a genuine error, or maybe the person felt such information was too personal and therefore filled in the form incorrectly. Issues surrounding privacy and intellectual property rights in the use of PPGIS require further research. Once the profile is completed and submitted, the map of the village and the associated attribute datasets are downloaded. The frame to the left of the screen contains ‘Instructions and Help’ information that can be read while the map loads. Once the map is displayed, the user is free to select any feature on the map, including buildings, roads, open spaces, the river, or the canal. When a feature on the map is selected, the small frame in the top left hand cor- ner of the screen displays what the feature is and the original ‘Instructions and Help’ window changes to a form that can be filled in with comments or sug- gestions regarding the selected feature. Once they are happy with their com- ments, users can submit them to the system for future analysis. This effectively registers their views with the local planning authorities. When they have finished, they exit the system and are provided with a series of questions ask- ing them how they felt about using the system. They are also given the oppor- tunity to make any further comments. A comment map is also generated with dots marking the exact location(s) where users made comments. Each dot can then be selected in order to display the comments recorded there. 8.3.2 Web-based advantages There are several advantages to this web-based method compared to the traditional PfR exercise. The ability to instantaneously update the comment database and to profile users on-line was seen as one of the most useful advantages of the system over the traditional PfR technique. The on-line system can be maintained indefinitely allowing people to use the system anytime, anywhere. The public does not need to attend a meeting at a par- ticular time or place. This is often the single most inhibiting factor in tradi- tional methods of participation. The system allows faster collation of results from log files and the web site can be used to disseminate results and provide feedback. The traditional PfR requires facilitators to periodically remove participants’ suggestion flags from the physical model and then enter this information into a database for future analysis. The on-line system 106 R. Kingston © 2002 Taylor & Francis avoids this problem and facilitates a quicker turnaround of results. Unlike the physical PfR model, it was decided not to allow users to view other peo- ple’s comments to encourage imaginative responses. This avoids ‘leading’ members of the public into making particularly common suggestions in response to seeing a cluster of flags on the model where many other people have made the same or similar comments. 8.3.3 User responses and interaction Results from the Slaithwaite study suggest that among certain sections of the population, the web-based system was found both useful and popular. At least 126 people used the system, largely during the CVT-sponsored Shaping Slaithwaite event. Although the system was easily available, actual use of the system was clearly skewed toward particular demographic groups. There was a strong (70.6/29.4%) male to female bias among users. The occupation information collected in the database suggests greater usage by those in pro- fessional/managerial or educational positions, while the age distribution of users is heavily skewed towards schoolchildren. The latter is partly a result of educational trips to local primary schools made prior to the event, and partly reflects the inability of schoolchildren to use the three-dimensional map, which was too high and wide for them to reach. Although data were not collected on the mobility of the users, it was clear at the event that the PC-based maps also attracted a number of adults who found the three-dimensional map difficult to use. Given the age distribution of users, it may be worth noting that once the age data were stripped from the comments, it was impossible in most cases to guess the age of the users from their suggestions, reflecting the genuine interest of all users in their local environment. On the whole, it appears that the public response to the system was pos- itive. All users seemed to prefer the ability to type any amount of informa- tion on any subject into the comment areas. This contrasts with the traditional PfR method which limits contributions to a few lines classified by category based on the types of planning problems anticipated by CVT and NIF. In terms of evaluating both systems, only 29 people completed evaluations of the PfR method. This poor rate of return was partly due to the fact that many people left the exhibit once they had made their sugges- tions (CVT 1999). There was a slightly better evaluation response rate to the web-based version, as Table 8.1 shows. During the ‘Shaping Slaithwaite’ event, it was possible to view the pub- lic using the system. A high degree of proficiency in map usage among all the users was observed. Users who could not immediately locate the area they wished to comment on simply found a building or road they recognized and then moved along the path that they would on the ground, querying features by clicking on them until they reached the area. Far more problems were experienced with the use of the computers themselves, Web-based PPGIS in the UK 107 © 2002 Taylor & Francis particularly the mouse-controlled interface. When one of the research staff was not available, younger members of the community often helped those experiencing difficulties with the computer, or entered data for them. 8.4 CURRENT DIFFICULTIES This case study provided useful feedback about how people interact with on-line systems. This is perhaps one of the most important achievements of the project, and will enable future systems to be upgraded and improved. 8.4.1 Training requirements One of the main obstacles to developing PPGIS has been the general lack of familiarity with the technology involved. In particular, many people, espe- cially those from older age groups or manual trades, had never used a mouse before. A much smaller number of people had difficulty under- standing the map itself. This provided very useful insights into how people perceive a two-dimensional map (MacEachren 1995) and how subsequent versions of the on-line system could be improved. However, these issues might become less important as more and more people become familiar with using computers through work, leisure or education. 