Exploring web-based participation methods for urban planning
Abstract
Participatory planning is a new paradigm in urban and community planning and a part of the future of the participation is on the Web. In this paper, new Web-based participation methods, along with their possibilities and challenges are studied. An urban planning experiment was carried out in the autumn 2007 in Pyh?j?rvi, Finland. A Web mapping application was developed for the experiment to help the planners to acquire local knowledge from the citizens. In addition to the planning data provided by the application, the experiment was investigated by monitoring the traffic on the Web site of the experiment, a Web questionnaire and also by in situ observations. The results indicate that a Web mapping application not only supports the traditional participation methods, but may also change the nature of participation in the planning process.
