National Map of Security Threats as a Citizen Involvement Tool for Planning Safer Urban Public Spaces

The National Map of Security Threats (NMST) implemented in Poland in 2016 is a GIS-based tool for digital crime and threat mapping involving citizens in the processes of shaping local security by reporting hazards in their neighbourhood (volunteered geographic information). The map - open for external users - is a source of information about common threats to the safety of human life and health, property, and public order, taking into account their spatial distribution, in the opinion of its users. Among 26 reportable hazards, there are categories related to (1) Traffic, (2) Greenery, (3) Water, (4) Demoralisation and Vandalism, (5) Poverty, (6) Alcohol and Drugs, and (7) Animals. The study aims to investigate which threats reported by citizens are the most represented on the NMST. The study covered data collected based on public access to the map in the period from January–December 2022. The analysis of the results allowed us to conclude that the most common threats belong to the following categories: (1) Traffic, (2) Alcohol and Drugs, and (3) Greenery. While the first two categories are not a surprise for researchers, and their importance is confirmed by other studies, the category of Greenery - its condition, damage, etc. - becomes more and more important, which was not confirmed in previous studies. Recognizing this is crucial to support processes of planning and designing more secure public spaces

Leveraging VGI Integrated with 3D Spatial Technology to Support Urban Intensification in Melbourne, Australia

High density residential development in metropolitan Melbourne, where contradictory imperatives of neighbourhood character and urban intensification play important roles, remains an uncertain practice. One key issue for plan implementation is the lack of consistency between authorities, developers and the community in interpreting the standards, design guidelines, and state/local strategies, especially those relating to neighbourhood character. There is currently no mechanism to incorporate community perceptions and place experiences as subjective aspects of neighbourhood character in development assessments. There is also little use of micro-scale and multi-dimensional spatial analysis to integrate these subjective aspects with objective measures (e.g. building volume and height; streetscape) to communicate effectively—and in a limited timeframe—with all stakeholders. This paper explores the potential of two emerging geospatial technologies that can be leveraged to respond to these problems. Evidence in the literature suggests that volunteered geographic information (VGI) can provide community input around subjective aspects of the urban environment. In addition, a deluge of three-dimensional (3D) spatial information (e.g. 3D city models) is increasingly available for micro-level (building- or property-level) assessment of the physical aspects of the urban environment. This paper formulates and discusses a conceptual framework to link these two spatial technological advancements in a virtual geographic environment (VGE) that accounts for micro-scale 3D spatial analysis incorporating both subjective and objective aspects of neighbourhood character relevant in implementing compact city strategies

Right to the map? Counter-mapping practices of smog alerts and urban greenery movements in Poland

Data production is becoming an emerging trend in critical urban activism. Precise and reliable public information, including spatial and environmental information, serves individual and collective ‘right to the city’ beliefs. One of the common strategies adopted by contemporary urban movements to ensure the accuracy and inclusiveness of urban data production processes are various forms of counter-mapping, which we introduce in this paper as a perspective aimed in critical evaluation of urban environmental conditions in Polish cities. By process tracing of smog alerts and urban greenery movements, we investigate the main strategies of using such tools and their effects for both particular social actors, and general urban environmental policy. We argue that the core idea of a citizen-driven collection of geographical data is strongly supported by its other features - social involvement and collective production of visualizations illustrating the scale and dynamics of particular environmental problems. In this sense, counter-mapping is aimed rather at repoliticizing urban environmental data in order to critically evaluate existing urban policy, than just to ensure greater citizen involvement in environmental decision-making

Assessing the validity of facilitated-volunteered geographic information: comparisons of expert and novice ratings

