Design of a Support Tool for Citizens Engaging in Urban Planning Online

Online engagement in urban planning is accessible and convenient, but lacks face-to-face expert feedback and support. This research undertakes design of online support for lay citizens, to complement online participation environments. The design examines multiple planning strategy alternatives at various scales and perspectives. It calls for communication using visuals, examples, comparison, discussion of trade-offs, and providing for varied communication preferences. It calls for information specific to existing levels of cooperation and agreement, collective interests, values, and responsibilities, need for resource management, costs of strategies, and explicitly addressing value conflicts. A prototype is constructed using a selection of design components, then tested via online survey, and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results indicate that users appreciated the information and features, and felt informed, confident, and more inclined to contribute to planning. It is concluded that the proposed solution can supplement missing support and feedback, should be further developed, and can be adopted.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MSc)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geomatics Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Graduate Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Bliss Taylor, Coral

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hunter, Andrew

• Urban and Regional Planning

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/25588

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:11023/1576