A praxis of public participation GIS and visualization 1 John B. Krygier Chapter 25 25.1 INTRODUCTION Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) have been conceived as an integrative and inclusive process-based set of methods and technologies amenable to public participation, multiple viewpoints, and diverse forms of information (for a review, see Obermeyer 1998). Public Participation Visualization (PPVis) is an important component of PPGIS. Geographic visualization (GVis) is conceptualized as a predominantly private type of map use involving high human–map interaction wedded to exploratory analyses (MacEachren 1994). Such visual analysis is linked to the analytical component of GIS: maps and other visual representations are not merely the output of GIS analysis, but are part of the analysis itself. GVis Research has focused on highly skilled scientists engaged in scientific research using advanced computing technologies. However, rapid advances in technology are allow- ing a much broader array of non-scientific users to engage in visualization- type map use. Developments in WWW-based programming languages are making advanced, highly interactive GVis and GIS applications available to anyone with an internet connection. Users can not only access existing geographic information, but also can interactively explore ‘what if’ scen- arios and amend and add information to WWW-based GIS databases. Users can ‘make’ and ‘un-make’ information and thus shape and reshape the way they understand their neighbourhood, region, county, and the world. This is an active process of ‘sense-making’ (Dervin 1999) by diverse people, using geographic information from a variety of sources, represented in maps, images, text, and sound. A praxis or theorized practice of PPVis and PPGIS consists of an explicit awareness of the concepts and theories of information, its representation, of people, social relations, power, and how these shape and are shaped by socially infused technologies such as PPVis and PPGIS. Such awareness must be brought to bear on actual applications that, in turn, will reshape the praxis. This chapter reviews a praxis-based prototype PPGIS/PPVis WWW site developed for a low-income, inner-city neighbourhood in Buffalo, New © 2002 Taylor & Francis A praxis of PPGIS and visualization 331 York. This chapter does not prescribe a particular praxis, but instead sug- gests that PPGIS research should proceed within the context of a theorized practice. 25.2 CONCEPTUAL ISSUES IN THE PRAXIS OF PPGIS AND PPVis The Buffalo WWW application has focused and reshaped theoretical and conceptual issues surrounding PPGIS and PPVis. My concern is in develop- ing a theoretically informed practice of PPVis and PPGIS that weds con- ceptual and theoretical ideas to the actual implementation of a site in a community. Conceptual issues include the geography in PPGIS and PPVis, the medium and site content, non-threatening graphics, and evaluation. 25.2.1 The geography behind PPGIS and PPVis Traditional maps and GIS provide access to where particular phenomena are, but Geographers (and others) have developed more sophisticated methods for analysing and understanding geographic phenomena. For example, many concepts and models and methods for analysing economic data exist and are used by geographers, planners, and regional analysts. The technology for providing such geographic methods of analysis via the WWW exists or will exist soon. While it is important to include these sophisticated methods in PPGIS and PPVis applications, it is also important to consider the potential problems and benefits of the general public having access to such geographic methods and models. The users of such applica- tions need to learn to use and understand such methods, and this implies that an educational component must be central to the development of PPGIS and PPVis applications. This component of PPGIS and PPVis may be guided by existing literature on the design and implementation of educa- tional multimedia and other pedagogic materials (see discussion in Krygier et al. 1997a). The importance of geographic education in the context of PPGIS and PPVis cannot be underestimated. 25.2.2 The medium and site content: representation, visual forms and hypermedia PPGIS and PPVis are not only maps and GIS, but also images, video, text, and sound: an array of visual forms (Krygier 1994). The way these inter- related representations are hyperlinked together, the intellectual design of PPGIS and PPVis, must be carefully considered (Krygier 1999). This intel- lectual design is guided by cognitive, social, and geographic theories and © 2002 Taylor & Francis 332 J. B. Krygier may (should?) be open to modification by users of the site. This research focuses on the manner in which current concepts and theories in human geography relate to certain fundamental aspects of visualization and PPVis: the significance of interconnected representational forms (Cosgrove 1984; Krygier 1997b), the spatiality of the map, linked to the development of spatial components in social theory (Sayer 1992; Krygier 1995; 1996), and hypermedia, linked to hypertextual theory (Bolter 1991; Landow 1992; Krygier 1995; 1996). Issues of representation are, then, linked back to the concepts and theories of geography discussed in the previous section. 