Community Participation and Geographic Information Systems - Chapter 22 pdf

By combining a range of spatially referenced data, information media, and analytic tools, GIS technology enables citizens to prioritize issues, understand them, consider alternatives, an

Part III

PPGIS futures

Mutualism in strengthening

GIS technologies and

democratic principles:

perspectives from a GIS

software vendor

Jack Dangermond

22.1 INTRODUCTION

Educated and informed citizens are essential in a democracy where power is vested in the people and exercised by them Policy and decision-making at all levels of government frequently involve geographically related issues such

as the environment, transportation, natural resources, energy, agriculture, defense, trade, economics, and social welfare GIS technology is the golden thread that is weaving its way through the fabric of democracy Fundamental

to many of the societal issues that are surfacing in the twenty-first century, the widespread use of GIS has value beyond simple efficiency, profitability,

or even communication (Figure 22.1)

By combining a range of spatially referenced data, information media, and analytic tools, GIS technology enables citizens to prioritize issues, understand them, consider alternatives, and reach viable conclusions When the public has access to timely, accurate information about the geographic aspects of the issues they seek to resolve, they and their representatives are better able to evaluate alternative courses of action, form opinions, and vote wisely

22.2 PERCEIVING SPATIAL DATA

People seem to have a natural sense of place and for the significance of geography as it relates to human activities This is perhaps best evidenced

in the remarkable ability of the human eye-brain combination to recognize and understand the human environment Humans are capable of quickly extracting great amounts of information from spatial images, but until recently, the tools for applying this sense of place in any detailed way to large-scale problems were either very difficult to use or entirely lacking Enter GIS technology, which helps make intricate and abstract problems real and concrete While it does not simplify the problems, it does help to manage their complexity more effectively – far better than maps alone GIS

is making it possible for citizens to approach political problem solving with

tools that even senior government officials lacked a decade ago They can evaluate practical consequences of decisions, monitor the implementation

of past decisions, and follow events as they unfold – all in real time Today, community residents are using GIS in a number of ways to evaluate their neighbourhoods with spatially referenced data, such as assessor and par-cel data to compare their area’s property values with those in other regions Recognizing disparities helps to bring about changes in services and support such as infrastructure and crime prevention The resources are now available for citizens to evaluate consequences of decisions, monitor implementations, and follow events as they unfold Armed with this kind of relevant informa-tion, neighbourhoods are in better positions to lobby their elected officials

22.3 NEW, BETTER APPLICATIONS FOSTER

WIDESPREAD USE

With a history of less than 30 years, GIS software products have undergone

an expansive transformation from highly customized one-of-a-kind

prod-Figure 22.1 Geography is fundamentally affecting the major forces of the twenty-first

century.

ucts to less expensive out-of-the-box generic GIS products Cheaper hard-ware along with more highly developed softhard-ware programs provide an array of applications to users whose training need not be highly specialized Developments in related technologies are also fueling the continual growth and expansion of GIS applications These include wireless access to the Internet, higher data transfer rates, improved remote sensing, and the con-struction of global databases All of these applications include geographic knowledge and the data and tools to leverage it

ESRI has worked to introduce new, easier methodologies and tools, such

as a richer data model that makes knowledge more accessible, and a strong and enriched data management technology Software development efforts have focused on usability, software architecture, development environment, spatial analysis, modelling, cartography, data management objects, data-base models, metadata standards, interoperability, and dissemination of knowledge on the Internet

ESRI’s latest products, ArcInfo 8 and ArcIMS 3, promise to boost GIS into the mainstream of IT Released in 1999, ArcInfo 8 marked a significant redesign in professional GIS software It takes advantage of the modern concepts of software engineering and GIS theory, and is easy enough to be accessible to anyone familiar with desktop computing User interfaces and

Figure 22.2 As GIS technology evolves, geographic data will be imbedded into most

infor-mation applications and services.

wizards are key features of ArcInfo 8, which are accessed through three applications representing the fundamental methods of how people interact with a GIS – maps, data, and tools

An important element affecting the growth of public involvement in GIS

is the Internet Immensely popular, the World Wide Web has stimulated development of GIS products that exploit its special capabilities And the future is bringing improved access to the Internet With wireless access to the Internet at very high data transfer rates, geographic information is becoming increasingly accessible to everyone, everywhere, at any time (Figure 22.2)

22.4 STRENGTHENING INTERNET MAPPING

For several years, ESRI has been growing its Internet mapping and GIS technology During this time, the primary focus was developing server-based mapping and geoprocessing solutions by offering Internet extension solutions for ArcView GIS and MapObjects Although this has been very successful with thousands of user deployments, ESRI is now launching the next phase of Internet Map Server (IMS) technology, ArcIMS 3, which enhances the server-based architecture with software that enables users to take advantage of clientside processing in addition to server processing

