CITIZEN PARTICIPATION & DIGITAL TOOLS TO IMPROVE PEDESTRIAN MOBILITY IN CITIES

Abstract. In this work, we present a framework supported by mobile and web apps and able to propose personalized pedestrian routes that match user mobility profile considering mobility impediments factors. We explain how these later have been defined using a pedestrian-centric approach based on travel experiences as perceived in the field by senior citizens. Through workshops, six main factors that may influence pedestrian route choices were revealed: passability, obstacle in path, surface problem, security, sidewalk width, slope. These categories were used to build digital tools and guide a citizen participatory approach to collect geolocated points of obstacle documented with walkability information (picture, category, impact score, free comment). We also involved citizens to evaluate these information and especially senior referents for validation. Finally we present how we connect these points of obstacle with a pedestrian network based on OpenStreetMap to configure a routing cost function. The framework has been partially deployed in 2020 with limited people due to the pandemic. Nonetheless, we share lessons learned from interaction with citizens in the design of such a framework whose underlying workflow is reproducible. We plan to further assess its relevance and sustainability in the future.

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Excluded communities and participatory land-use planning: experience from informal Roma settlements in Serbia

Environment and Urbanization ◽

10.1177/09562478211024095 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095624782110240

Author(s):

Zlata Vuksanović-Macura ◽

Igor Miščević

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Land Use ◽

Urban Planning ◽

Capacity Building ◽

Citizen Participation ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Planning Process ◽

Participatory Approach ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Active Involvement

Citizen participation in the planning and decision-making process in the European post-socialist context is much debated. Still, the involvement of excluded communities in the urban planning process remains understudied. This paper presents and discusses the application of an innovative participatory approach designed to ensure active involvement of an excluded ethnic minority, the Roma community, in the process of formulating and adopting land-use plans for informal settlements in Serbia. By analysing the development of land-use plans in 11 municipalities, we observe that the applied participatory approach enhanced the inhabitants’ active participation and helped build consensus on the planned solution between the key actors. Findings also suggested that further work with citizens, capacity building of planners and administration, and secured financial mechanisms are needed to move citizen participation in urban planning beyond the limited statutory requirements.

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Responding to the Information Needs of Citizens in an Open Society

eTransformation in Governance ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-130-8.ch011 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 216-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Roger W. Caves

Keyword(s):

Community Development ◽

Citizen Participation ◽

Information Needs ◽

Information Technologies ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Development Processes ◽

Smart Community ◽

Community Concept ◽

Smart Communities

The use of ICTs in community development areas has increased over the past 10 years. This chapter examines how the “Smart Community” concept can help areas of various sizes accomplish a variety of local and regional development processes. The chapter covers such issues the role of citizen participation, the roles of information technologies, the components of a “Smart Community”, the California Smart Communities Program, and the lessons learned to date from the program. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the “digital divide” between people with access to various ICTs and those without access any access to ICTs.

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Uses of Digital Tools among the Elderly

Comunicar ◽

10.3916/c39-2012-03-10 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 20 (39) ◽

pp. 193-201 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Susana Agudo-Prado ◽

Ángeles Pascual-Sevillana ◽

Javier Fombona

Keyword(s):

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Senior Citizens ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

The Elderly ◽

Discussion Groups ◽

Digital Tools ◽

Information Communication ◽

Survey Technique ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Study Participants

A «multiage» society needs the design and creation of new areas of learning and communication to manage the digital demands of the elderly. In this article, the relation of the elderly to information and communication technologies (ICT) is approached and two objectives are considered: to discover the technological resources they use and to objectively describe the types of usage that senior citizens make of ICT. To that end, a survey technique is used, with the results validated by means of discussion groups. The study participants consisted of 215 elderly people, all ICT users, and 7 discussion groups of 5 people each. The results indicate that the resources most widely used by the elderly are computers and the Internet, and the type of usage is grouped into 4 categories: education, information, communication and entertainment. There were no significant differences in gender or age although differences were found in the availability of these resources for private use based on the level of education. Una sociedad «multiedades» supone diseñar y crear nuevos espacios de aprendizaje y comunicación, capaces de gestionar la demanda existente por parte de las personas mayores. En este artículo, se aborda la relación de las personas mayores con las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) y para ello se plantean dos objetivos: el primero va dirigido a conocer los recursos tecnológicos que utilizan y el segundo, a describir objetivamente los tipos de uso que estas personas hacen de las TIC. Para ello, se utiliza la técnica de encuesta, cuyos resultados son contrastados mediante grupos de discusión. En el estudio participaron 215 personas mayores usuarias de las TIC y siete grupos de discusión de cinco personas cada uno. Los resultados encontrados indican que los recursos que más utilizan los mayores son, los ordenadores e Internet y el uso que hacen de los mismos se ha agrupado en cuatro grandes categorías: formación, información, comunicación y entretenimiento, no encontrándose diferencias significativas en función del género o de la edad y sí se encontraron diferencias en cuanto a la disponibilidad de dichos recursos para uso particular en función del nivel de estudios.

