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THE APPLICATION OF COLLABORATIVE PLANNING PRINCIPLES

1. Can rename pages tiki_p_rename i Can remove tiki_p_remove Can view unapproved plugin details tiki_p_plugin_viewdetail T Can execute unapproved plugin 46 Figure 7 Configuring permissions continued Here the permissions for registered users to edit pages view wiki history and other options have been unchecked Figure 8 shows what the page may look like to a registered user depending on the permissions granted by the administrator Quick Edit a Wiki HomePage Page THANK YOU FOR INSTALLING THE COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY PROFILE Create Edit We recommend you visit the Instructions page to learn how to manage and use this profile Since your last visit WELCOME TO OUR COMMUNITY Tue 23 of Feb 2010 i n Nothing has changed Welcome to our community site the goal of this project is to create a knowledge hub for everyone who is interested in a a this subject to participate and collaborate together Step 1 Explore Search for Content e Visit Wiki Pages e Read Blogs and Forums Step 2 Ask a Question and Give Feedback e Register to become part of the community e Ask questions in the Forums e Give feedback using Comments at the bottom of any page Step 3 Contribute Start Creating Editing and Enhancing our Community Knowledge Base Figure 8 A Registered user s view of a locked wiki page In Figure 8 the
2. Figure 20 Creating a poll depicts how results will be displayed immediately 60 Quick Edit a Wiki Page Create Edit Since your last visit Sat 13 of Mar 2010 2 new posts 1 Re the Comprehensive Plan 2 the Comprehensive Plan Our community Log on Learn Shara as Se My Menu Po Poll Results Quick Edit a Wiki Page About Community Vote range displayed Start March x 13 x 2010 End March Forums 13 2010 Create Edit All votes Find Tce cone Since your last SLES Was your voice heard visit Articles Ee Tue 23 of Feb 2010 List Blog yes 100 00 1 i E s new comment z ra 0 File galleries 1 This is great somewhat 0 Sinem pests I don t know what you re asking D o 0 1 Re the Comprehensive Plan Total 1 votes 2 the Comprehensive Plan 1 new blogs 1 Fairfield Community Group 1 new blog posts 1 The Vision 1 new polls 1 Was your voice heard Help Figure 21 a Registered user s view of a poll after voting Surveys can be used for a similar purpose but unlike polls they allow for open ended questions where respondents can elaborate Creating a survey is a fairly simple process the administrator can do so by clicking List Surveys and then the Create Edit Surveys tab and then Save As always the correct permissions must be set so that registered users ca
3. Admin menu Note o Categories To use Google Maps you must generate a Google Maps API Key for your web site See Wiki Home http www google com apis maps signup html for details Surveys Change preferences Articles Settings List Blogs File galleries Google Maps API Key ABQIAAAA 0t68093vPQ3F4zpwqyyyBQm209rT07vUlwyLyAKS7KMULXRcRSzR3IF mgD66v9J762 Menu Defaults Home Search Default x for map center 77 45468616485596 Contact Us Categories Default y from map center 37 548184063318736 Calendar Users Map Default zoom level 16 X Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes List Pages Articles Articles Home List Articles Rankings Submit Article View submissions New Article Admin Topics Admin Types Blogs List Blogs Create Edit Blog Post Admin Posts Forums List Forums Admin Forums Directory Submit a new link Browse Directory Admin Directory File Galleries List Galleries Upload File Maps Crosslinks to other features and settings oO Soca S lobar l Figure 27 Configuring a Google Map continued The map can then be accessed by clicking on Users Map under the Menu However as with Surveys a link must be added to the Registered user menu so that this group of users are able to see the map as well To add the link the URL for the Google Map must be copied from where the map
4. given link and entering it into the correct field as shown in Figure 26 Admin menu Note o Categories To use Google Maps you must generate a Google Maps API Key for your web site See gt Wiki Home http www google com apis maps signup html for details Surveys Articles Settings SS z Google Maps API Key File galleries ABQIAAAA 0t68093vPQ3F4zpwayyyBQm209rT07WUlwyl yAKS7KAULXRCRSzR3IFmgD66v9J76q Menu Defaults Home Search Default x for map center 0 Contact Us Categories Default y from map center 0 Calendar es Default zoom level 1 whole earth 5 Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes List Pages Articles Articles Home List Articles Rankings Submit Article View submissions New Article Admin Topics Admin Types Blogs List Blogs Create Edit Blog List Forums Admin Forums Directory Submit a new link Browse Directory Admin Directory File Galleries List Galleries Upload File Maps a Crosslinks to other features and settings P Figure 26 Configuring a Google Map The next step is to pan and zoom to the desired geographic area The Default x for map center and Default y from map center will be filled in automatically Clicking the Change Preferences button will then save the zoom level and area on the map Here the map has been zoomed in on the Fan of Richmond Virginia 66
5. Another useful way to assess stakeholder opinion is to conduct a poll This would allow project leaders to get a feel for what participants are thinking in a quick and easy manner For example after a workshop where community members are given the chance to share their thoughts the project leaders may want to poll the charette participants on whether they feel they had a real chance to voice their opinions If some participants feel that they have not been able to do so but are unwilling to say so explicitly a quick poll 57 would tell the project leaders if they need to listen more carefully To configure a poll the administrator should first ensure that only registered users are able to vote This can be done by deselecting Anonymous voting under the Poll Administration page shown in Figure 18 AGEL rays u No oa ea d fA Ge Community g oe Ges Bag ON EKTA Forums N Te Create Edit Help AL i A EAG HE ES ED Since your last CoE Anew version of Tikiwiki 4 2 is available You are currently running 4 1 Please visit rne Categories http tikiwiki org Download Sat 13 of Mar 2010 Wiki Home 2 new posts Articles m Tip 1 Re the To add remove polls look for Polls under Admin on the application menu or Click Here Comprehensive Plan es Eee 2 the Comprehensive File galleries Change settings Plan mM Polls My Menu Home E Anonymous voting gt About W
6. Categories posted here for people to comment on visit Wiki Home D Tue 23 of Feb 2010 comment de Permalink Articles 1 new comments ii l y List Blogs This is great P ae 1 Fairfield Community 2010 21 22 UTC by tester Group 1 new blog posts 1 The Vision File galleries The Tikiwiki blogging feature is awesome Roa Score 0 00 a Post new comment Title required Toolbars Bis Comment required Post new comment Note o Your comment will have to be approved by the moderator before it is displayed Figure 15 A Registered user s view of commenting on a blog post continued Again the multi layered content security is critical for successful management of the charette In sensitive political discussions that are inevitable in most planning processes planners must retain control over the discussion and reject commentary that is inflammatory In short they should follow the same guidelines that cover any online discussion tool Configuring and setting up the forum tool is a very similar process to the blog and as shown below the forum has almost the same formatting as the blog does the main difference lies in that replies show the original comments whereas replies to a blog post are stand alone For discussion between charette participants and leaders either tool would 55 function well for facilitating debate and building c
7. List Blogs File galleries Menu Home Search Contact Us Categories Calendar Users Map Wiki Wiki Home last Chanaes The Google Map is now accessible from the Registered user s homepage via the newly created link Normally Google Maps can be customized with layers information balloons photos and other data but Tikiwiki s Google Map creation tool does not allow these options Even so a simple map like this would be a useful illustration of a study area and the Wiki page could have other content added to it that would complement the map For example the area s history street level photos podcasts sound files videos and other data associated with the area could easily posted alongside it A user s view of the Google Admin Menu My Menu amp Edit menu options Name URL Sections Permissions Group Google Map tiki gmap_usermap php For wiki page use PageName a vertical bar for an OR Separate multiple permissions with a comma for an AND or a vertical bar for an OR Admins Anonymous Editors Registered SubAdmins Tip Separate multiple sections with a comma for an AND or o Use Ctrl Click to select multiple groups Selecting 2 groups means that the option will be seen if the user belongs to the 2 groups If you want the 2 groups to see the option create 2 options with one group each If the url
8. M HTML html Include literal HTML in a Wiki page v Enable Disable edit plugin icon make plugin inline m Iframe iframe Displays an iframe C Enable 9 Disable edit plugin icon make plugin inline m Image image Display an image experimental possible successor to img in 5 0 amp C Enable Disable edit plugin icon make plugin inline m Image img Display images V Enable Figure 31 Enabling the HTML plugin The next step is to create a new wiki page by selecting the Create Edit button in the top right hand corner of every Tikiwiki page Once the new page is created the administrator will be presented with the screen in Figure 32 712 My Menu tip e i F Poma This edit session will expire in 23 minutes Preview or Save your work to restart the edit Quick Edit a Wiki session timer Page About E Tonay Edit Google Earth 2 _ Forums Create Edit Help No Tabs Wiki Syntax Help Edit page REEN Since your last Admin menu visit Categorii aN Sun 14 of Mar 2010 Sees Br s 9 8 SB i MIS ol silica Wiki Home ara 1 wiki pages changed Surveys How e l iya al gt Glee an 1 Google Earth _ PEE EE 1 new file galleries 1 Pictures SILOS 2 new files File galleries 1 003 JPG 003 3PG Google Map 2 picture1 001 JPG My Menu
9. gt lt div gt lt br gt lt body gt lt html gt HTML 88 VITA Craig Maclvor was born December 17th 1982 in Richmond Virginia and earned his B A from Furman University in 2005 He currently resides in Richmond will receive his Master of Urban and Regional Planning M U R P degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in the spring of 2010 89 85 85 85
10. true create the tour by fetching it out of a KML file var href http earth api samples googlecode com svn trunk examples static grandcanyon_tour kmz google earth fetchKml ge href function kmlObject if kmlObject wrap alerts in API callbacks and event handlers in a setTimeout to prevent deadlock in some browsers setTimeout function alert Bad or null KML 86 0 return Show the entire KML file in the plugin ge getFeatures appendChild kmlObject Walk the DOM looking for a KmlTour walkKmIDom km1Object function if this getTypeQ KmlTour tour this return false stop the DOM walk here s document getElementB yld installed plugin version innerHTML ge getPluginVersion toString function failureCallback errorCode function enterTour if tour alert No tour found return ge getTourPlayer setTour tour function playTour ge getTourPlayer play function pauseTour ge getTourPlayer pause function resetTour ge getTourPlayer reset 87 function exitTour just like setBalloon null ge getTourPlayer setTour null lt script gt lt head gt lt body onload init style font family arial sans serif font size 13px border 0 gt lt div id sample ui gt lt div gt lt div id map3d style width 500px height 380px
11. Allow re voting Community E Comments Forums E sh i i SEF m ow categories Wiki Syntax Help Requires Category OK Admin menu E Show objects Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs Crosslinks to other features and settings o Other sections File galleries Newsletters Surveys Shoutbox Shoutbox Words Contact us Menu Administration features PT Users Groups Security TikiCache System SysLogs phpinfo Mods Searcl Contact Us Transversal features which apply to more than one section Categories Mail Notifications Calendar Se Users Map Navigation features Wiki Menus Modules Categories Wiki Home Look amp feel themes Last Changes List Pages Text area features features you can use in all text areas like wiki pages blogs articles Articles forums etc Articles Home Cookies External Pages Cache Toolbars Content Templates DSN External Wikis List Articles eT ee Figure 18 Configuring the polling tool The next step is to give Registered users the ability to vote in polls and to view the results or any other abilities the administrator may wish to grant to this group To grant the right permissions the administrator must choose Admin gt Groups gt Polls and check the appropriate boxes demonstrated in Figure 19 58 ST gt chat List Blogs File galleries EUS comments Menu Home Search gt file galleries Contact Us Categories gt forums Cale
12. Categories Calendar Questions Users Map Find n Y Wiki Wi Homa o Postion a OLESON a TPE a PONS Last Changes List Pages Articles Articles Home List Articles Figure 22 Creating a survey However registered users must be able to access the survey from their homepage In order for this to happen they must be given a link to the survey in their menu bar on the left To add this link the administrator must first click on Menus under the Admin toolbar and then select the desired menu In addition to a name the URL must be defined for the link In this case the URL was obtained by navigating to the newly created survey and copying and pasting from the address box in the browser to the My Menu field Type was set to section level 0 so that it is formatted in the same manner as the other major links in the menu such as Home About etc In this way menus can be customized for each user group and for each stage of the charette Adding and deleting links as charette 62 tasks are started and completed can aid in managing control of the entire process and the content posted on the application by charette participants This process is shown in Figure 23 My Menu i n 7 ome Admin Menu My Menu Quick Edit a Wiki About Page Community P m Faris Edit menu options preview Help Show Quick Urls My Menu 5 Wiki Syntax Help Name S
13. Home About Forums Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Surveys Articles List Blogs File galleries Edit Comment Google Map Monitor this page Menu Home Search Contact Us Preview J Save Categories Calendar Figure 32 Editing the Wiki page The user should then copy and paste the following HTML and Javascript code into a text editor such as Notepad and then into the box shown in the screen above Users should take note that this code is copyrighted by Google This author has made some changes to make it compatible with Tikiwiki and to add additional layers Copying the code into a text editor first is very important because Google Earth will not appear if the code is copied directly from a word processor Once the code is entered into the text area the user will be presented with the following screen 73 Quick Admin amp g amp TI i fa re Our community Log on Learn Siate n My Menu Yama Note Quick Edit a Wiki About Page saved version 26 Page Community Google Earth Forums Help PA P exeat parting sopra Wiki tax Hel Syatax Help This plugin was recently added or modified Until an editor of the site validates the Sineo your last Admin menu parameters execution will not be possible You are allowed to Categories Sun 14 of Mar 2010 e View arguments Wiki Home Execute the
