Mapping for Change: Digital Tools and Neighbourhood Design Workshop

Community Mapping DIGITAL TOOLS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING

7TH JULY, 2014

• Social enterprise based at UCL

• Promotes and supports community-based initiatives towards building more sustainable communities through the use of maps and geographic information.

• Specialises in community mapping, citizen Science, and connecting online and off line community engagement through maps, using traditional and leading edge mapping technology and geographical information systems for community goals

Mapping for Change

Why Mapping? To gather local knowledge

To create new/alternative maps

To educate and communicate with external agencies and decision-makers

To identify key issues for action planning

To assist with data gathering for research

To facilitate decision-making processes

To identify data gaps

To make comparisons between areas

To expose complex social/spatial interactions

Technology and Community Mapping

Importance of Community Participation ◦ Web GIS long been seen as highly important – used to disseminate

information to the general public ◦ Air quality

◦ Flood risk

◦ Planning applications

◦ Cycle routes

◦ Seventy-five per cent of all information in local government in Britain is geographically referenced

◦ 45 of the 122 national e-government priorities required GIS (in 2008)


Importance of Community Participation ◦ Develop Web-GIS to provide communities with information about

what is happening locally

◦ Maps act as a ‘one-stop shop’

◦ Maintained by the community for the community


Some Technical Requirements ◦ Clear definition of community boundary and community

identity ◦ Own branding on the site

◦ Ability to group data into themes

◦ Ability to view points, lines and polygons on the map and retrieve information about the data, photos and videos ◦ All users

Introduction to existing public

information

General perception mapping

Discussion & initial priorities

setting

Digitisation, visualisation

and discussion

Website and online map

Citizen Science and data gathering

Engagement Process

In each community, we start with a discussion about the official, public data that is available about their area

Thematic activities introducing aims and objectives, policy setting.

Presenting existing publically available information about places, spaces and people in a given community.


information



setting


and discussion



A discussion leads to the list of issues that should be mapped and the way they will be mapped


information



setting


and discussion



Perception Mapping

Focuses on questions such as:

What aspects of your neighbourhood you like or dislike?

What problems do you want to solve?

Places you go to / don’t go and why?

Safe / unsafe places

Barriers


information



setting


and discussion



In some cases, perception mapping leads to focused evidence gathering, in other cases this is done directly after the discussion.

Noise measurements


information



setting


and discussion




information



setting


and discussion




Northfleet Community Profile

Noise mapping – Pepys Estate & Royal Docks

Mapping for Change

LCY noise mapping study at http://bit.ly/LCYNoise

Design simple but relevant recording materials

Scrap yard

Community Centre

Nursary

School

A local campaign group, some of whose members participated in the monitoring, went on to submit a legal challenge against Newham council's decision to approve the expansion.

The communities efforts and the noise mapping by activities gained coverage in The Evening Standard.

“The Royal Docks community map brought residents together and gave them confidence to call for changes in their community. “

Royal Docks Noise Monitoring Outcome

A public meeting attended by the local community, local authority and Environment Agency.

Noise pollution acknowledge and trained acousticians employed to carry out an investigation.

Scrap yard license revoked.

Community mobilised to address other environmental issues and push for change.

Noise Mapping – Pepys Estate

Pepys Noise Monitoring Outcome

Community Air Quality Monitoring

The most common, simplest and well-proven method for measurement. Comparable with local council data.

Design simple but relevant recording materials.

Diffusion tubes

• Local Authority installed diffusion tubes at the main junctions identified as having higher levels of NO2

• Installation of PM10 monitoring stations to get a more accurate picture of PM10 levels in the area.

• Community want data to form a baseline in view of proposed housing developments. Local population of 6500 set to double in an area of approximately ½ a sq. mile.

Pepys Air Quality Monitoring Outcome

Widely distributed press

release targeted at politicians and media

Follow-up with Wandsworth Council, TfL and Mayor’s Office

Key achievement in persuading TfL to introduce hybrid and retro-fitted buses

Putney Air Quality Monitoring Outcome

Over 20 communities across London replicating the methodology, independently. Many using the online community map to record their results.

Collective Awareness Platforms for Improving Accessibility in

European Cities & Regions

Aims:

Develop tools for collectively gathering and sharing information on the accessibility of public places through a participatory user centred design approach.

Exploit the power of online maps and mobile devices for fostering awareness of barriers for individuals with limited mobility and for removing such barriers.

Participatory Sensing

Tools for Assessing Data Quality

Tools for Collective Tagging

Tools for Supporting Awareness Raising & Collective Action

Tools for Visualisation

Services and tools for routing for people with limited mobility

http://www.myaccesible.eu

End users include people with limited mobility, policy-makers and public administrators, spatial planners and facility managers, NGOS…

Engagement through ‘walking’ tours, focus groups, mapping parties, video diaries…

Developing online tools informing about accessibility of places and routes

Supporting collective action to remove barriers

http://myaccessible.eu/myaccessible-eu-video

150 people join Bologna wheelchair ‘walk’ End user focus group

Design for Wellbeing STREET MOBILITY AND NETWORK ACCESSIBILITY

TOWARDS TOOLS FOR OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO WALKING AMONGST OLDER PEOPLE

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/street-mobility/project

Street Mobility

The Street Mobility & Network Accessibility project aims to develop tools for overcoming community severance (also known as the 'barrier effect').

Community severance occurs where transport infrastructure or the speed or volume of traffic act as a physical or psychological barrier to the movement of people.

MfC Community Engagement Strand

Aims To:

Unearth local voices in seeking explanations for the spacial patterns and processes identified in other research strands

Woodberry Down – Perception Mapping

:

Their Woodbury Down

Their friends and family networks

Their preferred places

Their preferred routes

Their access to services and resources

Places they avoid & why

Barriers – physical and perceived Results of perception mapping with residents over 50 are currently being compiled

During a number of lunch club visits, coffee mornings and community festivals we asked residents about:

Community Map

Woodberry Down residents can use the

evidence gathered on the map to help

improve accessibility in the area.

UCL researchers will use the data to

inform the development of methods to

assess community severance at the

individual, street and area-wide level to

enable research into the effects on

mobility, wellbeing and health.

Administrators Comment Location

Project Observation

Fields Observation Type

View

User group

web-based administration

Public API

Backend

Third-party applications

Get in touch

Follow us:

– http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk

– Twitter: @Mapping4Change

– Twitter: @UCL_ExCiteS