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Managing Uncertainties in Digital Democracy Experiments: A Case Study of the Management of the Stem Van West Experiment in Amsterdam-West, the Netherlands

Journal of Public Administration and Governance ◽

10.5296/jpag.v10i1.16252 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 218

Author(s):

Vidar Stevens

Keyword(s):

Citizen Participation ◽

Political Institutions ◽

Digital Tools ◽

Main Question ◽

Digital Democracy ◽

Governmental Organizations ◽

Digital Era ◽

Online Tools ◽

Western Democracies

Can we use digital tools to increase and deepen citizen participation in open and democratic policy-making processes? That is the main question this article aims to address. Today, there is a global effort to foster democracies through online digital tools. However, for many governmental officials and scholars it is still a challenge to decipher how online digital tools technically function and operate, what effects such tools have on the users of the platforms, and how it impacts the practices of governmental organizations and politics. In our view, practices of digital democracy deserve more governmental attention. Anno 2018, we already do our banking, tax-payment, and data sharing online. Nonetheless, our democracy remains decidedly analogue; the activity of casting a vote requires citizens to go the local polling booth, queue up, and tick a box on a paper voting slip. As such, the aim of this article is to shed more light on this new way of thinking about democracy in the digital era. Furthermore, we want to show the readership how in a time where there is growing disillusionment with the political institutions of advanced Western democracies, online tools provide new ways of involving citizens in political decision-making. Therefore, in this article we explore the possibilities of digital tools regarding citizen participation and democracy, and particularly, focus on how to manage these political experiments.

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RECONSTRUCTING POST-EARTHQUAKE SETTLEMENT USING COMMUNITY DELIBERATION PARTICIPATION APPROACH IN YOGYAKARTA-INDONESIA

PLANNING MALAYSIA JOURNAL ◽

10.21837/pm.v19i15.928 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (15) ◽

Author(s):

Amos Setiadi ◽

Lucia Asdra Rudwiarti ◽

Isak J Langer ◽

Mustika K Wardhani

Keyword(s):

Citizen Participation ◽

Participatory Approach ◽

Driving Factors ◽

Reconstruction Method ◽

The Future ◽

Implementation Stages ◽

Qualitative Descriptive ◽

Post Disaster ◽

Descriptive Method

An earthquake occurred in 2006 at Yogyakarta which damaged 209,494 buildings and caused the death of 4,143 people. A post-disaster settlement reconstruction covering all settlement facilities and infrastructure was initiated using a participatory approach which involved the targeted residents in the process of mapping the conditions, potentials, and resources of the region. It is, however, important to evaluate the effectiveness of this reconstruction method to reduce the impacts of such disaster in the future. Therefore, this research was conducted to focus on the forms, levels, and driving factors of citizen participation at each reconstruction stage. A qualitative descriptive method was employed through the use of observation and the findings showed that citizens were involved in the process by attending and participating in rembug warga forums, suggesting ideas, donating funds, and serving as personnel at the socialization, planning, and implementation stages. The reconstruction led to the construction of quality residential infrastructure and facilities due to the systematic and integrated coordination of the rembug warga forums.

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Citizen Participation in the Formulation of Public Policy in Mombasa County, Kenya

International Journal of Current Aspects ◽

10.35942/ijcab.v5i4.213 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 90-107

Author(s):

Stephen Kiruku Kamau ◽

Daniel Mange Mbirithi

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Public Participation ◽

Citizen Participation ◽

Policy Making ◽

Good Governance ◽

Policy Formulation ◽

County Government ◽

Public Policy Making ◽

Policy Making Process ◽

Main Factors

To assist the government in determining its mandate, citizens should be involved as they best know their needs. The significance of citizen engagement in the process of policy formulation is rooted in among others, the fact that public policy outputs and effects affect those to whom the policy is targeted at. This study aimed to determine the effect of public participation in the public policy making process in Mombasa County, Kenya. The objectives of the research were; to establish the modes of citizen participation used in public policy making process in Mombasa County, Kenya; to determine the main factors that influence citizen participation in public policy making process; to establish the implication of citizen participation in public policy making process and to determine the extent of citizen/ public participation in public policy making process. The study was guided by Good Governance Theory. The study utilized descriptive survey research design. The study targeted 560 County government and civil society representatives including women leaders, youth leaders and people living with disabilities representatives. The study used Yamane formulae to determine the sample size of 233 respondents. Purposive sampling was employed to select respondents. Data were collected through primary sources which include questionnaire, and interview schedule; while the secondary data were collected from the documentary sources. Data analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially, and presented through frequency tables, pie chart and bar graphs. Qualitative data were analyzed by themes and presented through narration and pros forms. The findings of the study established that the main factors that affect citizen participation in formulation of public policy include direct benefits (financial, material), tangible or non-tangible to long or short term, among others. Other factors such as culture, history, government policy and social, political and economic structures influence community participation. Also, the findings of the study revealed that citizens are well acquainted with public policy processes and there is effective county government guidelines and clear standards enhance public policy making processes. The study findings revealed that involvement in policy formulation is positively related to performance. Also, consultation enables easy supervision of work. The research also concluded that education is essential for both parties who are participating towards high quality public policy formulation as it would certainly reduce unnecessary manipulation and the problem brought on by lack of knowledge, accountability and transparency and understanding of each party’s requirements. The study recommends that County Government of Mombasa should establish a participatory framework that allows citizens to monitor and evaluate development outcomes in the counties to ensure better decision making and implementation for subsequent projects and plans.