14. Registration feature removed eeseseeesereerererrerrrrererrereee 42 Figure 5 Adding NeW USefS euenisisioricisiroeissiiiisientas tiesne risoerrad vee eebukeavsdie daikie anes 43 Figure 6 Configuring permissions wiki page eseesessesessesessrrsresressrssrerrersresresseesresresees 45 Figure 7 Configuring permissions continued eseeeesessessesersressessrssresrrssresrereresresressese 46 Figure 8 A Registered user s view of a locked wiki page eeeeseeseeesserresrseresresrrrerssresses 47 Figure 9 Configuring the blogging tool ssessseseseeseesersresrersessresressrssresrrssreseeserseresreseee 49 Figure 10 Assigning permissions to groups Of USETS ssseseeeeseseeseeerssresreseresresrreeresressese 50 Figure 11 Assigning permissions to groups of users Continued eee eeeeeeseeereeeeee 51 Figure 12 A Registered user s view of Tikiwiki with appropriate permissions set 52 Figur 13 Creating a Blof vssisseccctterceseansevsatieusr vive nieces E TEK 53 Figure 14 A Registered user s view of commenting on a blog post ssssssssssesesesesssessee 54 Figure 15 A Registered user s view of commenting on a blog post continued 55 Figure 16 Posting a new message in a discussion forum eseeseserserresrseresrersreeresrersese 56 viii Figure 17 Figure 18 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21 Figure 22 Figure 23 Figure 24 Figure 25 Figure 26 Figure 27 Figure 28 Figure 29 Figure 30
15. be implemented as an alternative approach to a document and decision making model that is rapidly becoming obsolete This document was created with Microsoft Word 2007 xi Introduction In recent years planning professionals and theorists have sought to devise new planning models better suited to the democratic process Their concerted efforts have led to more inclusive elements in that process but most planners remain limited to traditional town hall style public meetings where participation is limited to those present at the meeting The purpose of this thesis is to propose the use of a new outreach methodology appropriate to a society that has changed significantly under the influence of rapidly advancing communications technology Although these technological advances have been occurring for decades the social political and economic effects of these changes have only recently become apparent Networked computers have been used for decades in the defense sector in academia and in the corporate world for information storage processing and sharing In more recent years the development of web based software revolved around commercial activity such as that of eBay or Craigslist Even more recently information sharing and social software for personal use such as Facebook and Wikipedia have grown to the point of ubiquity Labor productivity increases in recent years have largely been driven by technology particularly information networks
16. can be installed uninstalled and managed via a standard graphical user interface that is challenging but not inaccessible for the non technical administrator Installation maintenance and backup could be handled by a hosting service freeing the administrator to focus on using Tikiwiki s numerous tools for various stages of the planning process Comparison of Document Structures Although the differences may seem obvious it is worth examining how on online Wiki based CMS driven planning portal truly differs from a traditional paper document Clearly the seemingly limitless number of interactive features and ways participants can provide feedback is a powerful example Rather than being a digital version of a static document in the way websites were traditionally CMS software allows for a wide variety 25 of dialogue even as it still provides its administrator ultimate control over the design configuration and content A wiki which was designed from the outset as a collaborative documentation tool is the ideal solution for building a truly dynamic planning process Because the document itself is no longer static and linear the planning process that revolves around it need not be static or linear either in other words the short feedback loops conceived by Lennertz and Lutzenhiser could be implemented electronically The policy implications of this will be discussed in the following chapter Potential Drawbacks and Limitation
17. clicking Save Figure 20 59 My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs File galleries My Menu Home About Forums Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs File galleries Menu Home Search Contact Us Categories Calendar Users Map Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes List Pages Articles Articles Home List Articles Ranbinac If the administrator changes the status to Template the poll can then be added to a specific page For example the poll could be added to the Registered home page but it will be a duplicate of the original copy Results of the poll can be seen by the administrator by clicking on the Results button under the Action column In order to vote in a poll a user must select the poll and then Vote in order to choose an option for that poll Figure 21 Admin Polls Set last poll as current lM Close all polls but last Add poll to pages Title Was your voice heard Active active 7 Options Toggle Quick Options lyes ino somewhat don t know what you re al Add Option E Tip o Leave box empty for deleting an option Categorize PublishDate March L31 2010 at 03 halz Votes older than these days are no o more considered ae 0 for no limit Select Categories
18. different tour of custom created features could be substituted into the line of code shown above In other words if the Tikiwiki administrator would like to add his or her own KMZ KML file the file should be given to the server administrator or hosting service and the URL and directory path to the file on the server would be substituted for the Grand Canyon kmz file Additionally the key given in the code here only works for this demonstration copy of Tikiwiki To add one or more Google Earth or Google Maps instances to a wiki page the administrator must use the key already obtained for the Google Map created earlier If a Google Map has not already been created a key can be obtained here http code google com apis maps signup html The key would then be substituted into the following line of code where lt script src http www google com jsapi key lt googlemapkey gt lt script src http www google com jsapi key ABQIAAAAj0t68093 vPQ3F4zpwqyyyBQm209r TO7vUlwyLyAKS7KfULXRcRSzR31FmgD66v9J76zvTOuLAshTWQ gt lt script gt 76 If the key given here is not deleted and replaced with a new key Google Earth will not appear in the page as expected Additionally it should be noted that one key can be used for multiple instances of Google Earth or Maps as long as all the instances are placed in the same domain or in other words the same copy of Tikiwiki A third and final way that geographic data can be displa
19. information provided The PSS should be focused in particular on the planning problem at hand PSS should be appealing they should fulfill participants needs and wishes and allow the participants to enjoy using them too Although these recommended principles are general in nature they can be used to form the basis for defining more specific requirements about the features and characteristics that a PSS should contain Overview of the Current Planning Framework For much of the previous century planning practice has been dominated by what theorists have referred to as rationalist planning As defined by Edward C Banfield in 1955 rationalist planning basically consists of the following principles 1 the decision maker considers all of the alternatives courses of action open to him 2 he identifies and evaluates all of the consequences which would follow from the adoption of each alternative and 3 he selects the alternative the probable consequences of which would be preferable in terms of his most valued ends Banfield 314 Because they were influenced by a culture that valued scientific reason as the best possible means to achieve desired outcomes planners attempted to apply these principles for much of the first half of the twentieth century They saw themselves as applied social scientists and sought to reshape their communities through the use of ideas borrowed from classical economic theory and the scien
20. mismatch between the systems that have been developed and what planners would actually want to use They then recommend that developers develop their instruments within the niches that professional planners see as the most promising and go step by step in further development to make sure that the developed systems appeal to planners instead of to only researchers Geertman 2007 1711 1712 They surmise that if PSS developers communicate more effectively with planners about what planners want in a PSS then the bottlenecks discovered by the same authors can be overcome Stan Geertman and John Stillwell also provide a set of recommendations at the end of their article Planning support systems an inventory of current practice Roughly summarized they are the following 1 2 PSS should be an integral part of the planning process and context PSS should meet use and context requirements in addition to the requirements of the planning process and context PSS should approach planning in an interdisciplinary manner in recognition of the fact that people address issues from an interdisciplinary perspective PSS should take seriously its users and leave them with the feeling that they have been taken seriously The user interface of the PSS should be sensitive to the characteristics of the user to the kind of information that it communicates to that user and to the types of intended use that is made of the
21. new files 1 003 3PG 003 PG 2 picture1 001 JPG 1 new polls 1 Was your voice heard of Figure 30 A user s view of the Google map with the My Menu link There is however an alternative method to adding maps to Tikiwiki pages one that also allows Google Earth to be embedded and customized Tikiwiki comes with a variety of so called plugins which can be used to embed wide variety of features common to websites such as Flash videos YouTube videos blog posts banners and many different types of other objects anywhere within a wiki page Tikiwiki s HTML Hypertext Markup Language plugin allows a user to embed HTML markup as if the wiki page were a web page taking advantage of the power that a web markup language can offer One of HTML s abilities is to embed an instance of a Google Map or Google Earth in a web page the key difference between this method and the standard Tikiwiki 70 Google Maps tool is that the Google Map or Google Earth instance can be customized further using HTML and Javascript which along with Cascading Style Sheets CSS are the building blocks of most web pages on the Internet Unfortunately this kind of customization is well beyond the ability of planners without a computer programming background Additionally Tikiwiki does not have the functionality to automatically generate an instance of Google Earth the way it can with a Google Map However examples from the Google Code repository ha
22. planners may choose to limit a charette to a particular time period they are not required to do so this enhanced dynamic planning process demonstrates the room to maneuver that a planning wiki could potentially give to planners The Charette Handbook represents the latest in charette process development and is a serious effort towards forging a feasible collaborative planning strategy For this reason it was judged an appropriate basis for determining best practices in an online collaborative process The following outline is by no means the only way to use a planning wiki but is a synthesis of established practice with a new approach and is based closely on The Charette Handbook s suggestions for developing a viable strategy Each phase and its workflows are drawn directly from the book with suggestions on how to carry out their strategy with Tikiwiki 34 Phase One Research Education and Charette Preparation e Project Assessment and Organization e Stakeholder Research Education and Involvement e Base Data Research and Analysis e Project Feasibility Studies and Research e Charette Logistics As outlined in the book the tasks in phase one are designed to provide the support necessary for success and the preventions required to avoid possible difficulties in phase two which is the charette and phase three project implementation 30 As noted previously dynamic web planning would not differ substantively from what Lennertz and L
23. plugin in preview mode may be dangerous 1 wiki pages changed Surveys Approve the plugin for public execution 1 Google Earth 1 new file galleries Articles View Details 1 Pictures List Blogs 2 new files File galleries 1 003 JPG 003 JPG Aa striae ai Skare uated My Menu Home About Forums Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Surveys Articles List Blogs Figure 33 Confirming the changes to the wiki page This screen is simply a security feature as Tikiwiki wants to know if the user intended to make the changes Clicking View Details and then Approve will confirm the changes and Google Earth will then appear on the screen If it does not appear try refreshing the browser This is sometimes necessary for the GE window to load properly 74 L Editing Piece and Folde E Sf Google Earth Communi x A Create a Plugin dev twiou e C fi x http 192 168 1 102 tikiw Customize Links My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Surveys Articles List Blogs File galleries Google Map My Menu Home About Forums Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Surveys Articles Google Earth Enter Tour _Play_ Pause _Stop Reset Exit Tour 2010 Transnavicom Ltd 010 Europa Technologies tof State Geographer 2010 Tele Atlas G gt By Oth
24. that allow companies to scatter their offices around the globe Information has meanwhile become more readily accessible rendering greater transparency and giving consumers more power in their decision making Problem Definition Despite the recent advances in communications technology government has generally been slow thus far to adopt new technology Although there has been much hype about so called e government most governments remain behind in granting citizens access to knowledge or participation in policy making Many local governments have developed GIS websites displaying property information but there has otherwise been little application of social software in the planning field Some planners have employed new visualization and 3D modeling techniques and have experimented with electronic town meetings Macris 24 but have found it difficult to venture far beyond the rationalist structures that have dominated the planning profession since its inception Research Context Although there is a wide body of research into how technology can improve urban planning methodology most studies have focused on the use of Geographic Information Systems GIS and so called Planning Support Systems or PSS A GIS is usually a mapping technology that can display store manage and analyze an abstraction of geographic features in either 2D or 3D form A PSS which is usually defined as a type of Decision Support System or DSS typically are d
25. CHNOLOGIES By Craig Maclvor M U R P A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Urban and Regional Planning at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University 2009 Major Director Dr Ivan Suen Director Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program As urban planners have sought to move away from the rationalist approach that has been employed for decades and to encourage more public participation than has traditionally existed in the planning process they have consistently encountered obstacles in successfully communicating with other stakeholders Likewise many citizens do not feel they have enough access to planning related information or adequate means of participation These systemic problems are due in large part to the limitations of the media on which planning documents have always been printed the structure and content of the paper based comprehensive plan has meant that the rationalist process has at least until recently been planners only feasible option for conveying information to the public However the ubiquity of the Internet and the development of structured wikis and content management systems have arguably overcome this barrier as these tools offer the communication power that planners have long needed The purpose of this thesis is to research these collaborative technologies study their functionality and practical feasibility and propose that they