25.2.3 Public participation and non-threatening graphics Enhancing public participation with the use of IT consists of more than just making the technology available to people. One can have access to tools that provide a sophisticated geographical analysis of environmental data for an area, but not actually understand the analysis itself. Of particular importance, is the idea of graphics that encourage rather than discourage participation: what can be called ‘non-threatening graphics’. Planners involved in engaging public participation in traditional settings (such as public meetings) have noted that participation can be diminished if the graphics used to present information about planning alternatives look too polished, professional, and finished. Sketchy and less-finished looking graphics, however, tend to encourage public participation: the graphics look like the proposal is still in a ‘sketchy’ and undecided stage. This phenomenon is briefly discussed by MacEachren (1995: 456). The issue of non-threatening graphics is broader than graphics, and includes all aspects of the design of a PPGIS and PPVis application in order to insure effective use by the public. Some possible design strategies for non-threatening graph- ics in PPGIS/PPVis include: • use game- and role-playing metaphors, • allow people to explore issues at home (rather than only in public meetings), • use intermediaries in public meetings to do what people ask, • use sketchy (rather than refined and finished) graphics, • use panoramic views as ‘hinge’ between situated view and map view, • use interactive software which moves people through increasing levels of complexity, • use interactive software to make people critical (different perspectives on same issue), and • use an on-line encyclopedia of concepts that need to be understood in order to participate. © 2002 Taylor & Francis A praxis of PPGIS and visualization 333 25.2.4 Evaluation Evaluation of the impact and consequences of the use of PPVis and PPGIS is a complex and important issue. A broad approach to evaluation described in Krygier et al. (1997a) has been adapted to the context of PPVis and PPGIS (Krygier 1999). Evaluation should play a role through an entire project, helping to shape and reshape the design in the process of its development and implementation. Evaluation can be conceived as consisting of four inter- related functions: (1) goal refinement; (2) documentation; (3) formative evalu- ation; and (4) impact evaluation. Goal refinement entails creating a detailed plan of action and set of goals prior to project implementation. Documentation is simply documenting what is actually done in the process of creating the application. Formative evaluation consists of the systematic collection of information during the process of creating the application to get preliminary feedback on its viability (and to reshape the application in the process of creating it). Finally, impact evaluation consists of evaluating the effectiveness of the final application. Each of these evaluation functions can be facilitated with a range of evaluation methods, including interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, observations, ratings assessment, expert review, and achievement tests (a range of both qualitative and quantitative methods). An important approach to impact evaluation for PPVis and PPGIS may be Dervin’s sense-making approach (Dervin 1999; Gluck 1998). For practical purposes, sense-making has well-tested methods and numer- ous applications in many fields. Sense-making should be particularly viable as a means of understanding and evaluating the complex interactions between users and PPVis applications. A major advantage of sense-making is that it is based on the same conceptual and theoretical ideas that infuse contem- porary human geography and social science. Sense-making conceptualizes humans moving through complex time/space contexts, and is similar to Hagerstrand’s time geography (Hagerstrand 1982) and Giddens’ structura- tion theory (Giddens 1984). Dervin brings these important theories into the realm of information design by arguing that all information is designed: ‘ made, confirmed, supported, challenged, resisted, and destroyed’ (Dervin 1999: 41). Sense-making provides both theory and methodology which help guide the development of systems which not only deliver information to people, but which allow people to modify, change, and adapt the systems and information. ‘Sense making explicitly privileges the ordinary person as a theorist involved in developing ideas to guide an understanding of not only her personal world but also collective, historical, and social worlds’ (Dervin 1999: 46). This is the goal of PPGIS and PPVis, to empower users rather than only provide them with existing information. Sense-making can be a vital element of the praxis of PPVis: an explicit theoretically informed approach to information design which, as Dervin argues, assists ‘humans in the making and unmaking of their own informations, their own sense’ (Dervin 1999: 43). © 2002 Taylor & Francis 334 J. B. Krygier 25.3 PPVis AND PPGIS IN APPLICATION: THE BUFFALO, NEW YORK CASE STUDY The conceptual and theoretical issues discussed in the previous section initially shaped ideas about a PPGIS/PPVis application, and were modified by attempting to implement these ideas in an actual community. A grant funded the development of a prototype PPVis/PPGIS website. The project is documented in a Master’s Poject and at the WWW site associated with this project (Chang 1997; URL in references). Goal refinement, formative evaluation, and documentation from the project have served as the basis of an evaluation of the software and technology. Issues investigated, and discussed below, include the skills needed to create such applications, available map and GIS functions, necessary hardware, and time involved. The ultim- ate question is, of course, if the approach taken is viable and worth pur- suing beyond the prototype stage, where impact evaluation (such as Dervin’s sense-making) can be applied. 