Page 1 of 3 Next  Kheir Al-Kodmany, Ph.D. Director of Graduate Studies, Associate Professor, Urban Planning and Policy College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs University of Illiniois Chicago kheir@uic.edu Abstract This paper presents web-based two-way communication prototypes to augment interaction between community members and planners and designers. In the context of collaborative work and partnership between the University of Illinois at Chicago and Chicagoan communities, the paper presents innovative ways to learn about residences’ views on the design and planning of their neighbourhoods. While commercial GIS software provide basic two-ways capabilities of interaction, this paper argues that these capabilities are inadequate for effective communication. The presented project is an attempt to compensate for some of the unfriendly features that are common in commercial GIS software. 1. BACKGROUND The research in this paper reflects views about the importance of incorporating citizen participation into computer-based planning efforts. The phrase “public participation GIS,” or PPGIS, describes recent research from the planning profession that is rooted in the concern that all voices should be heard in a democracy. In particular, it aims at improving access to GIS among non-governmental organizations and individuals, especially those who have been historically under-represented in public policy making. Individuals and citizens’ groups without access to GIS may find it difficult to gain entry into a public policy-making process that relies on GIS data and difficult to challenge policies that were created through the use of “expert” GIS systems. Advocates of PPGIS claim that GIS technology does not adequately represent many societal groups. Some researchers and practitioners instead seek to develop alternative GIS systems (called GIS/2) that are more adaptable to input from citizens and non-official sources (Obermeyer 1998b). In this model, the role of participants in creating and evaluating data is primary. GIS/2 systems seek to accommodate an equitable representation of diverse views (Aitken and Michel 1995; Rundstrom 1995; Curry 1995; Obermeyer and Pinto 1994; Obermeyer 1995; Al-Kodmany, 2000). 2. METHODOLOGY Getting users’ feedbacks on the Web is becoming increasing popular. Sending text input or polling choices is widely used to get users’ opinions. However, when working with spatial information, it is important to be able to visualize such feedback. In two-way communication, we want to allow users to annotate maps and to delineate their concerns on maps. One option is to allow users to draw various features, such as points, lines, circles, and polygons on the map. It is also possible to add text along with drawn features. When users send their input to the server, the server detects the x, y coordinates of such drawings and saves them. This makes it possible to define a particular location. Users can indicate exactly which location they are talking about. Such a spatial feedback system may be designed with or without GIS software. One of the solutions that receives spatial user feedback on the map is GIS software, specifically, ArcIMS. The workflow on the server side is the same as in the data retrieval method. However, the function of drawing on the map requires Java applets and Java and ArcIMS plug-ins in the client side. The server and client must work together heavily for this method. The following, Figure 1 shows an example of two-way communication using ArcIMS.  Shows an example of two-way comunication using ArcIMS However, ArcIMS has substantial drawbacks, particularly at the client side. It requires a thick client and a heavy server. A “thin” client means a client computer with just a Web browser, while a “thick” client implies a computer with a Web browser with other add-ins, such as Java applets, ActiveX controls, and plug-ins to evoke special effects. The thick client needs to download such add-ins at runtime or beforehand. A “light” server is a Web server computer having only HTML documents and related files, but a “heavy” server has other components, such as database applications and GIS software working together with the Web server. For ArcIMS, the server requires heavy processing with GIS software and a Java Servlet, and the client also needs a Java plug-in installed beforehand and Java applets at runtime to enable the drawing functions. In ArcIMS, the download time for data, map and attribute data retrieval is quite long and it requires substantial bandwidth. Most importantly, the interface design and interaction behaviour is not intuitive. Because of these drawbacks of ArcIMS, we have invested research in developing alternative methods for two-way communication. We divide them into four categories: grid-based, freehand, a combination of grid and freehand or a “complete interface,” and a compositional method. Our earliest project was a survey consisting of one exercise titled, “Urban Likability and Dislikability” (ULD). Simply speaking, participants logged on to the project Web site where they could view a high-resolution aerial photograph of their community with a grid overlaid on top of it. We limited the geographic area to the vicinity of the 18th Street commercial district, since this area was the primary focus of revitalisation efforts. Participants were asked to point out areas on the map that they liked and disliked and to provide the reasons for their responses. Each square of the grid was identified by its centroid (the centre of the square). This centroid was coded as the actual longitude and latitude of the centre of the square. Figure 2, below, shows an early example of a Java Grid based two-way interaction.  An early example of a Java Grid based two-way interaction
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