A key feature of this new technology is that data is optionally streamed directly from servers to clients, and it can be combined with local data ArcIMS 3 acts as an integration tool for reading local and network-based data in the same browser In addition and equally important, data can be streamed simultaneously from multiple IMS sites Leveraging GIS data to many users, the ArcIMS software represents a major step forward in creat-ing a distributed GIS architecture Agencies throughout the world can pub-lish data and services for users to access directly via a simple browser interface New ways of cooperation are opening as users integrate distrib-uted data with their local data By increasing the accessibility to GIS-based information, organizations and society in general are maximizing the use of their existing spatial data investments

22.5 OPEN ACCESS TO GEOGRAPHIC DATA

Technological development is leading us toward a future in which all geo-graphic change will be measured by various kinds of instruments These measurements will flow into information networks where they will be accessible to everyone This flow of information is destined to transform society just as it is profoundly changing how organizations operate GIS provides the fundamental elements of any information system – geographic measurement, analysis, integrated decision-making, and support for

coor-dinating work flow It is also a remarkable visual spatial language with rapidly evolving capabilities and gives us a framework for systematic meas-urement of geography One of the missions at ESRI is to build technology that facilitates open sharing of geographic knowledge freely and easily so that the power of thinking geographically can be brought to bear on many

of the world’s problems For this vision to become a reality, it is essential that geographic data, geographic processing capability, and user expertise

be easily available (Figure 22.3)

Widespread use of Web-based GIS is facilitating broader public partici-pation and citizen empowerment as data producers begin to collect and manage geographic information more effectively and enable open access

to it Adopting this approach to open access to information enables interac-tive analysis and decision-making on the part of the public, agencies, and private organizations And, it is moving GIS from being a group of small projects to becoming an integral part of organizations’ information sys-tems providing the means and structure for measuring change on any scale, even at the global level

Collecting, storing, and sharing more of our information in digital forms are vital for decision-making, accountability, and success As we share com-mon knowledge, we become more effective GIS technology enables us to

Figure 22.3 GIS provides the framework for the systematic measurement of geography.

integrate what we know into the flow of our work so that the whole is auto-matically considered in whatever we are doing Providing a new way of being accountable, GIS is not just for the economic accounts of an organi-zation, but also for the economy of a country, for its economic develop-ment, and for a country’s biodiversity, its environmental protection efforts, its culture, and its national health It is also accountability by community,

by state, by region, or just by neighbourhood

The ability to see the information – to see what is happening on a local, state, or national level – is making citizens more responsible, government more responsive, and all more responsive to one another With larger data-bases and concurrent users, there has been a natural transition to database management system (DBMS) technology for storing geographic data In the early 1980s, ESRI built the first commercially viable product that accessed data stored in a DBMS Initially this was attribute data only but now encompasses geographic data Today, the combined geodatabase and ArcSDE (spatial database engine) technology in ArcInfo 8 is an excellent data management solution capable of managing data stored in several dif-ferent database management systems on multiple hardware platforms Open access to data in databases enables users to take advantage of DBMS technology to store and manage data, to support multiple users and applications concurrently on the same database, and to integrate heteroge-neous data at the desktop Using DBMS to store and manage data provides

a superior solution for backup/recovery, replication, failover remote syn-chronization, and multiuser access As more and more information is linked

to these large, integrated, shared databases, people are exploring the data, analysing it, and finding new meaning in the patterns they observe Instead

of narrowly focused research, they are mining data from the vast spatial data resources, which leads to discovering new patterns and relationships and ultimately to new knowledge

22.6 SHARING GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE

FOR LIVABLE COMMUNITIES

U.S federal policies have taken on a ‘smart growth’ theme, which is part of a livability agenda intended to help communities flourish in a strong, sustain-able manner The livability agenda is designed to strengthen the federal gov-ernment’s partnership with local governments as they strive to build livable communities by providing new tools and resources to preserve open space, ease traffic congestion, and implement regional smart growth strategies Information partnerships and consortiums composed of public and private agencies at all levels are developing complex spatial databases for larger geo-graphic areas, which are eliminating database duplication and at the same time serving multipurposes within each organization Sharing essential spatial

data in this manner is enabling communities to make informed, collaborative decisions about their futures As these databases are built from the ‘bottom up’, the role of local agencies increases as the grassroots level feeds informa-tion to regional, state, and nainforma-tional arenas that have the wherewithal to fund and administer the database (Figure 22.4) The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is based on this architecture