26. Figure 31 Figure 32 Figure 33 Figure 34 Scheduling an Article POSE iccsciccitiadccs il aeuieni e R 57 Configuring the polling tool sue cssclsicc ceases ea tid abi eanea ens 58 Granting permission to Registered users to take the poll 59 Creatina a POU surera a E a T a Eaa 60 A Registered user s view of a poll after voting eseessessesssesesssesseressresseesse 61 Creating a SUIVEY aise o a e ean acted A A E N 62 Creating a link in the MENU cinwianndaiuietnniida eta eeede waa 63 Creating a fie calery erene e ao ce oes pees a E EE 64 A user s view of a picture file gallery 0 0 ce eeeeeseccesseceseeeceeeeeeseeecssaceeetaeees 65 Conf euring a Goose Map Tesne e a e eats RER 66 Configuring a Google Map continued sssssessesseeesesesesesseeessesseessseesssessee 67 A user s view of the Google Map cesescssvecccaseaes socaeuna sees sauacosaiens cceonescedgvernesannne 68 Creating a link to the Google Map ssseseseseesssessssessssessesssssesseresseesseessseesseessee 69 A user s view of the Google map with the My Menu link 70 Enabling the HTML plugin ype eaes odes Gina ugenavetie ine a ae ates eae 12 UG CS Wiki pag s enni a a ede oe 73 Confirming the changes to the Wiki Page ee eeeeeseeeeseeeeeeeseeeseeeeeeesaeeees 74 Google Earth embedded in Tikiwiki 3 si ascestci ine aiec thang obese 75 1X Abstract THE APPLICATION OF COLLABORATIVE PLANNING PRINCIPLES WITH A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND WEB 2 0 TE
27. THE APPLICATION OF COLLABORATIVE PLANNING PRINCIPLES WITH A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND WEB 2 0 TECHNOLOGIES A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Urban and Regional Planning at Virginia Commonwealth University by CRAIG MACIVOR B A Furman University 2005 M U R P Virginia Commonwealth University 2010 Director DR IVAN SUEN MASTER OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING PROGRAM L DOUGLAS WILDER SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond Virginia May 2010 Acknowledgement I would like to thank my parents for their support without whom I could not have pursued my career goals I would also like to thank Dr Ivan Suen Dr James Wynne and Dr Morton Gulak who have guided me so well through this thesis process iv Table of Contents Ack iowledgementS esnean ved anes encusy R E E E coasts cosa wea coat anaes iv Chapter V TARR AUC EU Ia ce ces ei brie ei a te ie icc E TEE E ER i loess 1 Problem Definitions siinne he ee Rete eaten etait A 2 Research Comtex tis ar acest chs ace Geach Ea AEEA E N eie Ee E i 2 Research Objectives 2 iuijseiisdaccans teed sake E E e i 3 D 1 Literat re REVIEW aenneren ot a a R AR E 4 The Legal Basis for Web based Comprehensive Planning c008 4 Extent of Technology Usage in Planning Departments eee eeeeeeeeee 5 Obstacles to Technology Adoption in Planning eeseesseeeesneeee
28. _view_attachments Can view source of wiki pages tiki_p_wiki_view_source E Quick Edit a Wiki Page Create Edit Since your last visit Tue 23 of Feb 2010 9 wiki pages changed 1 HomePage 2 Registered HomePage Instructions Community Wiki Help About Products Services Mission 2 new articles 1 Hello World 2 How Articles Work 3 new users 1 doug 2 matt 3 tester WONAHEW Figure 6 Configuring permissions wiki page UKI_P_VIEW_D CKIINK Can view page pages tiki_p_view Can use the page as a tracker template tiki_p_use_as_template Can attach files to wiki pages tiki_p_wiki_attach_files Can view wiki attachments and download tiki_p_wiki_view_attachments V Can view source of wiki pages tiki_p_wiki_view_source Can view similar wiki pages tiki_p_wiki_view_similar Can view wiki history tiki_p_wiki_view_history o Can view wiki comments tiki_p_wiki_view_comments Can upload pictures to wiki pages tiki_p_upload_picture Can rollback pages tiki_p_rollback m 7 Can lock pages tiki_p_lock Can edit dynamic variables tiki_p_edit_dynvar Can edit pages tiki_p_edit Can assign perms to wiki pages tiki_p_assign_perm_wiki_page lt Can save as minor edit tiki_p_minor Can approve plugin execution tiki_p_plugin_approve
29. an assessment of its perceived value and ability to encourage greater levels of participation in local land use decisions and metrics of public perception of the planners understanding of their opinions These research results could then be used to make model refinements which would then be redeployed for further testing Measured over time the application s usage rate would depend largely on the level of acceptance it achieves among its users which in turn would determine the extent to which a planning process can be actually be designed around the technology If the usage rate is low research should be conducted into why the application is not being used at the rates intended by its designers 80 Only further research and testing will provide insight into how successful such an application would be in efficiently facilitating greater levels of citizen input The Tikiwiki based system presented in this research for all of its ability and potential needs improvement before it could be adopted in most planning scenarios The first priority for system developers should be to make the application more accessible to non technical administrators given the reality that relatively few planners have a technical background In its current form Tikiwiki s administration interface and configuration workflows are sometimes unclear and an inexperienced user is almost totally reliant upon the documentation to perform many configuration tasks One of
30. ation page and then selects Post Level under Comments as shown in Figure 9 48 List Blogs papane tana Click Here ee mwys yy ty SE nivy unun rege vn u peer cee aeia HomePage File galleries 3 Instructions 4 Community My Menu 5 Wiki Help H 6 About Perene General Settings DEENA 7 Products About 8 Services Community 9 Mission Forums Home Blog main blog None Create a blog 2 new articles 1 Hello World Help Features 2 How Articles Work Wiki Syntax Help Fl Ranki 3 new users ankings Admin menu z said Categories El Spell cheking 2 ne Wiki Home Requires a separate download Articles W Custom blog headings aiina Force and limit categorization to within subtree of None 5 File galleries m Comments Menu Home Blog evel Search Contact Us V Post level Categories Default number per page 10 Calendar Users Map Default ordering Points iei M Trackback pings Wiki Home Last Changes E Blog level List Pages Articles E Post level Articles Home List Articles Rankings Submit Article ES sE Change preferences View submissions New Article Admin Topics Crosslinks to other features and settings x Admin Types Other sections Y Blogs Newsletters Surveys Shoutbox Shoutbox Words Contact us List Blogs EF Create Edit Blog Administration features Post Users Groups Se
31. ator would click on the Features button and then the Login button on the blue menu at the top The box labeled Users can register should be unchecked and saved by pressing the Change Preferences button as shown in Figure 2 J Z Windows Live Hotmail Course Outlines for Com S Login Administration T BIB Configuring User Logins lt f ey http 192 168 0 188 tikiwiki tiki admin php page login gt D amp C Customize Links Other bookmarks Menu Home pollen NS 0 nf j Pic va e A ir G y Calendar g I Es A se abe a GE Users Map x NE Ra Beart Wiki Home Last Changes _ Since your last List Pages Admin Groups ig Admin Users visit Articles Change preferences Mon 18 of Jan 2010 Articles Home 1 new polls List Articles 1 A j Rankings General Preferences Approve Development Quick Edit a Wiki Page Submit Article View submissions New Article Ea P AARTO Authentication method Tiki Admin Types m Registration amp Login Blogs List Blogs z Create Edit Blog C Use tracker to collect more user information Post Use the Admin Groups page to select which tracker and fields to display Admin Posts Forums E Use tracker to collect more group information List Forums Use the Admin Groups page to select which tracker and fields to display Admin Forums s Directory Re validate user by email after 1 days Use 1 for never E Users
32. can register Submit a new link Browse Directory s A Admin Directory Re validate user by email after unsuccessful login attempts File Galleries Use 1 for never G Login Event Flow doce 7 E show all downloads 3 Login Administrati Figure 2 Blocking User Registration 40 The system should confirm that the changes were made as indicated in Figure 3 J Z Windows Live Hotmail x Y Course Outlines for Com SE Login Administration T BIB Configuring User Logins iw lt f z http 192 168 0 188 tikiwiki tiki admin php page login gt Gr amp Customize Links I Other bookmarks Menu Hone Login Quick Edit a Wiki Search Page Categories Lg t fg l L A n T4 Calendar g I E Ee gf t Users Mop z gt NE 2 ase aFrt Wiki Home Last Changes Since your last List Pages Note visit Y Articles The following list of changes has been applied Mon 18 of Jan 2010 Articles Home 1 new polls List Articles Rankings preference allowRegister disabled 1 Approve Submit Article preference name allowRegister Development View submissions panes eee preference auth Idap syncuserattr disabled Admin Types preference name auth_Idap_syncuserattr Blogs List Blogs A preference auth Idap syncgroupattr disabled PENS Edit Blog preference name auth_Idap_syncgr
33. casts online surveys chat rooms discussion forums and other communications tools that are commonly used on the Internet Furthermore only half display a copy of their comprehensive plan and only 28 7 provide a web GIS mapping application While this dearth of technology usage can at least be partially explained by politics it may also be that the technology itself is at least partially to blame The steep learning curve that often accompanies the adoption of new technology may prove to be a barrier or the expense associated with hiring consultants is too high for most planning departments The challenge then is to discern the specific reasons why technology has not been more widely used so that criteria for designing planning participation technology can be established Obstacles to technology adoption in planning Despite the steady development of various planning related technologies and the gradual acceptance of GIS as a key planning support aid most planners have not used other planning support systems that are available to them The lack of usage has been well documented but the reasons for the deficiency are less clear Some research has shown that a mismatch exists between planners demand for planning support tools and the current supply of tools that are currently available In a comparative evaluation of planning support systems researchers found that most systems available are technically complex and are designed to support
34. cessary to encourage citizens to think about their communities status and direction to consider 82 approaches for developing healthy growth and improved lifestyles in their communities and to communicate their contributions to the knowledge base in an efficient manner The resulting output would hopefully be viable community development strategies that accurately reflect citizens wishes rather than plans that merely conform to outdated bureaucratic requirements In other words if urban planners goals include encouraging citizens to participate in land use decision making then planners should consider viable effective strategies for developing communications tools to accomplish their purpose of building more livable communities 83 References Banfield Edward C and Martin Meyerson Politics Planning and the Public Interest Free Press 1959 Baum Howell S Why the Rational Paradigm Persists Tales from the Field Journal of Planning Education and Research 15 1996 127 135 Geertman Stan John Stillwell Planning Support Systems An inventory of current practice Computers Environment and Urban Systems 28 2004 291 310 Geertman Stan Paul Schot Guido Vonk A SWOT analysis of planning support systems Environment and Planning 39 2007 1699 1714 Innes Judith Information in Communicative Planning Journal of the American Planning Association 64 1998 52 61 Lennertz Bill and Aarin Lutzenhiser T
35. complex problem exploration analysis and decision making Geertman 2007 6 In contrast practicing planners tend to favor and use systems that combine information storage retrieval and communication with simple analysis and visualization The resistance to more complex instruments partly stems from planners belief that a computer s precision is of little use in the ambiguous uncertain nature of the political decision making process Planners also dislike the black box nature of these systems in a field where transparency is important In any case planners indicate little awareness of PSS systems existence and even when they are knowledgeable of them planners reject the systems almost immediately Geertman 2005 919 920 Despite this resistance planners skepticism of analysis and modeling focused PSS does not extend to the utility of PSS in general On the contrary many planners do see potential for web based consultation systems that encourage more interaction with the public As researchers Guido Vonk Stan Geertman and Paul Schot note Users also see PSS as useful for citizens and professional stakeholders if participation increases Many organizations are already experimenting with intensified consultation in their planning processes A new range of systems that support this could be useful in such processes enabling citizens and stakeholders to carry out their own exploration and analysis tasks while such systems woul
36. curity TikiCache System SysLogs phpinfo Mods Admin Posts N 3 v Forums Transversal features which apply to more than one section Mail Notifications Figure 9 Configuring the blogging tool The administrator should then click Change Preferences to save the changes To create a blog the administrator should click on Create Edit Blog under the Blogs section of the application menu to the left This can be seen in Figure 9 on the left sidebar At this point the administrator should again take care to assign permissions carefully If the project team wants only certain stakeholders to have the ability to create a blog forum thread or other feature the administrator should navigate to the Admin Groups page by clicking on Groups under the Admin section of the application menu sidebar Figure 10 49 My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs File galleries My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs File galleries Menu Home Search Contact Us Categories Calendar Users Map Wiki Wiki Home Admin groups Edit group Registered Import Export Edit group Registered Group Description Inherit permissions directly from following groups Q Note o Selected groups only Use Ctrl Click to se
37. d give them better informed views in the consultation process the web based systems are now mostly used for dissemination of of planning results but two way communication could become very useful in enabling real consultation Such systems are seen as useful since they will provide lots of different views on which to base designs The meeting support systems are now used in their simplest forms a smart board by two organizations Users see such systems as particularly useful if many information functions are integrated Geertman 2007 1705 1706 Such systems would allow stakeholders to carry out their own analysis allowing them to make better informed decisions They could then use the PSS to give feedback to planners in ways that were not possible before Unfortunately most PSS systems are not designed to do this because most PSS developers are more focused on developing advanced instruments that attempt to rationalize political decision making This mismatch between the needs of the planning community and PSS developers products are largely responsible for the sparse deployment of PSS in planning practice Recommendations for the Design and Use of Planning Support Systems Following their documentation and analysis of various examples of PSS software researchers Guido Vonk Stan Geertman and Paul Schot note that PSS are far from being standardized software instruments widely used in planning practice and make note of the