8.4.2 Access to the Internet Access to the Internet is increasing. National Opinion Polls (NOP) estim- ated 7 million Internet users in the UK in December 1997 (NOP 1997), with market saturation likely within a decade. A survey in 1999 estimated that the Internet was attracting 10,900 new adult users in Britain every 108 R. Kingston Table 8.1 User evaluation of traditional Slaithwaite PfR and web-based virtual Slaithwaite models Traditional Web-based No. % No. % I have full control 0 0 3 9 I have some power for making changes 8 28 9 26 I have voiced my opinion, but have no power to make changes 9 31 13 37 I have been asked what I think 7 24 10 28 I have been told what changes will happen 5 17 0 0 I have no involvement in changes 0 0 0 0 I have no opinion 0 0 0 0 Total 29 100 35 100 © 2002 Taylor & Francis day (NOP 1999). While these figures suggest that the Internet and the WWW are becoming popular, there is the potential that an information underclass is emerging. One method of combating this problem is provid- ing public access terminals in libraries, community centres and even bars and restaurants. In Slaithwaite, there was only one public access ter- minal available in the public library for local people to use. This is a com- pletely inadequate situation if local authorities wish to increase levels of participation on-line, and further access points would be required to give improved access to all the community. This highlights an important issue for future implementation of on-line systems. It has to be recognized by local authorities that such systems should be in place to enhance and offer alternative means of participation, but they should not replace traditional methods. The advent of free local telephone calls (something not widely available in the UK) over the next few years will also help to alleviate this problem. Another development that may also circumvent the computer-literacy problem is digital television. Over the next five years, digital television chan- nels devoted to Internet-type access could provide a direct portal to the types of on-line PPGIS systems described here without the need for a com- puter with an Internet connection. Analogue broadcasting is due to be phased out by 2006 in the UK. This effectively means that the majority of households will have a digital television and, hence, should have access to Internet-type channels, some of which may provide public services such as online voting, public information and participatory democracy. 8.4.3 Copyright issues Although many of the technical obstacles with PPGIS that were first encountered have been overcome, an important legal issue remains unre- solved. This relates to the copyright for data contained in the system. The ownership of each individual piece of information or datum within an on- line system can cause major problems. Any system that is map based could potentially create complex copyright and legal issues. The major problems encountered so far relate to Ordnance Survey (OS) maps being distributed via the Internet (OS 1997; 1999). The OS is the UK’s national mapping agency, which holds the copyright for most maps. The cost of paying copy- right fees for on-line maps could make the whole exercise prohibitively expensive. This is particularly true for a public organization such as a local authority or trust with limited funds. Under present information copyright laws, copyright issues may prevent publicly funded organizations and projects from developing web-based PPGIS. A possible solution that could protect OS data without imposing copyright fees is the use of encryption and coding software in order to transmit the data in a form that cannot be imported into a proprietary GIS (Kingston et al. 1999). Web-based PPGIS in the UK 109 © 2002 Taylor & Francis 8.5 CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH The on-line PPGIS experiment in Slaithwaite has provided evidence that it is possible to develop systems which allow the public to interact with real world representations without necessarily being in a particular physical location and at a particular time. A number of potential advantages over the existing traditional approaches to PfR have been identified in the virtual PfR. These can be summarized as: • ability to customize the map images or display by adding and removing layers, • ability to interactively zoom and pan through the data, • ability to interrogate map features to retrieve a description and/or attributes, • ability to instantaneously add new attribute information to the map database, • ability to profile users, • longer residence times of the virtual PfR model (i.e. it is available 24/7), • faster collation and turn around of results from the PfR exercise, and • availability of the PfR website to disseminate results and feedback from the PfR exercise. 8.5.1 Public access If planning authorities and other decision-making organizations wish to see an increase in public participation, they have to realize the need to pro- vide public access points which the general public can easily access. The provision of public access points in council offices, libraries and commun- ity centres are likely to overcome these concerns. In particular planning problems and ‘policy formulation process participatory on-line systems’ will become a useful means of informing the public and to allow access to data and planning tools such as on-line GIS as an additional means of public participation in the UK planning process (Kingston et al. 2000). These will provide mechanisms for the exploration, experimentation and formulation of decision alternatives by the public in future planning processes and have the potential to move the public further up the participatory ladder. 8.5.2 Effects of scale Early evidence emerging from current and on-going research is focussing on the effects of scale. While this case study has investigated local issues which tend to interest the majority of people living locally, as problems increase spatially less people become interested, even though the decision problems 110 R. Kingston © 2002 Taylor & Francis [...]... ‘Flight to the cyber suburbs’, The Guardian 18 April, 2–3 Healey, P., Mcnamara, P., Elson, M and Doak, A (1 988 ) Land use planning and the mediation of urban change, Cambridge University Press Howard, D (19 98) Geographic information technologies and community planning: spatial empowerment and public participation , Empowerment, Marginalisation and Public Participation GIS meeting, 15–17 October, Santa... Openshaw and Stillwell (eds) Geographical information and planning: European perspectives, Springer-Verlag, pp 361– 380 CVT (1999) ‘Shaping Slaithwaite, part one – the process, Huddersfield: Colne Valley Trust’ Doyle, S., Dodge, M and Smith, A (19 98) ‘The potential of web-based mapping and virtual reality technologies for modelling urban environments’, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 22, No 2, 137–155... Carver, S., Evans, A and Turton, I (1999) ‘A GIS for the public: enhancing participation in local decision-making’, GISRUK Conference Series, 14–16 April, University of Southampton Kingston, R., Carver, S., Evans, A and Turton, I (2000) ‘Web-based public participation geographical information systems: an aid to local environmental decisionmaking’, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 24(2): 109–125,... and adapt this primary tool to meet both local and strategic consultation needs and it has become an essential tool in community development programmes NIF fieldworkers usually facilitate the process using large 3D scale models of the local area © 2002 Taylor & Francis 112 R Kingston REFERENCES Carver, S and Peckham, R (1999) ‘Internet-based applications of GIS in planning’, in Geertman, Openshaw and. .. web-based PPGIS, and an area for further research, is how to elicit, represent and handle user-defined fuzzy information which is difficult to represent on a map ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was undertaken at the Centre for Computational Geography, School of Geography, University of Leeds and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council’s Virtual Society? 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