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USING PPGIS (PUBLIC

PARTICIPATORY GIS) FOR
PLACEMAKING
RESEARCH
INDIRA DWI IMARA
(21HM5401)
BACKGROUND
• Placemaking is a process to shape public spaces into
something of shared values.

• Community based participation is the center of placemaking,

capitalizing local’s assets, inspirations, and potentials,
resulting in creation of quality public spaces.

• PPGIS is a way of using GIS to broaden public involvement

in policymaking; a tool of placemaking to improve the lives
of the community.

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PPS (2007), Sieber (2006)

WHAT IS PPGIS?
• Public Participatory Geographic Information System
(PPGIS) is a visualization tool to gather local knowledge
through geospatial information technologies.

• PPGIS is used to identify, understand, and address the

issues of spatial relationships and approach spatial
conflicts with a different perspective.

• PPGIS involves several mapping and participatory

techniques (ground mapping, interpretation of remote

Rambaldi et. al (2006)

sensing images, crowdsourcing, etc).

IRM (2015)
HISTORY OF PPGIS
GIS workshop (power
and participation, 1996). Visualizing place-specific local knowledge and making it available for
public.

Public Participatory GIS

(PPGIS).
Making spatial information technologies and data accessible to the public.
• Roots: Participatory Learning and Action (PLA), Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA).
• Combines participatory mapping visualizations, spatial information technologies (SIT), spatial
learning, communication, and advocacy.

Study for participatory SIT transforms the discourse about land and resources, the meaning of
mapping in Asia (2005) geographical knowledge, the work practices of mapping, and the meaning of
space itself.
• “Community that do not have maps become disadvantaged as rights and power are increasingly
framed in spatial terms.”

Rambaldi et. al (2006)

WHY WE NEED PPGIS?
• PPGIS can be applied to help solve problems and provide
broader integrated assessments of place-based (bioregional)
identity.

• Objectives of PPGIS activities:

1. Gives insight into local context and issues (publish online

existing/newly created maps, GIS layers, and attribute data
of the study area)

2. Provide a media (ex. web-based interface) in which the

wider public can draw their own perception
maps/information on their knowledge of the area.

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IRM (2015), PPGIS.net

THEMES OF PPGIS
Place and people
Consider contexts, stakeholders, other actors, and general public.
• Highly localized, permeated with culture and sociopolitical influences.

Technology and data Particularizing nature: the extent of GIS technology, the accessibility of data,
appropriateness of information, and representation of knowledge.
• Researchers and practitioners concentrate on available equipment and specific data sets.

Three main organizational processes: system implementation and

Process sustainability, participation and communication in the policy-making
process, and decision-making structures and processes.

Outcome and evaluation

Consider goals and outcomes, also measurement and evaluation
• Public participation may be neither the end nor the means which the end is achieved.

Sieber (2006)
GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE OF PPGIS
Be open and honest

Define purposes

Obtain informed consent

Recognize the community’s social differences

Avoid raising false expectations

Invest time and resources in building trust

Avoid exposing people to danger

Be flexible, don’t rush

Be considerate in taking people’s time

Consider SIT that can be mastered by locals

Rambaldi et. al (2006)

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE OF PPGIS
Adapt to local environment
•a
Avoid outlining boundaries (except if it’s the specific purpose)

Avoid repeating activities

Do not sacrifice local perception for precision

Avoid causing tensions or violence in a community

Put local values, needs, and concerns first

Stimulate spatial learning information generation

Focus on local and indigenous knowledge

Prioritize the use of local toponym

Mapmaking and maps are a means not an end

Rambaldi et. al (2006)

PPGIS AND PLACEMAKING
• To have more accurate georeferenced information from the
community (non experts), PPGIS is used to engage visitors
with public spaces.

• PPGIS is as a tool to enhance citizen participation in tourism

planning and development.

• Public users can help produce decisions that could create the
framework for future planning.

• PPGIS helps achieving the concept of placemaking with

creative ambiance, studying and analyzing the physical and
non-physical aspects of users’ environments

Elgobashi, El Semary (2021)

PPGIS ACTIVITY
METHODOLOGY

IRM (2015)
SET UP PPGIS COMMUNITY
• To create an inclusive bottom-up, a wide variety of
stakeholders must be approached, forming a PPGIS
Community.

• Methodology:

1. Introduce the issues to local stakeholders.

2. Identify interested people in joining (have time and are

committed)

3. Complete the PPGIS Community Database with

participant info.

IRM (2015)
Choosing stakeholders for PPGIS Community
Types of stakeholders
• Considerations when choosing stakeholders:
• Local residents
1. Power/interest matrix (the influencer and influenced) • Other people whose
livelihood depends on the
2. Participation ladders (the level of participation or which area
participatory approach) – from ‘informed’, ‘educated’, until ‘able • Decision makers
• Industries of the area
to participate directly’.
• Tourists, visitors
3. Aligning objectives with stakeholders. • Experts on the local
environment
4. Snowball sampling (identifying other potential participants from • etc
already chosen stakeholders).