25.3.1 Buffalo’s Lower West Side community An inner-city neighbourhood on Buffalo’s Lower West Side was chosen as the geographic context for the prototype WWW application. Work began in the summer of 1997 in cooperation with Buffalo’s Lower West Side Development Corporation (LWSDC) and its Director, Mark Kubeniec. The Lower West Side Community is diverse, dominated by Hispanics and recent Latin-American immigrants. It is also home to a significant number of Asian-Americans, African-Americans, and Whites. While nearly 50% of the residents have incomes below the poverty level, the eastern edges of the community overlap the fashionable Allentown area, a historic neighbour- hood dominated by middle- and upper-income whites and their refurbished, Victorian-era homes. 25.3.2 Choosing an appropriate technology There are many technologies available for PPGIS and PPVis. Paper maps and coloured pencils are a cheap and relatively effective technology. Digital technologies are diverse and have their own benefits and problems. The primary alternative to WWW-based mapping and GIS is the provision of mapping and GIS functions on microcomputers in community centres (Ghose 1994). However, such physically located resources may be difficult for certain individuals to access. Delivery of mapping and GIS via the WWW can maximize public access to mapping and GIS, and may be the most cost- effective means of providing people (and particularly those in marginalized communities and areas) with analytical tools that would not otherwise be © 2002 Taylor & Francis A praxis of PPGIS and visualization 335 affordable. Familiarity with the interface of web browsers may enhance usability. Users can focus on learning geographic concepts, mapping and GIS functions, rather than struggling with a new GIS software interface. Finally, the WWW provides access to extensive additional on-line information in a multimedia and hypermedia format, which may supplement applications of WWW-based mapping and GIS. Several methods exist for providing mapping and GIS capabilities on the WWW. A spatial data library can provide access to spatial data and ana- lytical software. The user must perform their own analysis on their own computers after downloading the data and software. Another method is to undertake a GIS analysis and generate maps independent of the WWW, possibly in response to a query from an interested user, and post the results on the WWW. This process can be automated with the use of a map gener- ator. Users set the parameters of a map or GIS analysis on a WWW-based form, which in turn is passed to a map or GIS server, which generates a map or series of maps and posts the results on the WWW page. The US Census Bureau’s Tiger Mapping Service (http://tiger.census.gov) is a good example of this type of technology. Real-time map browsers, such as ESRI’s Map Objects and Internet Map Server provide similar functionality in a package explicitly aimed at component- and WWW-based GIS developers. Early in the research, it was decided to use real-time map browser technology for the Buffalo project, as it provided more sophisticated, real-time GIS and mapping capabilities than spatial data libraries or pre-generated map- analysis approaches. The project maps and databases would reside on a SUNY-Buffalo Geography WWW server, and could be accessed and used by anyone with an Internet connection and a computer. 25.3.3 Developing the prototype WWW site Discussions with Kubeniec and others from the LWSDC resulted in prelim- inary foci for the prototype PPVis/PPGIS site. One of the primary goals of the LWSDC is to confront problems caused by absentee landlords in the community, and to subsidize home sales to community members. Thus it was decided that the site should focus on housing issues. To this end, the site needed two map scales with associated databases: a neighbourhood- scale map with streets, lots, and building outlines (see Figure 25.1) and a more generalized city-scale map (see Figure 25.2). Users of the site can view information about housing in their neighbour- hood, then compare their neighbourhood to the city as a whole. Importantly, potential users seemed very comfortable (not threatened!) by the neighbour- hood scale maps. Our hope was that the comfort in working at the neigh- bourhood scale could be used to ease users into using a more abstract, smaller scale map of the city, while enhancing their understanding of their neighbourhood by broadening its spatial context. The city-scale map existed © 2002 Taylor & Francis 336 J. B. Krygier Figure 25.1 Neighbourhood-scale map in Buffalo PPGIS site. in a compatible (ArcView) format, but the neighbourhood map had to be digitized from paper maps. Multimedia, including images of the neighbour- hood, particular homes, and even the use of animation and sound, were seen as a vital part of the site by the LWSDC. Basic mapping and GIS functions on both neighbourhood and city maps, shown in Figures 25.1 and 25.2, include zoom in to map, zoom out, © 2002 Taylor & Francis A praxis of PPGIS and visualization 337 re-centre map, and hyperlink (for example, a click on a city-owned lot links to the Buffalo City WWW pages relevant to that property). Both neighbourhood and city maps also include