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PROGRAM PEMBANGUNAN PARTISIPATIF DAN DAMPAKNYA TERHADAP PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT

NATAPRAJA ◽

10.21831/jnp.v7i1.22157 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 121-138

Author(s):

Endah Tri Anomsari ◽

Rodlial Ramdhan Tackbir Abubakar

Keyword(s):

Community Participation ◽

Program Implementation ◽

Development Policy ◽

Local Level ◽

Participatory Approach ◽

Qualitative Approach ◽

Washington Consensus ◽

Opportunity Structure ◽

Main Factors ◽

Empowerment Program

Since the Washington Consensus in the 1990s, participation has become a mainstream issue in development policy, including in Indonesia post-Political Reformation in 1998. The involvement of the community in development policy achieves moral and intellectual support so that not only national, the local-level policy also uses participatory approach as it is considered to be effective in empowering people. Using a descriptive-qualitative approach, this study is an analysis on how participation in the Development Innovation and Regional Empowerment Program (PIPPK) brings impacts to empowerment of Bandung communities. According to data gathered in Bandung, participation cannot bring empowerment instantly. PIPPK has encouraged empowerment in terms of capability expansion, but it has not brought changes in opportunity structure. There are two main factors which leads to the results, those are: (1) that empowerment is complex, multidimensional, and continuous so that it is challenging to explore to what extent empowerment has progressed and (2) that the participation of people in PIPPK is restricted to the program implementation and not yet reflect the citizen power.Keyword: development, empowerment, community participation, participatory approach

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Municipalities and democracy in Chile: Are they complying with the 20,500 Law On Citizen Participation?

Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios Municipales ◽

10.32457/riem.v23i1.519 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 63-80

Author(s):

Egon Montecinos ◽

Patricio Contreras

Keyword(s):

Citizen Participation ◽

Great Majority ◽

The Political ◽

Local Democracy ◽

Political Will ◽

Current State ◽

Municipal Management ◽

Main Factors ◽

The Law ◽

Municipal Level

This article describes and characterizes the current state of citizen participation at the municipal level in Chile, taking as reference the law 20.500. The objective is to identify the main factors that are influencing the dynamic disparate of implementation of the law, based on a study conducted in fifty-two municipalities. It is argued that there are municipalities that meet minimum participation standards, but in the great majority it has not been gravitating. Some reasons that would be influencing this dynamic, they are the low incentives of the law to incorporate citizen participation in municipal management, the excessive dependence on the political will of mayors to initiate it, the municipal financial precariousness to sustain it. The main conclusion is that the contributions of the law to municipal participatory democracy have been low, persisting a representative local democracy of low intensity and associated with exclusively procedural aspects.

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Lessons Learned: Beta-testing the Digital Health Checklist for Researchers (DHC-R) Prompts a Call to Action by Behavioral Scientists (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25414 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca Bartlett Ellis ◽

Julie Wright ◽

Lisa Soederberg Miller ◽

Danielle Jake-Schoffman ◽

Eric Hekler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Research ◽

Policy Development ◽

Digital Health ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Assessment Process ◽

Digital Tools ◽

Future Research ◽

Research Approach ◽

Time Data ◽

Beta Testing

UNSTRUCTURED Digital technologies offer unique opportunities for health research. For example, Twitter posts can support public health surveillance to identify outbreaks (e.g., influenza, COVID-19), and a wearable fitness tracker can provide real-time data collection to assess the effectiveness of a behavior change intervention. With these opportunities comes the responsibility to consider the potential risks and benefits to research participants when using digital tools or strategies. Researchers need to be involved in the risk assessment process, as many tools in the marketplace (e.g. wellness apps, fitness sensors) are under-regulated. However, there is little guidance to assist researchers and institutional review boards in their evaluation of digital tools for research purposes. To address this gap, the Digital Health Checklist for Researchers (DHC-R) was developed as a decision support tool. A participatory research approach involving a group of behavioral scientists was used to inform the DHC-R development. These scientists beta-tested the checklist by retrospectively evaluating technologies they had chosen for use in their research. This paper describes the lessons learned as a result of their involvement in the beta testing process and concludes with recommendations for how the DHC-R could be useful for a variety of digital health stakeholders. Recommendations focus on future research and policy development to support research ethics, including development of best practices to advance safe and responsible digital health research.

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