38. e Planning Framework 34 Phase One Research Education and Charette Preparation 0 35 Phase Two The Charette 2 25 3 4s ieee hed anani titel E EES 36 Phase Three Im plenten tat Oni secs ccevensiagacazasicaccasaeasdnevoncegosanev aatacnadeevonsesant 37 6 Web based Dynamic Planning A Tutorial eeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeereerersresreerersrrsrses 37 Configuring User Groups and Security for Stakeholders eee 39 Stakeholder Identification and Registration eeeseeeseeeeeseeeeeneeeeeeeeeees 42 Project VTE ACO Misc ces d can et in eins a herd eae sy Canam ares ade atta 44 Communication with Stakeholders ee eeeeeeceeeseeeseeeeeeeseeeesesseeesaeeees 48 Geographic Data Display and AnalySsiS cesscceesseceeseeeeeeceeeeneeeeenneeeens 63 Web Based Dynamic Planning Policy Changes eeeccessseeesseeeeeeees 78 vi CONCIUSION 2502 0 5 225565 sehen bass Sovcckadst n echadsiund ooh Seveshodadet cabs ahediien tea teeeibets References Appendices Bye AOS les Earth aso chses Gace vances ea ance pred E wes essa natceons ma cone arse ea aC vii List of Figures Page Figure 1 Administration Panel se ci 22 0 iticoctedss be ot seed et eect eee seeds betes 38 Figure 2 Blocking User Registration icc tenie siete estas cattll sis a aes sual eh tats Mab a meapetncisss 40 Figure 3 Confirmation of changes made to registration permissions cseeeeeeeeeees 41 Figure 4 Tikiwiki with the
39. e problems discussed earlier For example the law could require all participants to post under their real names to register with the planning team as a precondition of posting and to require planners to disclose all written communication on the CPSS While such requirements would no doubt be controversial they may be necessary to prevent even more controversy that online planning could potentially produce 78 Conclusion Web planning based on a Collaborative Planning Support System is not without its drawbacks and potential risks but it remains the best hope for forging a truly collaborative planning framework The affordable user friendly communications technology presented here has the potential to benefit urban planners and the communities they serve in the same manner that technology has improved communications in the private sector Although the software products evaluated in this research were not a perfect fit for use as CPSS Tikiwiki is the closest to providing a pre built application that planners can use for a charette process However the lack of a planning specific CMS suggests that if a robust collaborative planning software package is designed it could be gradually embraced in the same way that GIS has become accepted as part of planning The set of standard general requirements and toolkit could serve as a starting point for the development of such a program and its overall structure could be based on the dynamic planning pr
40. e thesis Togin Event FI y MURP Thesis TE Figure 5 Adding new users The administrator should take extra care to understand and think through what kinds of permissions users should have to edit content in the system Again this stage of the system s configuration would go hand in hand with Stakeholder Identification where 43 the project team creates an initial list of stakeholders who must be involved if the project is to be successful However the level of involvement in the process will depend on how greatly the stakeholder is invested in the final outcome The project team should then organize stakeholders into relevant user groups and assign editing permissions accordingly Primary stakeholders such as elected officials and other community leaders may be given more editing powers than members of the general public They may also be given the ability to post their own blogs or articles it will be explained later how this could happen No matter how the project team decides to allocate administrative privileges it must be understood that this is perhaps the most critical set of decisions that they will make for the duration of the charette Decisions made on how to grant control of online content to stakeholders may very well alter the course of the entire project In addition to agreeing on what the various stakeholders should be allowed to contribute the planners and system administrator s should have a thorough understandi
41. edit button is missing This is how a wiki page should be configured if it needs to remain fixed This same process can be used for posting other documents in this phase such as the Complexity Analysis the Dynamic Planning Process Road Map and the Charette Ready Plan Although these documents are meant for use by 47 the project team only it may be prudent to post them on the CPSS in the interest of transparency Communication with Stakeholders It is during the Stakeholder Research Education and Involvement phase that the advantages of a groupware package like Tikiwiki truly can be taken advantage of The authors of The Charette Handbook list a variety of access tools for stakeholder outreach including phone calls faxes emails web notices flyers mailings signs door hangers and newspaper radio and TV announcements However Tikiwiki offers several electronic equivalents namely forums blogs surveys polls and articles that may come in handy during this stage Team leaders may wish to give key stakeholders access to a blog or even select other stakeholders as spokesmen for community groups These moderators can use the blogging feature to write their thoughts during the subtasks of this phase such as information exchange and vision development Before a blog is established the administrator should ensure that blog posts can be discussed by participants To invoke the blog the user clicks on the Blogs button on the Administr
42. er bookmarks Quick Edit a Wiki Page Since your last visit Sun 14 of Mar 2010 1 wiki pages changed 1 Google Earth 1 new file galleries 1 Pictures 2 new files 1 003 JPG 003 JPG 2 picture1 001 JPG Ei Documents Ey MURP Thesis Com Figure 34 Google Earth embedded in Tikiwiki Bi Untitled Notepsd lt Woe 241 AM It is not necessary to understand how the code works but as shown in Figure 34 this instance of Google Earth has the ability to play tours by using the buttons above the window In this case the user is given a tour of the Grand Canyon which is an example developed by Google to show what tours can be used for The line of code that references the Google Earth Grand Canyon KMZ file is the following var href http earth api samples googlecode com svn trunk examples static grandcanyon_tour kmz 75 The desktop version of Google Earth can be used to create points lines polygons tours and other features without the use of any coding and the resulting KMZ file can be exported and viewed in a different copy of Google Earth including web based versions like the one shown here KML Keyhole Markup Language is the language that is used by Google Earth and Google Maps to create features such as points lines and information bubbles in the map More can be learned about KML at http code google com apis kml documentation kml _tut html A
43. esktop applications that assist a planner in conducting analysis The research on these systems will be discussed in more detail later but it is important to note that this thesis does not seek to build on the research conducted towards these systems Instead this thesis will argue that a PSS does not necessarily have to be only a GIS or DSS the focus here will be on so called Information Systems in general and what form such a system would take that would make it useful in a modern urban planning context In this case we will define a modern urban planning context as specifically a collaborative planning context as opposed to one that is rational in nature A wide body of research exists on the differences between collaborative and rational planning a small sample of which will be discussed in a later chapter Another wide body of research also exists on the GIS and PSS DSS systems mentioned here and these will be discussed in the same chapter The terminology used here thus far will also be defined and clarified Research Objectives The purpose of this thesis is twofold First after demonstrating that collaborative planning is the future of urban planning in general the author wishes to discover what typical urban planners would want an information system to do and how they would use it in a collaborative planning process Second criteria will then be defined that will outline what web based technology should do in order to be releva
44. f the HTML plugin and Google Earth embedded in the HTML Tikiwiki and its various features come as a complete package and installation on the test Fedora server resulted in an application that was relatively easy to modify and configure Although the learning curve for feature and permissions administration is fairly steep for the non 21 technical user the documentation is much more clear and comprehensive than those for the other CMS packages listed below More information about Tikiwiki can be found at http info tikiwiki org tiki index php 2 Joomla One of the most popular CMS packages Joomla is supported by a sponsorship program and has served as the engine behind a number of major corporate websites It is however geared more for website creation than a true Groupware program like Tikiwiki and is far more reliant on separate extensions In practice this would mean that it offers more flexibility in website design but will take a greater degree of expertise to set up and configure its lack of readiness for a planning process became apparent upon installation as the basic version was very bare Additionally many of the third party extensions are not open source and must be purchased Despite this limitation Joomla s extension library does meet all of the Tool Requirements except for a native drawing tool for map markup or mental mapping It can however accommodate the Google Earth API for 3D modeling More information abou
45. g Allow search Allow comments Show user avatar Blog heading Ra ue eu an heading Created by admin on Fri 12 of Mar 2010 20 59 UTC Last post Fri 12 of Mar 2010 20 59 UTC Posts Visits Activity 0 00 admin x 10 lt hi gt title escape lt hi gt if description neq lt div class description gt description escape lt div gt if lt div class bloginfo gt i tr Created by tr creator userlink tr on tr created tiki_short_datetime lt br gt tr Last post tr lastModif tiki_short_datetime lt br gt iSposts tr Postsi tr Shits triVisits tr Figure 13 Creating a Blog m Quick Edit a Wiki Page Since your last visit Tue 23 of Feb 2010 9 wiki pages changed 1 HomePage 2 Registered HomePage Instructions Community Wiki Help About Products Services Mission 2 new articles 1 Hello World 2 How Articles Work 3 new users 1 doug 2 matt 3 tester pananaw Once the blog is configured and saved it will appear under the blog list Posts can then be added and comments can be made by registered users However any comments must be approved by the moderator before they will be displayed 53 My Menu Home About Blogs Fairfield Community Group The Vision Community The Vision Forums Help By admin Wiki Syntax Help This is a test post to demonstrate h
46. he Charette Handbook The Essential Guide for Accelerated Collaborative Community Planning Chicago the American Planning Association 2006 Macris N 2009 February Changing With the Times Planning 75 2 24 Retrieved May 1 2010 from ABI INFORM Global Document ID 1664468951 Mandelker Daniel R Land Use Law San Francisco Lexis Nexis 2003 3 04 Vonk Guido Stan Geertman Paul Schot Bottlenecks blocking widespread usage of planning support systems Environment and Planning 37 2005 909 924 Simpson David M The Use of Technology by Planning Agencies in the U S A National Benchmarking Survey Survey presented at the ESRI conference in San Diego CA August 9 13 2004 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Information System Code of Virginia Searchable Database http leg1 state va us 000 src htm 84 APPENDIX A GOOGLE EARTH HTMLO lt DOCTYPE html PUBLIC W3C DTD XHTML 1 0 Strict EN http www w3 org TR xhtml1 DTD xhtml 1 strict dtd gt lt html xmlins http www w3 org 1999 xhtml gt lt head gt lt meta http equiv content type content text html charset utf 8 gt lt title gt Google Earth API Sample lt title gt lt script src http www google com jsapi key ABQIAAAAj0t68093 vPQ3F4zpwqyyyBQm209r TO7vUlwyLyAKS7KfULXRcRSzR31FmgD66v9J76zvTOuLAshTWQ gt lt script gt lt We ll need to walk the DOM looking for features of a certain type later gt lt script src http ear
47. ies Figure 24 Creating a file gallery 64 My Menu i iame Create a File Gallery Quick Edit a Wiki re List Galleries Page Community F View inserted gallery Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help ee your last Admin menu visit Categories Name Sat 13 of Mar 2010 Wiki Home Required for podcasts 2 new posts Surveys s 1 Re the ich Type Any file Comprehensive Plan es PERY 2 the Comprehensive List Blogs Description Plan File galleries My Menu Home Required for podcasts About r Gallery is visible to non admin 7 gt Community users Fi E roes Gallery is public o Help Once the file gallery is clicked on images are displayed as thumbnails When clicked on images are enlarged in the user s window Figure 25 and can be viewed in sequence similar to a photo sharing site like Flickr aaa ti tlt Hn PHI n t i HE Figure 25 a user s view of a picture file gallery Tikiwiki also offers several ways to display maps of the study area via Google Maps and Earth and an open source GIS tool called MapServer Any of these could be used to display relevant data although they vary widely in their difficulty of setup and configuration Of these tools the available Google Maps tool is by far the easiest to use After the administrator has enabled Google Maps and accessed its configuration page via 65 the Administration panel he or she must obtain a Google Maps API key by clicking on the
48. interests The easier access to information that a planning web portal could potentially provide could make this scenario more likely to occur Therefore implementation of the application must be accompanied by clear policies and procedures that ensure equal access to the system and process for all participants 28 Implications for Policy and Planning Practice The potential use of web technology in urban planning is virtually limitless but as the last chapter discussed it also has its drawbacks This chapter will investigate the implications for planning policy and process and how each could be changed to accommodate the new technology while avoiding the pitfalls Web Based Dynamic Planning Process Changes Given the set of problems that result from rationalism and its pervasive influence planners would benefit from experimenting with the aforementioned web based tools to implement new public outreach strategies and planning frameworks This section discusses a model for a web based planning process could look like drawing on the collaborative planning principles advocated by Lennertz and Lutzenhimer The proposed planning model presented here is based on the tools capabilities without necessarily advocating an entirely new framework Instead the goal is to demonstrate how use of these programs could make visions of true collaborative planning a reality In other words the proposed 29 model attempts to capture the best element
49. is PageName you do not need to put the groups the option will be displayed only if the page can be displayed section level 0 Save Position g4 Menu options Find map can seen in Figure 30 Number of displayed rows 25 69 Preview menu Show Quick Urls My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Surveys Articles List Blogs File galleries Quick Edit a Wiki Page Since your last visit Sun 14 of Mar 2010 1 new file galleries 1 Pictures 2 new files 1 003 JPG 003 JPG 2 picture1 001 JPG Figure 29 Creating a link to the Google Map My Menu Home Users Map Quick Edit a Wiki Say EE age y About g wap satene Hona f Mere rT nz Wiki Syntax Help ap chee ak ESO PM ENS Since your last J ihan Esaoe isit Categories Ga y ey o A visit Wiki Home FE G n z See k Tue 23 of Feb 2010 JE 3 Dpr Fram Surveys 2 m OAN der a Ore errace 1 new comments Articles SS SO USGS 1 This is great List Blogs 7 a Kroa 2 new posts 1 Re the File galleries J n A S Comprehensive Plan Google Map Ala ata eec 2 the Comprehensive enter ig Plan 1 new blogs 1 Fairfield Community Group 1 new blog posts 1 The Vision ver haim fs oF Secor a 1 new file galleries MEE ap eta 99 1 Pictures 2