In 1990, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) was estab-lished by the U.S Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to promote the national coordinated development, use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data The OMB assigned responsibilities to specific federal agen-cies to coordinate the various themes of geospatial data that contribute to the development of NSDI The NSDI seeks to link the technology, policies, standards, and resources that are necessary to improve the way geospatial data is acquired, stored, processed, disseminated, and used

Designed to advance the NSDI by providing communities with the abil-ity to create and use geospatial data, the Communabil-ity/Federal Information Partnership (C/FIP) is making GIS technology available at the local level ESRI supports the NSDI and the activities of the C/FIP, which demon-strate how cross-government, cross-functional geospatial data, maps, and

Figure 22.4 Building vast spatial data resources from the bottom-up fosters new scientific

knowledge.

applications help solve community problems As governments and private sources of information adopt policies of open access to geographic infor-mation, a range of geographic data becomes accessible at reasonable costs And, as standards for metadata (data about GIS data) are adopted,

it is easier to find data

As part of its mission toward improving the quality of life and providing support for analytical decision-making, ESRI has earmarked millions of dollars in grants to local governments and agencies These efforts foster the development of spatial databases and help communities implement pro-grammes that champion increased public access to information and deci-sion-making power The assistance includes donations of software, training, ongoing technical support, and support services

22.7 COMMUNITY DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS

PROVE THE POWER OF GIS

Key to the success of the C/FIP are six NSDI Community Demonstration Projects, all of which ESRI is supporting at both the local and national levels The demonstration projects each have an ongoing GIS programme with specific cross-regional challenges and are focusing on issues from water quality to crime analysis to land-use planning Dane County, Wisconsin; Gallatin County, Montana; Tillamook County, Oregon; the Tijuana River Watershed in California; the Upper Susquehanna–Lackawanna River area in Pennsylvania; and the city of Baltimore have demonstration status Each serves as an example of the benefits that can be realized through expanded cross-sharing of geographic information between federal and local agencies The Dane County, Wisconsin, project is creating a citizen-based, on-line, smart growth planning process to protect farmland and open space and address environmental concerns while sustaining continued growth Gallatin County, Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park, con-tains extensive areas of public lands and is experiencing rapid population growth This community’s project is developing tools for the county gov-ernment to access integrated federal, state, and local information, consider population impacts, and understand alternatives for growth and the effects

of their decisions on the community

Tillamook County, Oregon, supports a public–private partnership by creating on-line Web-based tools for reporting and accountability Citizens and local, state, and federal government agencies can monitor and report progress toward common goals for water quality, flood mitigation, and fish habitat restoration The Susquehanna–Lackawanna River partnership in cen-tral and northeastern Pennsylvania provides an integrated regional GIS to help local communities support an environmental master plan, flood mitiga-tion, and performance monitoring for one of the American Heritage Rivers

The Tijuana River Watershed is one of the most populous and environ-mentally stressed areas along the U.S and Mexico border With new tools and integrated data, this local, state, federal, and international partnership

is demonstrating an on-line decision-support capability to improve water quality and availability and to promote better health The Baltimore, Maryland, City Police Department applies GIS tools and integrated data to support the development of CrimeStac, a comprehensive digital mapping centre to track crime and related trends (e.g housing and public health), creating a world-class model for crime reduction information

22.8 THE COMMUNITY 2020 GIS STANDARD

ESRI recently joined forces with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop, install, and maintain an agency-wide stan-dard GIS platform Part of HUD’s Community 2020 programme, the soft-ware is intended to enable communities to visually analyse, understand, and respond to opportunities and constraints by bringing to life demo-graphic, economic, and HUD programme data via smart maps

Community 2020 seeks to improve the ability of communities through-out the country to make strategic decisions, open the local planning process

to community input, and increase the effectiveness of HUD programmes The software package designed and implemented by ESRI will improve access to a range of information and expand the dialogue between citizens and their government Representing a huge step forward for place-based planning and GIS technology as a data dissemination tool via the Internet, this project will help HUD leverage its investments in a shared federal, state, and local government-wide geospatial database

ESRI is using two of its highly scalable software products for the HUD solution––ArcIMS 3 and ArcSDE to address HUD’s requirements for data-base management, analysis, and dissemination SDE is client–server soft-ware for storing, managing, and quickly retrieving spatial data from a single database management system ArcIMS will establish a common Web-enabled platform for the exchange of HUD data and services

22.9 GEOGRAPHIC THINKING – THE GEOGRAPHY

NETWORK

As more and more people understand the value of using geographic think-ing for structurthink-ing organizations and solvthink-ing problems, the need for easy access to geographic information continues to rise, and the Internet has emerged as the best way to meet accelerating demand for spatial data and information ESRI has worked toward providing easy access to a large and