IRM (2015)
COLLECT MAPS AND GIS DATA
• Visualizing issues and its context in spatial manners (maps)
offers new perspectives and better understanding of the
issues at hand.

• Methodology to create appropriate maps:

1. Identify the main issues (for spatial approach).

2. Identify which maps are needed (review available maps

and data).

3. Assemble existing maps (scale, size, compatibility)

4. Consider additional maps.

5. Construct new maps.

IRM (2015)
CONSTRUCT A WEBGIS
• Information contained in the GIS should be easily accessible
and available to the wide public.

• Methodology:
1. Anticipate the type of mapping outputs (the ones that work best
in local context).

2. Choose software for web mapping (size and format, expected

number of users, privacy and sharing options of maps,
functionality, cost, etc)

3. Set up webGIS interface (allowing the creation of maps using

different layers with distinctive features, such as the basemap
and combined GIS layers).

IRM (2015)
METHODS OF
PPGIS
HARDCOPY GIS
• A traditional mapping method that is done by
putting markers on a map to identify spatial
attributes of research interest.

• Key considerations:

1. Map quality and scale

2. Easy to place markers

3. Clear and understandable instructions.

• Ex: 13 values of a landscape, each is given an

importance rating/weight.

Landscape Values & PPGIS Institute

INTERNET-BASED MAPPING
• Internet-based mapping uses a web interface that records
important landscape attributes on a displayed map image.

• 1st generation of landscape mapping used Adobe ‘Flash’ and

PHP/mySQL software.

• Now (2nd generation):

1. Google Maps.

2. Google Earth PPGIS applications.

• Ex: Wyoming residents identifying different landscape

attributes and values.

Landscape Values & PPGIS Institute

PARTICIPANT INTERVIEW
• Participants will draw polygons/points on maps to indicate
landscape values and special places.

• The drawing process is done under the researcher’s

supervision while conducting an interview about the
qualities of the study region and identification and
attachment to the region.

• Ex: Mapping landscape values related to wildfire policy.

Landscape Values & PPGIS Institute

WORKSHOP MAPPING
• Involving inviting participants to a workshop
where they complete a mapping exercise with
instructions.

• This method can be done with paper or computer-

based GIS.

• Ex: Mapping of landscape values and potential

landscape changes due to climate change in South
Australia.

Landscape Values & PPGIS Institute

INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY MAPPING
• Inviting local to engage in a mapping activity.

• Important principles include local ownership of

the spatial information and protection of sensitive
locations.

• Ex: Mapping with Amerindians in Suriname,

South America (Sipaliwini villagers).

Landscape Values & PPGIS Institute

 PPGIS EXAMPLE:
INTERNET-BASED
PLACECHECK
TOOL
WHAT IS PLACECHECK?
• Placecheck is the simplest way to find out what a
place and its people can tell us.

• It can be carried out for a street, a park, a

neighborhood, a town center, or any other place.

• This tool is often used in the early stages of

neighborhood planning and a wide range of local
initiatives.

• This tool is in the form of web app that can be

accessed with any device and anywhere, building up a
set of markers on an online map and a downloadable
resource of information and opinion on a place.

placecheck.info
HOW TO DO PLACECHECK?

1. Click on the given link.

Before anything, sign up or login into the
website, it will make the Placecheck buttons
appear.

placecheck.info
HOW TO DO PLACECHECK?

2. There are several options that you can do:

-Change the style of the map to your liking.

-Click on one of the three buttons, then click on

the map where you want to make a comment.

placecheck.info
HOW TO DO PLACECHECK?

3. Mark every place that you want. You can

return to your markers later to edit or delete it.

4. You can’t edit or delete someone else has

posted, but you can click to agree or disagree
with someone else’s comments.

placecheck.info
HOW TO DO PLACECHECK?

5. Other options – uploading photos:

-Comments can be illustrated with photos as another type of service.

-The photo adding button is available after the pin has been saved.

-If you are using a mobile device, it should open the camera on the device to take a
picture, but if you are using desktop, it should allow photos uploading.

placecheck.info
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Elgobashi A, El Semary Y. 2021. Redefinition of heritage public spaces using PPGIS: the case of religious
complex in Old Cairo. Journal of D1P1S4 Computational Enculturation 2:355-370.

• Integrated Resources Management Co Ltd (IRM). 2015. PPGIS practical guide – Mare Nostrum.
www.marenostrumproject.eu

• Landscape Values & PPGIS Institute. NA. Methods of PPGIS. www.landscapevalues.org.

• PPGIS.net. NA. About PPGIS (cited from Aberley and Sieber 2002). www.ppgis.net.

• Project for Public Spaces (PPS). 2007. What is placemaking?. www.pps.org.

• Rambaldi G, Chambers R, McCall M, Fox J. 2006. Practical ethics for PGIS practitioners, facilitator,
technology, intermediaries, and researcher. Journal of Participatory Learning and Action 54: 106-113. London
(IIED): UK.

• Sieber R. 2006. Public participation geographic information systems: a literature review and framework. Journal
of Annals of the Association of American Geographers 96(3): 491-507.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!