50. is visible Figure 28 67 EAA Sign Up for lt P gmyVCU H xYM Virginia Co x Y Displaying Y Google Eart x E Windows Lin HB Communit Y richmond vi BIB Gmap doc lt EEEE ft W http 192 168 1 102 tikiwiki Te meee gt D amp Customize Links My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Surveys Articles List Blogs File galleries My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Map Overlay Users Map POWERED Ey MOR Th Media Bldg C Other bookmarks Quick Edit a Wiki Page Create Edit Since your last visit Sun 14 of Mar 2010 1 new file galleries 1 Pictures 2 new files 1 003 JPG 003 JPG 2 picture1 001 JPG lt HRO 745 AM Figure 28 A user s view of the Google Map In this case the URL is tiki gmap_usermap php The link can then be generated from the My Menu configuration screen As displayed in Figure 29 the Google Maps URL is now linked with a link called Google Map 68 my monu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories wiki Home Surveys Articles List Blogs File galleries My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Surveys Articles
51. ive concepts and the open house review could be conducted online This could free resources to concentrate on product development 36 Phase Three Plan Implementation e Project Status Communications e Product Refinement e Presentation and Product Finalization The implementation stage may be where an online complement to a dynamic planning process may provide the greatest benefit As the authors of The Charette Handbook point out the implementation phase should be made as short as possible to reduce the risks associated with changes in political and regulatory leadership 120 If used to its fullest extent a CPSS would achieve a greater degree of transparency at one of the most vulnerable points of a planning process Too often implementation is where good plans are ignored for political reasons and are circumvented by developers who wish to stay out of the public view A continuously updated CPSS that shows types of development and their patterns via interactive maps and blog posts would keep the public informed about the progress and direction of a plan s implementation 37 Web based Dynamic Planning A Tutorial In order to understand how the Tikiwiki groupware package could be integrated into a planning process this section describes a general template for applying the toolkit to the various tasks of a collaborative charette The most important tools that could be employed at each stage will be demonstrated with instruction
52. lect more than one Also inheriting permissions from the following groups indirect inheritance through the groups selected above Default category assigned to uncategorized objects edited by a user with this default group User can assign to the group himself Users are automatically unassigned from the group after Assign group management permissions Registered Users logged into the system None Anonymous None nonea 0 Days 0 or empty for never P Quick Edit a Wiki Page Since your last visit Tue 23 of Feb 2010 9 wiki pages changed HomePage 2 Registered HomePage Instructions Community Wiki Help About Products Services Mission 2 new articles 1 Hello World 2 How Articles Work 3 new users 1 doug 2 matt 3 tester rey pernauaye Figure 10 Assigning permissions to groups of users To allow or disallow users to use certain features he she should then click on the Manage Permissions button Under the Assign Permssions to global screen the administrator should then ensure that Registered users cannot create their own blogs and that this ability is reserved for the Admins Editors and SubAdmins group as shown in Figure 11 50 My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs File galleries My Menu Home Ab
53. lt features If the CMS does not have a significant library of stable extensions it should be excluded as a potential candidate for adaptation as a CPSS Versatility is crucial if a particular CMS software program is to be applied as a general purpose CPSS platform 4 The CPSS should be aesthetically appealing and user friendly As Geertman and Stillwell pointed out a PSS would only be useful if it takes its user seriously and if it is appealing to use as it fulfills participants needs and wishes Although this is a mostly subjective metric to compare various CMS programs those that feature an attractive interface and an elegant simple overall design will be favored Hopefully a system that meets these goals would be more successful in attracting a greater number and variety of users 17 Specific Tool Requirements In order to meet the general requirements above the CMS software should contain a variety of dialogue and visualization tools This toolset should include but is not necessarily limited to the following Wiki a series of interlinked web pages that allow the easy creation and editing of content by any user who has permission Wikipedia is the one of the most commonly used Wikis New pages can be created simply by creating a hyperlink and clicking on it The best example of this can be found at http www wikipedia org Forum Also known as a message board a forum is simply an online discussion site An administrat
54. m still influences even many collaborative planning scenarios where public outreach is either too expensive or too time consuming With limited resources for soliciting public input available to public planners private planning consultants and developers alike even a collaborative planning process cannot escape its rationalist chains unless new tools are utilized to refocus the scope and scale of the planning process As Stan Geertman and John Stillwell have demonstrated little effort has been devoted toward the development of a PSS geared toward collecting public opinion as opposed to the analysis and display of GIS data The vast majority of existing PSS software systems are in fact based on rationalist ideas with little attention paid to the new emphasis on collaborative planning where public participation is the central characteristic of community development An urban planning focused information system should therefore be designed around the ability to collect and store citizen input 14 Criteria for a Collaborative Planning Support System The challenge then is to find a technology toolkit that can be used as a planning information system with the goal of improving the planning process to be more fundamentally efficient and collaborative in nature and the Internet as the vehicle by which participants stakeholders and leaders can interact The goal here is not necessarily to reform collaborative planning methods but to effectively ap
55. n a free open source well designed and integrated software package that can be easily adapted to any planning area and for any decision making process 20 Software Package Evaluation There is a vast body of CMS Groupware technology on the web however only a small number of which will be presented and evaluated here Basically the following programs were selected for analysis based on their degree of compliance with the General Requirements outlined in the previous section Programs not meeting these basic specifications were automatically excluded from consideration Although there may be other software packages available that could serve as a CPSS the following examples appear to be the most promising candidates for meeting the stated goals Each program is summarized with an evaluation of its default features and extensions and compared with the list of Specific Tool Requirements 1 Tikiwiki Billed as a full featured open source multilingual all in one Wiki CMS Groupware Tiki is easily the most promising software programs that could be used as CPSS Its 220 developers claim it can be used to create web applications sites portals knowledge bases intranets and extranets Once installed a web based interface can be used to install a wide variety of modules and extensions All of the Tool Requirements are met through either of these two sources with the exception of 3D visualization This however can be overcome with the use o
56. n take the survey Once a survey has been created questions can be added to it including rating selecting from thumbnail images short text and other options such as in Figure 22 61 Home My Menu Edit survey questions the Project Proposal Quick Edit a Wiki E List surveys This survey stats If Edit this Survey Page Admin Surveys Community Create Edit Forums Add a New Question to this survey Help Questi luestion Rate the quality of the Project Proposal r Admin menu SA zs j Since your last Categories visit Wiki Home Sat 13 of Mar 2010 Articles d 2 new posts List Blogs Position 1 X 1 Re the il lleri i Comprehensive Plan SPS SSS Type Rate 1 10 E 2 the Comprehensive Answeris One choice Plan My Menu mandatory Multiple choices Home Multiple choices of thumbnails from a file gallery Number of Short text About required Wiki textarea Forums ale Rate 1 5 sel 2 711 AA 1 10 WED multiple Rate Admin menu choices Categories Tip o gt Wiki Home For a multiple answer question put the answers into the following field Articles separated by a comma Example one two many lots For a rate you can give the maximum value poer pkgs For the multiple choices of thumbnail from a file gallery type options are gt File galleries Gallery ID Example 4 Menu Options if Home apply Search Save Contact Us
57. nd its implications This approach would mean that transportation planning could potentially be more closely integrated with land use decisions and public input creating a more holistic and realistic planning process Other kinds of pertinent data could also be posted in an online environment For example market analyses of planning study areas including methodology and assumptions could be posted and integrated with wiki pages created for local neighborhoods Such locally based wiki pages could also include historic background 32 information survey results inventories of businesses descriptions of ongoing and future development projects zoning and land use information and other information specific to that area Were a concerted effort made to use a wiki in this manner the result would be a Wikipedia style database of community information of enormous potential in a web planning process The Process Foundation The Planning Wiki A planning wiki would be used as the central shared repository for virtually all types of data and analyses used in planning projects including GIS data market analyses transportation data neighborhood history and more Although it would be a monumental task to update such a planning wiki of neighborhood based data inventory it would be a useful tool for both planners and for private businesses This planning wiki would not however just have to be limited to market analysis Information common to most
58. ndar Users Map gt group Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes gt messu List Pages y Articles gt newsletters gt directory maps Articles Home polls List Articles Rankings Registered Admins Editors SubAdmins Permission Submit Article 2 s E n m im Can admin polls tiki_p_admin_polls New Article Admin Topics Admin Types Can view poll results Blogs tiki_p_view_poll_results List Blogs A Create Edit Blog Can view poll voters Post tiki_p_view_poll_voters Admin Posts Forums List Forums surveys Admin Forums Directory Submit a new link gt trackers Browse Directory Admin Directory gt user File Galleries Shad List Galleries Upload File roe Mapfiles Layer Management Trackers List Trackers Admin Trackers Surveys Can vote polls tiki_p_vote_poll a a o T gt shoutbox gt tiki Figure 19 Granting permission to Registered users to take the poll Once permissions have been granted the administrator should select Polls under the Admin menu and then create the poll by giving it a title and its options Under the Create Poll tab the title can be added along with options by clicking Toggle Quick Options and then Add Option for each possible answer that the poll s respondents could select The following example has four options including yes no somewhat and I don t know what you re asking The poll is then created by
59. nescapably rationalist emphasis in their field planners have in recent years responded to public demand for influence by altering the existing framework Seeking to make planning more inclusive and participatory planners have increasingly made efforts to organize town hall style meetings charettes conduct surveys and 11 presentations and generally involve the public more than was common in past decades To this end the American Planning Association published the Charette Handbook in an attempt to outline possible public outreach strategies and suggests the following principles e Usually more but no less than four consecutive days e An open process that includes all interested parties e A collaborative process involving all disciplines in a series of short feedback loops e A process that produces a feasible plan e A generalist holistic approach This philosophy strongly contrasts with the rationalism described in Community Planning and is a genuine effort to construct a truly collaborative planning process Unlike rationalism it calls for public engagement and review of every step with what Bill Lennertz and Aarin Lutzenhiser call dynamic planning In a dynamic planning process each individual s unique contribution is valued for its potential to help the project become better True collaboration requires that participants are asked for their input before the design work begins to let them know that their contribu
60. ng of how permissions actually work in Tikiwiki Failure to understand permissions could potentially lead to serious problems later on To learn more about Tikiwiki s permissions system the administrator should again consult the user s manual http twbasics keycontent org Understanding Groups amp structure TikiWiki for Smarties Project Initiation 44 As described above the first stage of the process is Project Assessment and Organization Tools and Techniques The charette s organizers can immediately begin using the CPSS by posting the Objectives Strategies and Measures Draft on the front page of the system The OSM document will therefore be the first thing that participants see when they login Along with the Mission Statement and Vision it would serve as a useful reminder of the project s overarching purpose Because these documents serve as guides for the project s goals direction and parameters they should not be editable by anyone but the planners themselves To lock the page the system administrator should click on the Perms button at the bottom of the page being used to display the documents This is demonstrated in Figure 6 and 7 45 Menu Home Search Contact Us Categories Calendar Users Map Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes List Pages Articles Articles Home List Articles Rankings Submit Article View submissions New Article Admin Topics Admin Types Blogs List Blogs Create Edit Blog Pos
61. nt to collaborative planning These criteria will then be used for a comparative analysis of several popular content management system software packages One of these software packages will then be chosen as a potential engine for an online collaborative planning process and will be customized and configured in a tutorial that discusses how it could be integrated into the process Literature Review The Legal Basis for Web Based Collaborative Planning Since the 1920 s the planning process has been largely defined by the requirements laid out in the Department of Commerce s models for the Standard City Planning Enabling and Zoning Acts which were intended as model legislation for land use controls at the local level Although some states and localities have reached beyond this model for new methods the Acts remain an important influence in how communities develop Mandelker 3 05 This influence includes the structure and content of the Comprehensive Plan as well as the process by which the Plan is formulated and adopted namely by the Planning Commission and its support staff Unfortunately the provision for meaningful public participation in the typical enabling legislation is limited Virginia state law allows for a wide variety of elements in the Comprehensive Plan specifying that it may include but need not be limited to environmental protection measures designation of historical and urban renewal areas designation of routes f