an identity function (see exam- ple in Figure 25.3) which supplies data, such as the name of the lot owner, when a lot is clicked. The neighbourhood map also includes a find func- tion, where the user can locate a lot if the owner’s name is known. Figure 25.2 City-scale map in Buffalo PPGIS site. © 2002 Taylor & Francis 338 J. B. Krygier Figure 25.3 Identity function in Buffalo PPGIS site. Two additional functions were added to the neighbourhood maps, and raise some interesting questions about WWW-based GIS and what can be called ‘open databases’. Use of the comment function (see Figure 25.4) takes you to a page which includes a photo of the selected property, basic information (Figure 25.4, left), and a form to submit comments on the © 2002 Taylor & Francis Figure 25.4 Comment function in Buffalo PPGIS site. © 2002 Taylor & Francis [...]... An ‘open database’ that can be added to and modified via the WWW may be misused, yet it is simply not enough to provide existing information via a PPGIS/PPVis application The site must allow users to ‘make and un-make information and thus shape and reshape how they understand and represent their neighbourhood The use of open databases and community- driven WWW-based GIS sites will provide many challenges... Cosgrove, D (1984) Social Formation and Symbolic Landscape, Totawa NJ: Barnes and Noble Dervin, B (1999) ‘Chaos, order, and sense-making: a proposed theory for information design’, in Jacobsen (ed.) Information Design, Cambridge: MIT Press, pp 35–58 Ghose, R (1994) ‘Use of information technology for community empowerment: transforming GIS into community information systems , presented at Association... reports, and the production of scientific knowledge’, Cartography and Geographical Information Systems 24: 27–50 Krygier, J (1999) ‘Cartographic multimedia and praxis in human geography and the social sciences’, in Cartwright, Peterson and Gartner (eds) Multimedia Cartography, New York: Springer Verlag, pp 245 255 Landow, G (1992) Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology,... understanding of, and participation in shaping, the content and analysis available; designing PPGIS and PPVis sites so that they encourage, rather than discourage participation; and finally, evaluating and making sense of the impact of such tools given the complexities of the public who use them The untimely demise of the LWSDC suspended the development of a full PPGIS/PPVis application for the community, ... certainly an important means of providing such resources and skills to marginalized groups and places (see Leitner et al This volume) 25. 4 CONCLUSION This chapter has discussed both technical and conceptual issues related to PPGIS and visualization The successful development of a prototype © 2002 Taylor & Francis A praxis of PPGIS and visualization 343 WWW-based site demonstrates that existing software can... cartography: setting the agenda’, in Taylor and MacEachren (eds) Visualization in Modern Cartography, Oxford: Pergamon, pp 1–12 © 2002 Taylor & Francis A praxis of PPGIS and visualization 345 MacEachren, A (1995) How Maps Work, New York: Guilford Obermeyer, N (1998) ‘Special content: public participation GIS’, Cartography and Geographic information Systems, 25: 65–122 Sayer, A (1992) Method in Social... implementation, and evaluation of such applications A theorized practice or praxis of PPGIS and PPVis is vital Included in such a praxis are the type of issues confronted in the development of the Buffalo prototype site: selection and implementation of the concepts and theories of geography which underpin the analytical capabilities we provide to PPGIS and PPVis users; the design and construction or the GIS and. .. Cartographic Perspectives 31(Fall): 4 25 Hagerstrand, T (1982) ‘Diorama, path, and project’, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 73: 323–356 Krygier, J (1994) ‘Sound and Cartographic Visualization’, in Taylor and MacEachren (eds) Visualization in Modern Cartography, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp 149–166 Krygier, J (1995) ‘Visualization, Geography, and Landscape’, Ph.D Dissertation, Pennsylvania... sites, and to the way we think about GIS databases The prototype site was created prior to extensive discussions with all members of the community The prototype would allow us to assess technology costs and capabilities, and to assess if the technology would be appropriate in the given context Further, few community members were familiar with GIS or mapping The prototype, once finished, would give community. .. members a sense of what the technology could do, and would hopefully spur community involvement in developing a more sophisticated site The danger of this approach is that community members may feel like they are seeing a final version of the site and its capabilities, and may not feel comfortable suggesting other functions to which they would like to have access 25. 3.4 Preliminary evaluation of prototype . existing geographic information, but also can interactively explore ‘what if’ scen- arios and amend and add information to WWW-based GIS databases. Users can ‘make’ and ‘un-make’ information and thus. enough to pro- vide existing information via a PPGIS/PPVis application. The site must allow users to ‘make and un-make information and thus shape and reshape how they understand and represent. neighbour- hood dominated by middle- and upper-income whites and their refurbished, Victorian-era homes. 25. 3.2 Choosing an appropriate technology There are many technologies available for PPGIS and