Can We Use a Crisis Mapping Platform to Help Tame the Wicked Problem of Participation?

Can We Use a Crisis Mapping Platform to Help Tame the Wicked Problem of Participation?

Ana Brandusescu, Renée Sieber, Sylvie JochemsAAG Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL, 2014

1

Connect community development to

community informatics

Connect existing technology mediums

to a new technology platform

Independent public participation

(aside from events and workshops)

Create a dialogue

2

Wicked Problem Context

Background

Haiti Earthquake

Connect: crisis mapping, community

development, community informatics

PPGIS processes vs geoweb

mapping applications

Traditional vs new methodologies

Not new: ICTs do not guarantee

community support; lack of

participation

2

Methodology

Application 1: Espaces Lachine

Application 2: Saine Alimentation low-income residents (18% Lachine pop.)

Table for Youth Dialogue in Lachine

Application 3: Acadia Park Spaces student family housing, middle class (1,700 pop.)

Acadia Families for Sustainable Communities

Application 4: Let The People Speak Mixed low & middle income residents,

multiple ethnicities, renters (66% pop.)

3

4

4

4

4

5 Findings

Temporality: Is a Community Issue Too Acute?

Grandview-Woodland application

never launched

Reliable methods of community

practices already exist

New technology = dilution of

community efforts / message fatigue

Or a Good Match?

Acadia Park application launched

Imminent rezoning (~800 residents

relocated)

Demand for a mapping-based method

Safe environment for contributions

Open to new technology and

communication channels

Technology Ecosystems

Crisis mapping ecosystem = functionality

Economies of scale are not linear

Differences in development times

Reorientation of goals, communication

medium, contributions venue

Community outreach, on-the-ground

presence, local administrator?

Motivation to Implement

Civic activism and pride of place

Motivations vary and change

Lachine: no identifiable urgency,

unclear goals

Grandview-Woodland: urgency,

existing technology ecosystem

Acadia Park: urgency, a mapping

demand

Missing Link: Contribution and Action

Crisis mapping presumes:

action = reporting

A sense of response immediacy, yet

no guarantee of action

Example: playground safety in

Lachine; me? the Table? City hall?

Atypical Small Data in a Big Data World

Atypical small data: unstructured (SMSs,

Tweets), expert and non-expert process

1. Volume substituted for data accuracy

2. Community voice vs data accuracy

Conclusions

Mixed findings

Temporality: different acute community

issues

Missing link: contribution and action

Motivation to implement varies and

changes

Differing technology ecosystems

Atypical small data is challenging

Can we use a crisis mapping platform to tame the wicked problem of

participation?

Not really.

Thank you!

Questions? Comments?

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @anabmap

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[1] Cartoon drawn and digitized by Ana Brandusescu.

http://prezi.com/user/anabrandusescu/

[2] Crowdsourcing logo. http://blog.hbs.edu/hbsinov8/?p=1652

[3] Cartoon drawn and digitized by Ana Brandusescu.

http://prezi.com/user/anabrandusescu/

[4] Acadia Park Spaces logo designed by Lisa Chen-Wing.

https://acadiaparkspaces.crowdmap.com

Image References