62. ocess workflow An online toolkit with adaptability and power would complement planners skills and knowledge as they fulfill collaborative roles communicators and mediators in the planning process To realize this goal further research is needed to be conducted to better identify user requirements design a structured interactive and collaborative process develop 79 implementation strategies for acceptance by planners and interested community participants and test and validate the resulting system for its effectiveness in facilitating better communication in land use planning sessions Development of such a toolkit would be an iterative process and the resulting model would need to be validated through repeated testing to confirm the model s effectiveness The determination of user requirements would be a critically important task given the demonstrated disparity between planners stated needs and the current state of PSS related application research and development Surveys should be conducted to identify planners and charette participants interface preferences tools of choice and overall accessibility Prototypes of interfaces could be developed and tested on aesthetic quality navigability logical layout and ease of use A fully functional prototype could be employed in a real world collaborative planning context and measured against a more traditional approach for planning and conducting a charette These tests should include
63. ols that have been described thus far Tikiwiki also offer several means to display data including photo galleries Google Maps and Earth and a GIS map server to display GIS map layers All data should posted and organized in a way that is understandable to charette participants The data gathered should include photos of existing conditions transportation data market and economic analysis data local 63 history zoning and land use designations of the study area and other relevant information Tikiwiki offers a File Gallery tool that can be used to upload any kind of file including images To create a file gallery the administrator simply clicks List File Gallery under the Menu and then Create a File Gallery As usual permissions should be set so that only the administrator can create and upload file galleries Once the gallery is created uploading files is straightforward Figure 24 shows the menu screen to create the tool Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Surveys Articles List Blogs File galleries Menu Home Search Contact Us Categories Calendar Users Map Wiki Files can be locked at download Maximum number of archives for each file Owner of the gallery Categorize Any user with permission not only the gallery owner can upload files O 1 Use O unlimited 1 none admin x Select Categor
64. onsensus Once again however the team leaders should ensure that only they and carefully selected moderators have the ability to create discussion threads Re the Comprehensive Plan on Sat 13 of Mar 46 UTC by tester gt What do you all think of the Comprehensive Plan I think it might need some changes Let me know your thoughts My Menu ai Feo Forum Discussion forum Quick Edit a Wiki fie rage Forums Discussion forum the Comprehensive Plan Communi 88 Forums Help z n the Comprehensive Plan Wiki Syntax Help Since your last Categories visit Wiki Home m Tue 23 of Feb 2010 What do you all think of the Comprehensive Plan I think it might need some changes Let Articles me know your thoughts 1 new comments Blog 1 This is great ga at 2new Pe File galleries aneth Re the Comprehensive Plan 2 the Comprehensive Plan 1 new blogs 1 Fairfield Community Group 1 new blog posts I think the goals could be stated more clearly 1 The Vision 7 Post new message Title Re the Comprehensivi required Toolbars 3 7 s Reply gt What do you all think of the Comprehensive Plan I think it might need some changes Let me know your thoughts Attach file Maximum size 9 54 Mb No file chosen Cancel Post new Figure 16 Posting a new message in a discussion forum A third stakeholder communication tool simila
65. onstraints exist as participants can join in remotely this is especially important for those who are unable to come to attend meetings With access to Tikiwiki s wide variety of features users could 30 post comments read documents posted by planners via the file gallery system start their own blogs or comment on others blog postings read articles and post images of what they like or dislike about their community Notably they can also take part in online surveys and polls just as they do in the real world Tikiwiki offers a digital equivalent of almost every outreach strategy employed by planners today Urban Design The increasing demand for innovative design in residential and commercial development indicates a rising level of public interest in the quality of the urban built form Outside of some charettes and the odd architectural review boards established in some localities there currently exists almost no mechanism by which citizens can participate in the physical design of their cities Google Earth and Sketchup offer planners and citizens a means to show what they want their community to look like comment on what they don t like about it and to review design proposals submitted by developers Because Google Earth can display building models and land features virtually it eliminates the need for citizens to participate in public hearings in person Furthermore the 3D environment offers a realistic context and thus a more acc
66. opleth maps displaying market demand for products and services defined by the North American Industry Classification System NAICS Drop down menus that give a user the ability to display a wide variety of such thematic maps would be a useful tool for planners and charette participants alike Likewise Tikiwiki should be updated so that Google Earth is integrated as a part of the package just like Google Maps The user should not have to copy and paste Javascript code as described in the tutorial but should be able to simply press a button on any Wiki page where a Google Earth window would be useful These suggestions purpose is to improve the technology itself but should be viewed as the first step toward improving the value of the technology to the planning profession and therefore the planning profession itself The problems that hinder the development of a more democratic efficient and generally more effective and robust planning process will probably not be solved without the application of tools and methods that have thus far been untested The current approach toward urban planning practiced in both the public and private spheres is designed and structured around the constraints placed on it by time funding geography and bureaucracy these constraints however do not necessarily apply in a web based planning process and therefore the process itself could be substantially modified to reflect the tools capabilities Such modifications are ne
67. or electricity transmission and other typical planning issues Virginia General Assembly Legislative Information System 15 2 2223 While the planning commission is required to hold a public hearing prior to recommendation to the governing body there is little said specifically about how hearings are to be conducted There are guidelines on how notices are to be advertised but it is notable that the code only specifies publication of advertisements in newspapers Virginia General Assembly Legislative Information System 15 2 2204 Paper newspapers declining circulation means that this prescription for public notice is inadequate However the code s vague language possibly does leave room for localities experimentation with new public outreach methods Extent of Technology Usage in Planning Departments In contrast to the widespread use of collaborative web based project management software in the private sector local planning agencies have been slow to adopt the technology While the large majority of planners have access to desktop computers and use GIS usage of the internet in particular to disseminate information and invite interaction with the public is very limited This reluctance to adopt the technology persists in spite of widespread efforts to integrate GIS with established community participation strategies such as the Richmond Neighborhood Indicators Project In this role technology was used as a decision support tool b
68. or can begin discussion with a first post and respondents posts create a thread A good example of a forum can be found at http tikiwiki org tiki forums php Blog Short for web log a blog is a type of website that allows its owner to post regular entries of text graphics or video Entries are typically shown in reverse chronological order and blogs can sometimes allow readers to comment on individual blog posts Examples abount but a good example can be found at http www soccerbyives net Image Gallery Common on many websites an image gallery is a way to display a large number of pictures often in sequence The most widely used image gallery application is http www flickr com 18 GIS map server A web based platform for publishing spatial data on interactive maps A nice example is Goochland County Virginia http www co goochland va us Departments DepartmentsGZ GIS GISDisclaim er tabid 191 Default aspx 3D visualization capability the ability of webpage to display graphics in three dimensions such as a model of a building Google Earth remains one of the best ways to implement this More can be learned about it at http code google com apis earth File storage the ability of a website to store files for users to download Any FTP site has traditionally been one way to do this The Richmond Virginia GIS FTP site is one example ftp ftp ci richmond va us GIS User Group Management Permissions The wiki
69. oupattr ost Admin Posts Forums Admin Groups List Forums Admin Forums Directory Submit a new link OD eee ee si G Login Event Flow do 7 E Show all downloads Login Administrati Figure 3 Confirmation of changes made to registration permissions This way the Register button will no longer appear on the homepage and only users with specific approval from the project planners will be able to contribute content to the system In fact Tikiwiki could effectively be configured as a private website with the home page only displaying the following to unregistered users as depicted in Figure 4 41 T E pa fa te Our community Log on Learn gah N E Login Login as User Password I forgot my password Figure 4 Tikiwiki with the Registration feature removed Further setup instructions can be found on the following page of the Tikiwiki user manual http twbasics keycontent org Configuring User Logins amp structure TikiWiki for Smarti es Stakeholder Identification and Registration 42 Once the process of identifying stakeholders has begun the charette leaders should begin granting them access to the Tikiwiki CPSS Since users cannot register themselves the planners would be required to add the users manually To add users the administrator should select Users at the bottom of the Admin menu on the left hand side and then the Add a New User
70. out Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs File galleries Menu Home Search Contact Us Categories Calendar Users Map Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes List Pages Articles Assign permissions to global Object Permissions List Select groups Assign Permissions Note Select features Currently editing Global permissions Permissions Filter gt blogs Assign global permissions Registered Admins Editors SubAdmins Permission S gt calendar gt category gt chat gt cms gt comments gt directory gt file galleries Can post to a blog tiki_p_blog_post Can read blogs tiki_p_read_blog Can assign perms to blog tiki_p_assign_perm_blog Can create a blog tiki_p_create_blogs Can admin blogs tiki_p_blog_admin Figure 11 Assigning permissions to groups of users continued To confirm the changes the Assign button must then be clicked Now when a Registered user is logged in their Application menu will have the option to list blogs but not to create one The proper result is depicted in Figure 12 51 Quick Edit a Wiki Page Create Edit Since your last visit Tue 23 of Feb 2010 9 wiki pages changed HomePage Registered HomePage Instructions Community Wiki Help Ab
71. out Products Services Mission 2 new articles 1 Hello World 2 How Articles Work 3 new users 1 doug 2 matt 3 tester Ne POnNaunaw S ind Ge nimm ia Our community os on Lear sro ME Blogs Quick Edit a Wiki Blog SS Visits Action No records found Help Wiki Syntax Help Categories Wiki Home Tue 23 of Feb 2010 Articles Nothing has changed List Blogs File galleries Since your last visit Figure 12 A Registered user s view of Tikiwiki with appropriate permissions set If the project leaders want blogs to appear on this screen they must be created by a member of a group who has permission to create one To create a blog an editor or administrator must be logged in and must click on Create Edit Blog under Blogs on the application menu The appropriate screen will then appear Figure 13 where the blogger can configure the blog as desired 52 My Menu Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs File galleries My Menu Home About Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help Admin menu Categories Wiki Home Articles List Blogs File galleries viviviviviv Menu Home Search Contact Us Categories Calendar Users Map Create Blog Current Title Description Ba ue ee an Creator Number of posts to show Allow other user to post in this blo
72. ow a blog will look in Tikiwiki Information can be Since your last Categories posted here for people to comment on visit Fairfield Community Group Quick Edit a Wiki age Wiki Home i Tue 23 of Feb 2010 Add Comment Hide Permalink Q Articles 1 new comments Your message has been queued for approval and will be posted after a List Blogs 1 This is great moderator approves it 1 na bioas File galleries 109 1 Fairfield Community Post new comment troup Title 1 new blog posts required 1 The Vision Toolbars Bis Comment required Post new comment Note Your comment will have to be approved by the moderator before it is displayed Figure 14 A Registered user s view of commenting on a blog post The blog moderator can then approve or reject the comment once they have selected the blog from the blog list and the clicked on the Comments button The approve reject buttons appear in the top right hand corner of the comment From the Registered user s perspective the blog should resemble the one displayed in Figure 15 if the comments button is pressed 54 ee Fairfield Community Group Quick Edit a Wiki About Blogs Fairfield Community Group The Vision Page Community Forums Help Wiki Syntax Help This is a test post to demonstrate how a blog will look in Tikiwiki Information can be Since your last
73. planning documents such as historic background and existing conditions SWOT analysis and overviews of study areas could be documented in a central repository easily accessible to all Unlike paper documents a planning wiki can be edited to update its information by creating threads to show the development process inputs Another advantage is that goals and implementation strategies can be changed and modified to suit the changing conditions and needs of communities for example if the planning board and or citizens find that their recommendations are not being implemented or are causing more harm than good planners would no longer be bound by them Like Lennertz and Lutzenhimer s concept of 33 dynamic planning a planning wiki would afford a more flexible open and more efficient way of performing many of the stages of the collaborative planning process without the duplication and constraints plaguing its rationalist counterpart The Structure of an Online Collaborative Planning Framework Bill Lennertz and Aarin Lutzenhimer define dynamic planning as a three phase holistic collaborative planning process during which a multiple day charette is held as the central transformative event Dynamic planning is designed to assure project success through careful charette preparation and follow up 4 Web planning seeks to build on this concept freeing planners from the geography and time constraints that have long been obstacles While web