Facilitated-voluntary geographic information (f-VGI) is a promising method to enable systematic collection of data from residents about their physical and social environment. The method capitalizes on ubiquitous mobile smartphones to empower collection of geospatially-referenced data. It is important to evaluate the validity of user-generated content for use in research or program planning. The purpose of this study was to test whether the aggregated environmental (“bikeability”) ratings from novice community residents converges with ratings from experts using a robust research-based, paper audit-tool (the established Pedestrian Environment Data Scan (PEDS) tool). Equivalence testing statistically showed overall agreement between the composite ratings of bikeability within the novice group. Agreement in categorical ratings between novices and experts were examined using the summary agreement index, which showed substantial agreement across the 10 locations rated by 11 novices using an f-VGI mobile application and four experts using PEDS; variability depended on the nature of the specific questions asked. Results reveal overall substantial agreement between novice and expert ratings for both composite scores and individual categorical ratings. However, additional research is needed to refine the methodology for use in formalized research applications

Datafication in smart cities: understanding how the public experience urban environments

Datafication has become a prominent feature of smart cities, where sensors, monitoring devices, and AI are being integrated with city infrastructures and facilities, resulting in rapidly changing urban areas informed by data-driven decision-making processes. Although there is a vast amount of data being generated about urban environments and citizens, research on understanding citizens’ social experience in smart cities has been limited. This study proposes a three-stage research design that provides datafication solutions to understand citizens’ experience of urban environment in a synergistic manner. We employ a mixed methods approach drawing upon multiple data collected by the researcher, from the citizens, and sourced across smart cities open data platforms. It is designed to undertake a place-based and citizen-centric approach to understand the lived social experiences of citizens in urban environments. This work will contribute to our current understanding in developing socially sustainable smart cities, providing methodological insights for future research on how datafication process can be leveraged to improve quality of urban life

Crowd-Sourcing the Smart City: Using Big Geosocial Media Metrics in Urban Governance

Using Big Data to better understand urban questions is an exciting field with challenging methodological and theoretical problems. It is also, however, potentially troubling when Big Data (particularly derived from social media) is applied uncritically to urban governance via the ideas and practices of “smart cities”. This essay reviews both the historical depth of central ideas within smart city governance —particular the idea that enough data/information/knowledge can solve society problems—but also the ways that the most recent version differs. Namely, that the motivations and ideological underpinning behind the goal of urban betterment is largely driven by technology advocates and neoliberalism rather than the strong social justice themes associated with earlier applications of data to cities. Geosocial media data and metrics derived from them can provide useful insight and policy direction. But one must be ever mindful that metrics don’t simply measure; in the process of deciding what is important and possible to measure, these data are simultaneously defining what cities are

Assessing deeper levels of participation in nature-based solutions in urban landscapes – A literature review of real-world cases

It is evident that climate change and unanticipated natural events pose new challenges for humanity and the environment. Already over half of the global population resides in cities, making the urban landscape a crucial focus area. Nature-based solutions (NbS) are an opportunity to address both environmental and societal challenges in both the immediate and long term, bearing particular importance in urban landscapes, as these pose more challenges and more opportunities for greater impact simultaneously. For the successful, widespread and sustainable implementation of NbS, wider inclusion of people and employment of deeper levels of participation are crucial. This review paper aimed to examine the relationship between participation and its various applications to NbS from global literature, and more specifically, assessing the levels of participation. We used Arnstein's (Arnstein, 1969) ladder of participation to base our analysis against five essential criteria for participatory implementation. Our results demonstrate that ‘consultation’ and ‘partnership’ are the dominant levels of participation, while there is evidence supporting the adoption of deeper levels such as delegated power and citizen control. Our study argues that the role of landscape architects and urban planners should go beyond the role of experts towards facilitators and motivators, to enable wider and deeper participation of communities in defining their futures. The study contributes to the field by highlighting the potential and importance of participatory approaches, providing insights into a range of tools used to facilitate participation at various depths and offering practical and employable knowledge of application. We conclude by suggesting future pathways for empirical research

Contesting the Commemorative Narrative: Planning for Richmond’s Cultural Landscape

Abstract: New Orleans, Baltimore, and Charlottesville are reevaluating the presence of Confederate statues in their built environment. Known as the Capital of the Confederacy, Richmond’s cultural landscape is visible through the connection of two historical spaces, Monument Avenue and Shockoe Bottom. Both serve as a powerful case study for how the commemorative narrative of these spaces is contested today and how barriers that exist influence urban planning processes and outcomes