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Geographic Personalisation

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Geographic Personalisation

Definition:

Geographic Personalisation is the ability of citizens to learn and interact with political and planning processes in a way that allows them to understand how it affects their own communities.


Summary:

Citizens are most interested in engaging those policy and planning decisions that are closest to home. Governments are continually looking for ways to gain a broader consensus while avoiding NIMBY (not in my backyard) blow ups which are often a result of a lack of awareness among citizens about development planning.

Geographical Personalisation is a tool for advocacy that connects citizens to their specific elected officials. This brief highlights the role of Public Participation GIS (geographic information systems) and relevant political information based on postal codes.


Rationale and Objectives:

What can you use this feature for?

  • Develop a framework for citizen participation in the planning process based on where people live, work or commute.
  • Provide citizens with the ability to comment on zoning issues using an online interactive map.
  • Encourage citizens to opt-in to personalized e-mail notification services that include geographic parameters. This might allow a local government to replace expensive print mailings for those individuals able to receive notices electronically.
  • Create educational opportunities for citizens to learn about the political process and discover government information available at the local level.
  • Establish multi-level government cooperative efforts that aggregate information from multiple sources. This allows citizens to navigate information based on their own perspective.


Why use it? (Compared to other options)

  • Governments can demonstrate transparency in areas of local planning and democracy by creating online opportunities for timely two-way communication based on geographic information.
  • Online tools providing extremely niche analysis or personalised maps provide an immediate source of the information and an understanding that large print documents make practically inaccessible.
  • Citizens become most upset with government and cynical about local democracy when actions that directly impact them are taken without an adequate opportunity for public input. Formal processes for notification, may be procedurally legal, but with geographic personalisation and e-notification they can become democratically empowering.


Benefits - Describe the top benefits for each group

  • All Users: Access to data exploration tools that serve as a starting point with planning, local election information, social policies and economic indicators.
  • Citizens: Citizens can gain a better understanding of actions and decisions with a direct impact on their neighbourhoods. They can also provide accurate lists of who officially represents (both elected and appointed) them in these political processes.
  • Councillors: Issues are presented with relevant information and data that allow them to better understand who it effects - their district and constitutents. As representatives, councillors may further seek to contact citizens who have expressed an interest in an issue.
  • Local Administration: By gathering all of the relevant political data and cross referencing it with planning and other socio-economic information, it provides an efficient and more accurate picture to assist the decison-making process. Local governments would benefit from enhanced details and information from people that live in a particular area.


Limitations and Cautions

  • Local governments in many cases must rely on partnerships with academia and industry with GIS activities. Proper funding mechanisms are required to support these projects since it can be difficult to continue expensive, time-consuming web-based public participation GIS applications.
  • Proper education about the impact of geographical personalisation tools is a key component in broadening the consultation process. By bringing in geographic analysis, "group think" based on assumptions that can occur in small stakeholder communities may be avoided.
  • Proper mechanisms are required to ensure the non-partisan efforts maintain their sense of legitimacy and relevance to constituents.

Successes collected projects - Successful Implementations


  • Example 1:Anchorage On-Line Zoning and Platting Notification System
    • Link: http://munimaps.muni.org/planning/home3.htm
    • Describe usage and results: The Municipality of Anchorage Planning Department has created an Online Zoning and Platting Notification System. It has the ability to provide information regarding zoning and platting activity within a specific neighborhood. The website design allows for the use of maps, documents, council agendas and the ability to comment online about particular cases. A combined notification system that was created in 2004. Citizens have the ability to sign up to get automatic e-mail notifications about proposed land use code changes and new zoning and platting cases in the community councils of their choice.
    • Contact Information: Tom Nelson, Director, Anchorage Planning Department, nelsontp@muni.org
    • Background Information


  • Example 2: Common Ground - Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission Vision until 2040
    • Link:http://www.nipc.org/cg/
    • Describe usage and results: The consultation process incorporated GIS with input from six major stakeholder groups, including residents of the region, committed civic leaders and activists, under-represented groups, youth, elected officials, planners and professionals. This constitutes representatives across the greater metropolitian area of Chicago. The main focus of the process is a software program that allows participants to "paint over" areas of the city and discuss key issues related to the overall community experience. Common Ground is utilizing interactive Internet technology to increase involvement in the regional planning process. Between January and June of 2002, participants in monthly working group meetings used an online tool called WebCouncil. Participants used the website to discuss issues and share information with each other between meetings. Individuals were able to communicate with members from other work groups that were taking place elsewhere in the region. Source: http://www.nipc.org/cg/planning/technology.html
    • Contact Information: Hubert Morgan, Project manager - Common Grounds, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, CommonGround@nipc.org
    • Background Information:


  • Example 3:Project Smart Vote
    • Link: http://www.vote-smart.org
    • Describe usage and results: A non-partisan project that allows citizens find out who represents them at three different levels of government in the United States. The project serves as an overarching compilation of factual information that covers candidates and elected officials in a series of five basic categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and interest group ratings. It not only informs the electorate but serves as a useful tool for government departments and news media outlets. For a UK elected official look up service see: http://www.writetothem.com


Top Related "How to" Online Resources


  • Developing Innovative and Effective

Voter Information and Education Programs: http://www.ifes.org/AsiaAssocSite/00/Voter_Education_manual_Asia_2001.pdf


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