74. ply them with an online toolset To this end a sample of popular Web 2 0 collaboration and development tools will be compiled and evaluated for suitability in a collaborative planning process based on how their functionality can be applied to the workflows typical to collaborative land use decision making Building on the research conducted by Stan Geertman and John Stillwell a set of criteria that a Collaborative Planning Support System CPSS should meet will be defined The sample of web collaboration tools will be tested against these criteria and a software program meeting them would form the basis and engine of a new Internet enabled planning process General Minimum Requirements 1 The CPSS should be open source and off the shelf and supported by a large developer community At a time when most localities are facing severe tax revenue shortfalls a low cost or free toolkit should be considered as the most viable option Although open source software lacks the support of proprietary products open 15 source software can be customized modified and extended as needed Such flexibility is imperative as each planning process is unique and will thus require a unique approach However the software must be developed and maintained by a large developer team or entity with the resources to maintain the project Additionally the CPSS software should be available off the shelf and immediately deployable out of the box Currently CPSS sy
75. r to forums and blogs is the articles tool Articles appear in basically the same format as blogs and forum and are configured in basically the same way but the key difference is that articles can be posted at a specified time and date For example if the project leaders wish to delay posting a public announcement they can select the time and date they wish the announcement to appear 56 Forums and Blogs cannot do this and Articles allow a little more flexibility in this area Configuration of Articles is shown in Figure 17 Surveys a TS gt Aidat Heading pB 7 S ERRA al 6 Hi R H3 S izy List Blogs i a File galleries an na amp os Menu Home Search Contact Us Body Bi sle EGB tl o Categories Calendar H 2 3 S i Bl e Users Map Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes List Pages Articles Articles Home sa ae b List Articles Rankings Submit Article View submissions New Article Admin Topics Admin Types Blogs List Blogs m Create Edit Blog Post Admin Posts Forums pee Publish March 16 2010 at 03 Dai utc E Admin Forums Bae Directory Submit a new link Submit Article J Auto Approve Article Browse Directory Admin Directory File Galleries Allow HTML F List Galleries Upload File Maps Mapfiles Layer Management Trackers List Trackers Figure 17 Scheduling an Article Post
76. s Despite its numerous benefits an online approach to interactive participative planning has number of potential pitfalls First a web based planning process would largely be limited to those with access to an Internet connected device meaning only those who can afford and are used to technology would be able to participate Clearly this would exclude a substantial portion of the population but it should be said that those without their own Internet access can go to a public library Secondly in spite of security measures that can be taken to prevent attacks a web planning portal would be as vulnerable to hackers as any other web portal This problem is compounded by the fact that content management systems are usually full of bugs and security holes unlike standard websites based on standard HTML CSS and Javascript Furthermore the planners in charge of the process may not exercise their administrative privileges as closely as they should leaving 26 the process vulnerable to disgruntled individuals or groups the edit wars that take place on Wikipedia are a glaring example of how controversial pages can defaced and modified at will by anonymous users On the other hand any information system with an adequate permissions management capability can overcome this problem provided its administrators are vigilant in applying the controls to the posted content Third the learning curve of the availably CMS software is too steep for most
77. s Upload File Maps Mapfiles Layer Management PY Score Disabled Disabled Trackers Since your last visit 7 3 2 m H 1 Approve Development amp a m List Trackers Trackers Calendar Categories http 192 168 0 188 tikiwiki tiki admin php page score Ty MURP Thesis Com Windows Liv n Ac lt YIREO 11 29PM Figure 1 Administration Panel Details of how to use this panel can be found in Tikiwiki s documentation but it is helpful to know that this panel controls which features such as forums blogs maps and other features that can be added enabled and configured Configuring User Groups and Security for Stakeholders Before the planners directing the charette can even begin the project they must take steps to ensure that access to the application is limited to a controlled group of users who have been approved for participation Only true stakeholders should be given access which 39 means limiting participation to people from relevant geographic areas The planners should begin by posting contact information on the homepage of the project website by which prospective participants can request access Planners can review the requests accordingly and grant access only to those users visitors to the website should not be allowed to register on their own To disable this feature the administr
78. s of a web based communication toolset that complements a proven collaborative planning approach Unlike the traditional methodology a web based collaboration process would strongly resemble the dynamic planning process described in the Charette Handbook It would revolve around three overarching themes 1 general public participation 2 publicly reviewed urban design and 3 data sharing modeling and analysis At all stages it would be continuous cyclical efficient and responsive to changing conditions and opinions Ideally web based planning would combine the best aspects of rationalism emphasis on data analysis with the inclusiveness of collaborative planning tools If realized web based planning could potentially lead to community planning efforts that are well designed and effective and more accurately reflect public opinion Public Participation The utilization of groupware such as Tikiwiki would grant community members unprecedented access to the planning process realizing the collaboration that planners have wanted for decades In stark contrast to attempts at collaborative planning in the real world which are discrete and occur intermittently through the year an online approach could theoretically run continuously Unlike actual public meetings there are no practical constraints for simply leaving the CMS running constantly with its various features enabled as conduits for public input Just as significant no geographic c
79. s on how to set up the tools for tasks that might occur in such a scenario This section is not a complete user manual on how to administer and customize the system rather it is merely a starting point for planners who wish to employ Tikiwiki in their existing public outreach strategy Nor is this scenario the only way to organize a charette as each unique situation requires a unique approach Full technical documentation for Tikiwiki can be found online at http twbasics keycontent org tiki index php Upon installation of the system the planner administrator should begin enabling the features desired by accessing the Administration Panel as shown in Figure 1 38 L O D LINK SYSTEMS INC x S Administration Adminis lox e Cs oft z http 192 168 0 188 tikiwiki tiki admin php gt Br amp O Customize Links C Other bookmarks Menu Pa aes Administration Quick Edit a Wiki Search tip Categories Calendar Enable disable Tiki features in Admin Features but configure them elsewhere Users Map Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes List Pages MaE General Features Community Mon 18 of Jan 2010 e 1 new polis New Article Admin Topics l Admin Types henna Blogs Editing and List Blogs Look amp Feel Plugins Meta Tags Create Edit Blog Post Admin Posts Forums y List Forums Admin Forums Performance Directory Submit a new link Browse Directory Admin Directory File Galleries List Galleries File Gallerie
80. s pages should allow the administrator to set varying levels of viewing and editing permission to various users and groups of users Survey Quiz Polling Online surveys and polls are tools for gauging participants reaction to a project proposal or other idea The most popular survey creation tool can be found at http www surveymonkey com Calender Event Management System a tool for scheduling events and recording their associated information Google Calendar is the most popular calendar application RSS Syndication Really Simple Syndication enables a user to aggregate updates from blog entries and other web content formats It is used by an 19 application that connects to the feed An example is Google Reader found at http www google com reader view welcome page e WYSIWYG Editing What You See Is What You Get editing allows a user to contribute content without the use of HTML e Sketching tool for mental mapping and map markup A whiteboard style tool for sketching out ideas and development areas on blank spaces and GIS overlays A good example can be seen at http www scriblink com e Version Control of documents which the ability to revert back to previous versions of content posted The listed tools are essential features of developing Web 2 0 portals today They have allowed the Internet to become more interactive and could potentially serve the same role in urban planning The challenge is to find them i
81. seeeeenees 7 Recommendations for the Design and Use of Planning Support Systems 8 Overview of the Current Planning Framework escceeeseeeeeseeeeeeeeees 10 Collaborative Dynamic Planning A new Approach eeeeeeeeeeeeeneeees 11 3 MGT Od OO SY onerar e dna e tang a E E a a e E 14 Problems with Current Efforts at Planning Support Systems 14 Criteria for a Collaborative Planning Support System ceeeeeeeeeeee 15 General Minimum Requirements sssessseseesesseesseesseeesertsseresseesssesseeeseessee 15 Specific Tool Requirements sssessesseeesseessereseeeseeesseeesseessresseresserssersssees 18 Software Package Evaluation 3 pstiajy ade yea ine on aaa ey 21 A FdE Sa eeen a a ates ica vos a dss ada A a Dene Pea 25 Comparison of Document Structures sssssesesssessessseessersseressresseesseresee 25 Drawbacks and Potential Obstacles seeeeeeeseeeeereeseesessresrersrrsresrersrrsrese 26 5 Implications for Policy and Planning Practice eseeeeeeeeeeeerereeseerrerrrersree 29 Web based Dynamic Planning Process Changes cescccesseeeeneeeeenees 30 P blic Particip ti oh aeo a e a Ea TETT 31 Urban Desie koo erore ren ee a ep e EEEE OE EE E ERT 31 Data Modeling and Sharing esseessesesessssissrseresressresresressresressessresresseeseese 32 The Process Foundation The Planning W1K1 cee eeesceeeseeeeeneeeeeeeees 33 The Structure of an Online Collaborativ
82. stems such as the aforementioned SketchGIS or the New Jersey Growth Allocation Model are not viable because they are custom solutions geared for specific geographic areas A rich full featured CPSS on the other hand should be adapted for any geographic region and for virtually any type of collaborative planning process The CPSS s key features should be oriented towards communication and participatory collaborative planning As the literature of current Planning Support Systems shows the majority of PSS software is oriented toward modeling and analysis by skilled planners and GIS analysts Even though programs like CommunityViz and What If feature tools to display analysis results on the Internet they do not allow for end user input and can only serve as one component of an online collaborative planning process A complete CPSS would have the ability to display analysis results while allowing for public comment on those analysis results More broadly stated a complete CPSS will have the tools to conduct an entire planning process online from start to finish while restructuring that process around the tools that the program has to offer 16 3 The CPSS software must be sufficiently versatile customizable and modular to be adapted to a wide variety of planning scenarios Although there is a huge volume of CMS software available most of them will be ill suited for planning due to the lack of extensions that can be added to their defau
83. t Admin Posts Forums List Forums Admin Forums Directory Submit a new link Browse Directory Admin Directory File Galleries List Galleries Upload File Maps Mapfiles Layer Management Trackers List Trackers Admin Trackers Surveys List Surveys Stats File Galleries List Galleries Upload File Maps Mapfiles Layer Management Trackers List Trackers Admin Trackers Surveys List Surveys Stats Admin Surveys Newsletters Send Newsletters Admin Newsletters Admin Admin Home Calendar Categories Comments Content Templates External Feeds Groups Mail Notifications Menus Modules Polls Security Admin Shoutbox Shoutbox Words Tiki Cache Sys Admin Tiki Importer Tiki Logs Toolbars Users phpinfo Assign permissions to wiki page HomePage This object s direct permissions override any global permissions or category permissions affecting this object To edit global permissions click here Reset to Globel Perms Permissions Filter gt v wiki Registered Admins Editors SubAdmins Permission m v Can admin attachments to wiki pages tiki_p_wiki_admin_attachments View page backlinks tiki_p_view_backlink Can view page pages tiki_p_view a E Can use the page as a tracker template tiki_p_use_as_template Can attach files to wiki pages tiki_p_wiki_attach_files Can view wiki attachments and download tiki_p_wiki
84. t Joomla can be found at http www joomla org 3 Drupal According to its website this CMS is equipped with a powerful blend of features and supports a variety of websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community driven websites Its general features include a collaborative book which allows multiple authors to contribute content this feature appears to serve the same purpose as a wiki as well as User Permissions Polls Version Control Blogs 22 and Forums Drupal also has a large collection of community contributed modules that can be used to extend the basic installation but most of these are targeted to web developers Like Joomla Drupal is more of a web portal development engine rather than a polished application that could be deployed out of the box Installation of a copy on the test Fedora server produced only a basic website that would need weeks of development work to be useful in a collaborative planning process More information about Drupal can be found at http drupal org 4 Plone The Plone Foundation claims that its software is among the top 2 of all open source projects worldwide and that it allows non technical people to create and maintain information for a public website or an intranet using only a web browser While it does offer virtually all of the features that Tikiwiki does many of those features can only be implemented via extensions that must be downloaded separately Once ins
85. tab demonstrated in Figure 5 J Z Windows Live Hotmail x at Course Outlines for Com S Community Wiki e f z http 192 168 0 188 tikiwiki tiki adminusers php O Customize Links Menu Home Search Contact Us Categories Calendar Users Map Wiki Wiki Home Last Changes List Pages Articles Articles Home List Articles Rankings Submit Article View submissions New Article Admin Topics Admin Types Blogs List Blogs Create Edit Blog Post Admin Posts Forums List Forums Admin Forums Directory Submit a new link Browse Directory Admin Directory File Galleries List Galleries Upload File lt Login Event Flow doox 7 Admin Users Admin Groups users Add a New User ight Af Configuring User Logins i Add a New User User Password Repeat Password Generate a password E User must change password at first login Email his account Add 7 Send an email to the user in order to allow him to validate Quick Edit a Wiki Page Since your last visit Tue 23 of Feb 2010 9 wiki pages changed HomePage Registered HomePage Ne 3 Instructions 4 Community 5 Wiki Help 6 About 7 Products 8 Services 9 Mission 2 new articles 1 Hello World 2 How Articles Work gt By A Other bookmarks E Show all downloads f
86. talled the basic package does allow for relatively easy customization with extensions if they are available from the administration panel However Plone must be manually configured to access the extensions before they can become part of the application The lack of rapid customization means that while Plone is a potentially very useful website development toolkit it is unsuitable for use as CPSS More information about Plone can be found at http plone org 23 Criteria Summary Tools Tikiwiki Joomla Drupal Plone Wiki Yes Yes Yes Yes Forum Yes Yes Yes Yes Blog Yes Yes Yes Yes Image Gallery Yes Yes Yes Yes GIS map server Yes No No Yes 3D Visualization Yes Yes Yes Yes File Storage Yes Yes No Yes User Management Permissions Yes Yes Yes Yes Survey Quiz Polling Yes Yes Yes Yes Calender Event Management Yes Yes Yes Yes RSS Syndication Yes Yes Yes Yes WYSIWYG Editing Yes Yes Yes Yes Sketching No No No No Version Control Yes Yes Yes Yes Ready Out of the box Yes No No No 24 Findings Of the selected software packages discussed here Tikiwiki has the most potential to serve as a CPSS It is the only package of those evaluated that is ready to be used upon installation and requires only minimal configuration to get started Unlike the other CMS packages it does not require any modification of its CSS rules or HTML to change its appearance Further its features
87. th api samples googlecode com svn trunk lib kmldomwalk js type text javascript gt lt script gt lt script type text javascript gt function addSampleButton caption clickHandler var btn document createElement input btn type button btn value caption if btn attachEvent btn attachEvent onclick clickHandler else btn addEventListener click clickHandler false add the button to the Sample UI document getElementB yId sample u1 appendChild btn function addSampleUIHtml html 85 document getElementB yId sample ui innerHTML html lt script gt lt script type text javascript gt var ge var tour null google load earth 1 function init google earth createInstance map3d initCallback failureCallback addSampleButton Enter Tour enterTour addSampleButton Play playTour addSampleButton Pause pauseTour addSampleButton Stop Reset resetTour addSampleButton Exit Tour exitTour function initCallback instance ge instance ge getWindow setVisibility true add a navigation control ge getNavigationControl setVisibility ge VISIBILITY_AUTO add some layers ge getLayerRoot enableLayerBylId ge LA YER_BORDERS true ge getLayerRoot enableLayerB yId ge LA YER_ROADS true ge getLayerRoot enableLayerB yld ge LA YER_BUILDINGS true ge getLayerRoot enableLayerById ge LA YER_TERRAIN
88. the central characteristics of good interface design is that users can intuit the functions of buttons menus toolbars and other objects merely by their appearance placement and symbology Tikiwiki has not reached this standard because it was not originally intended for the use proposed in this research but its interface would need improvement if it is to be successfully implemented as a planning toolset In addition to its ease of use improvements to its aesthetic quality would also be helpful While the latest versions of Tikiwiki have been greatly improved with the addition of more and more skins additional options for customizing its colors and design would contribute to the likelihood of its acceptance by planners The existing toolset could also be improved to enhance its already impressive power and flexibility Due to its difficulty of installation and use and its importance to any planning process the Map Server tool should be included as part of the Tikiwiki package as of this writing Tikiwiki 4 0 requires a separately installed and configured copy of Map Server for it to function with Tikiwiki The Tikiwiki version of the Map Server tool should 81 also be pre configured to display GIS datasets common to planning scenarios such as roads and zoning layers Additionally Tikiwiki should be modified to integrate U S Census demographic housing and economic data for a given study area and should have the ability to generate chor
89. tific method Believing that outcomes and consequences of policy decisions could always be correctly predicted they also discounted 10 the value of public input as they believed that the inherently irrational nature of the political process would lead to undesirable results In recent years rationalism has come under increasing criticism from planning theorists and academia has tended to emphasize the importance of collaborative planning Unfortunately for collaborative planning s advocates this paradigm shift largely remains confined to the classroom as real world practitioners believed they had no choice but to continue employing elements of the rationalist model As Michael P Brooks contends pragmatic rationality is simply the form of reasoning that we employ in the real world as we apply foresight and intelligence in our attempts to solve our problems or shape our future Brooks 82 Planners continue to approach their work in this manner because it seems to be the only realistic approach the elements of a typical planning process as defined by Barbara Becker s planning textbook Community Planning consists of data gathering data analysis policy making and implementation Becker 18 The author of this textbook even asserts that the first two elements of planning data gathering and data analysis are essentially objective and rational Becker 18 Collaborative Dynamic Planning A New Approach Despite the i
90. tions will have an impact on the outcome When people are involved early in the design and creation of a plan they will support the results Lennertz 7 12 As the authors describe all phases of dynamic planning including preliminary research education preparation and implementation involve close consultation with the public The authors list community health collaboration transparency shared learning and direct honest communication as dynamic planning values They then suggest strategies based on these values including e Working collaboratively e Design Cross functionality e Compress Work Sessions e Communicate in Short Feedback Loops e Study the Details and the Whole e Confirm Progress Through Measuring Outcomes e Produce a Feasible Plan e Use Design to Achieve a Shared Vision and Create Holistic Solutions e Conduct a Multiple day Charette e Hold the Charette on or Near the Site This style approach is steadily becoming more popular in planning circles and has been increasingly integrated with the process Despite this the framework within which planners are trying to apply these principles remains essentially rational 13 Methodology Problems with current efforts at planning support systems The problems with the rationalist model have been widely documented but they unfortunately persist despite planners best efforts to emphasize a more collaborative approach Baum 1996 Unfortunately rationalis
91. urate representation of a design than a typical CAD sketch With its ease of use and ability to be embedded in a CPSS Google Earth affords planners the ability to make urban design a much more adaptive feature of the planning process than the traditional rationalist method has allowed 31 Data Modeling and Sharing Although web planning would emphasize public participation more than rationalism does it would retain the emphasis on data modeling and sharing Despite the skepticism of some theorists who have discounted the value of data analysis in planning Innes 53 it remains in reality a vital aspect of the process For example land uses and the built form are heavily influenced by the use of transportation planning data models as the outputs of these models are typically used to determine the routes and width of roads and rights of way Although traditional transportation models such as Cube and TransCAD do not sufficiently account for other factors such as development patterns and environmental quality these modeling techniques continue to be employed as the standard guide in transportation decision making Unfortunately transportation decisions are usually made without significant levels of public input as there has not been a means to share such important information However Google Earth provides planners the ability to display this data online and explain its meaning thereby inherently recognizing the political nature of such data a
92. urveys Home Since your last Admin menu About visit URL tiki ist_surveys php Categories Fa i Pagan Community Sat 13 of Mar 2010 Wiki Home k r wiki page use PageName me Sine pests Surveys ae Help 1 Re the Artides Separate multiple sections with a comma for an AND or Wiki Comprehensive Plan a vertical bar for an OR Syntax 2 the Comprehensive TELERS Permissions Help Bii Fil llerie ii Tage s Separate multiple permissions with a comma for an Admin My M AND or a vertical bar for an OR Categories ly Menu Group Wiki Home tome Admins Surveys gt About Anonymous Articles Community Editors List Blogs gt Forums Roga ara File galleries u mins Help Wiki Syntax Help sai gt Admin menu Tip o gt Categories Use Ctrl Click to select multiple groups Wiki Selecting 2 groups means that the option will be seen Ls Home if the user belongs to the 2 groups If you want the 2 Surveys groups to see the option create 2 options with one Artick group each id s If the url is PageName you do not need to put the gt List Blogs groups the option will be displayed only if the page File galleries can be displayed aca Tye SectiontevelO Postion r Home Save Search Contact Us Categories Calendar ease Menu options Wiki vente ce Find Number of displaved rows 95 ra Figure 23 Creating a link in the Menu Geographic Data Display and Analysis In addition to the communication to
93. ut was not used to directly boost levels of public participation In fact many examples of such Planning Support Systems PSS have been employed over the years as documented by Stan Geertman and John Stillwell As defined by these authors PSS can consist of systems in which technologies dedicated to the planning profession are brought together Geertman 2003 292 Of those documented the majority were designed for tasks such as forecasting future growth developing future scenarios based on different policy choices and other models these do not have any public participation component Others such as the Dutch SketchGIS program offer tools to facilitate brainstorming sessions as participants can electronically sketch potential or desirable futures for their community on a web based background map PSS such SketchGIS tend to remain more the exception rather than the rule however as they are mostly custom programs or they are proprietary software packages beyond the reach of most citizens or planning departments budgets The reality is that while most planning departments use websites to display ordinances contact information and meeting agendas relatively few use the Web to invite direct participation Simpson 2004 Only one third of respondents to one survey indicated that they provide a feedback form on their website or employ an email listserv and much smaller percentages responded yes when asked if they use live broad
94. utzenhiser proposed However their Objectives Strategies and Measures DOM document SWOT analysis and other proposed concepts would be created and published via the CPSS as would strategies for stakeholder education and data analysis The difference would be that the participants in the charette would have access to this information before the charette even began because the existing databases in the CPSS would serve as a useful starting point for discussions This would hopefully lead to a more efficient process and better informed participants later on 35 Phase Two The Charette e Organization Education Vision e Alternative Concepts Development e Preferred Plan Synthesis e Plan Development e Production and Presentation Because the charette traditionally revolves around a series of face to face work sessions by its participants the extent to which this phase could take place online is debatable and is dependent on the scenario and the preferences of the team running the charette At the very least the in person sessions could be augmented with online documentation and discussion potentially expanding participation to those who cannot be physically present in the meetings The CPSS could even be used simply to provide real time updates of discussions in meetings so that other interested parties could follow along The standard charette work cycle does not have to change but some stages such as the public review of alternat
95. ve been used to develop a block of HTML and Javascript code that will allow a non programmer to embed Google Earth in a Wiki page While this is still a technically complex task for someone with average computer skills the following procedure will allow a planner to take advantage of Google Earth in ways that typically only web programmers can do Quickly summarized the steps are the following 1 Enable the HTML plugin 2 Create a new wiki page 3 Substitute in alternative Google keys and KMZ file names into the code 4 Copy and paste the provided code with an ANSI text editor 5 Confirm the changes The first step is to enable the HTML plugin feature which comes disabled by default in every new Tikiwiki installation First the administrator should access the Adminstration panel and then select the Editing and Plugins button and then click on the 71 plugins tab The html plugin can be enabled by checking the Enable option and clicking Change Preferences at the bottom of the page Figure 31 m Group group Display wiki text if user is in one of listed groups UV Enable V Disable edit plugin icon make plugin inline m GroupMailCore groupmailcore Displays GroupMail functions on a wiki page Usually set up using a plugin alias created by the GroupMail profile amp E Enable Requires Trackers OK Disable edit plugin icon make plugin inline m
96. who are inexperienced with these systems Most of those available require at least one individual with web programming experience for any significant modifications The lone exception to this Tikiwiki still would require its administrators to be reasonably tech savvy to operate This difficulty means that a consultant may need to be sought for setup and a paid web hosting service will be needed for the portal s installation and maintenance However many counties cities and private planning firms already have the resources to set up and host the application on their existing network infrastructure Fourth because the online approach potentially opens the door to so many more participants than the traditional model the planning process may end up being less efficient not more Although a more direct democratic style of decision making has its benefits it may not always result in the best outcomes for a community Because the goal would be to solicit ever more stakeholder feedback with constant revisions to a final plan the process may simply end up taking longer A timeline and deadlines for project deliverables would therefore be needed to counteract this tendency Furthermore technology may result in planners exercising less control over a planning process It is reasonable to expect that a more collaborative process could be 27 hijacked by stakeholders who wish to control the process and produce an outcome beneficial only to their own
97. yed in Tikiwiki is the use of the Map Server tool Unfortunately the installation and configuration of this tool was found to be so difficult that its practical use is not recommended Unless the charette team leaders and participants have experience in developing and querying GIS maps of this type it will be beyond the technical capability of almost everyone involved In any case Google Earth and Maps can be configured to feature most of Map Server s functionality rendering Map Server unnecessary in most production environments 77 Web Based Dynamic Planning Policy Changes Because a web based planning process would constitute a slightly different model it may be necessary to make changes to state regulations authorizing the creation of comprehensive plans at the local level For example although the Virginia state code says what may go into a Plan it does not say on what medium the Plan may be displayed The code s prescription for advertisement of planning sessions in newspapers indicates that it needs to be updated to include online media Secondly state code needs to authorize a greater level of transparency information access and citizen participation than it currently provides Without these provisions local jurisdictions will have no incentive to provide an online medium for dialogue Additionally the regulation should take into account the risks associated with an online process and define a basic set of procedures to avoid th

THE APPLICATION OF COLLABORATIVE PLANNING PRINCIPLES

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