Online Citizen Reporting on Urban Maintenance: A Collection, Evaluation and Decision Support System

Authors

  • Ivan Blečić Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari
  • Dario Canu Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari
  • Arnaldo Cecchini Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari
  • Giuseppe Andrea Trunfio Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/2536

Keywords:

Online citizens reporting, Evaluation and decision support system, Urban maintenance, Participation, Priority sorting, ELECTRE TRI

Abstract

We present an online support system for urban maintenance which: 1. lets citizens directly report neighbourhood issues which may require attention from the urban maintenance services: 2. evaluates the priority of reported issues; 3. allows the allocation and management of resources and workforce on solving issues and 4. permits public tracking of their status. The web application was entirely developed using low-cost Google cloud services, with the advantage of low deployment and hosting costs and practically no systems administration costs, a highly replicable and transferrable solution, and a rapid development process relying on robust Google services. The model for evaluating priority of reported issues is based on the the ELECTRE TRI rating method. In the paper we present the system's standard workflow, the evaluation model and the implementation details. We also discuss its possible more general implications for fostering and supporting citizens participation. Unlike many existing platforms for citizens reporting of maintenance issues, our system incorporates an explicit and publicly accessible evaluation model to prioritise issues and assign resources for their solution. This, we argue, is a crucial prerequisite for the principles of transparency, publicity, accountability and equity be observed by municipal governments.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Ivan Blečić, Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari

Researcher at the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning of the University of Sassari, Italy. He holds a Ph.D. in Territorial Planning and Public Policy from the IUAV University of Venice. His research interests are planning and territorial analysis, evaluation models, construction of future scenarios and urban simulation. The research activities regard techniques, models and tools for decision support and evaluation of complex projects, plans and territorial policies.

Dario Canu, Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari

He holds a bachelor's degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from the Faculty or Architecture in Alghero, University of Sassari and a master's degree in Planning & Policies for City, Environment and Landscape from the IUAV University of Venice. He currently is a Ph.D. Student in Architecture and Environment at the Department of Architecture Design and Urban Planning, University of Sassari, working on the developing of urban evaluation models.

Arnaldo Cecchini, Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari

Full Professor in Urban Planning and the Head of the Department of Architecture Design and Urban Planning of the University of Sassari. He is Director of the Laboratory of Analysis and Models for Planning - LAMP. Expert in techniques of urban analysis and modelling such as catastrophe theory, simulation, gaming simulation, cellular automata, scenario techniques and information systems for public participation.

Giuseppe Andrea Trunfio, Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari

Researcher in Computer Science at the at the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning ofthe University of Sassari, Italy. His main research interests focus on decision support, modelling and simulation, high performancecomputing and optimization metaheuristics. He is a Member of IEEE Computer Society and a professional member of the ACM.

References

Rawls, J. (1971), A Theory of Justice, Claredon, Oxford.

Yu, W. (1992), "ELECTRE TRI: Aspects méthodologiques et manuel d'utilisation", Document du LAMSADE, 74, Université Paris-Dauphine, Paris.

Roy, B., Bouyssou, D. (1993), Aide multicritère à la décision: méthodes et cas, Economica, Paris.

Bouyssou, D., Marchant, Th., Pirlot M., Tosukiàs, A., Vincke, Ph. (2006), Evaluation and Decision Models: Stepping stones for the analyst, Springer Verlag, Berlin.

Roy, B. (1968), "Classement et choix en présence de points de vue multiples (la méthode ELECTRE)", La Revue d'Informatique et de Recherche Opérationelle (RIRO), 8, 57-75.

Irvin, R.A., Stansbury, J. (2004), "Citizen Participation in Decision Making: Is It Worth the Effort?", Public Administration Review, 64(1), 55-65.

Burby, R.J. (2003), "Making plans that matter: Citizen involvement and government action", Journal of the American Planning Association, 69(1), 33-49.

Coleman, S. (2007), "e-Democracy: The history and future of an idea", in Mansell, R., Avgerou, Ch., Quah, D., Silverstone, R. (eds.), The Oxford handbook of information and communication technologies, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 362-382.

Charalabidis, Y., Koussouris, S., Kipenis, L. (2009), "The 2009 Report on the Objectives, Structure and Status of eParticipation Initiative Projects in the European Union", MOMENTUM Whitepaper, June 2009.

Castells, M. (2012), Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age, Polity Press, Cambridge.

Arnstein, S.R. (1969), "A Ladder of Citizen Participation", Journal of the American Planning Association, 35(4), 216-224.

Connor, D.M. (2007), "A New Ladder of Citizen Participation", National Civic Review, 77(3), 249-257.

Wiedemann, P.M., Femers, S. (1993), "Public Participation in waste management decision making: analysis and management of conflicts", Journal of Hazardous Materials, 33(3), 355-368.

Dorcey, A., Doney, L., Rueggeberg, H. (1994), "Public Involvement in government decision making: choosing the right model", B.C. Round Table on Environment and Economy, Victoria.

Pretty, J.N. (1995), "Participatory Learning For Sustainable Agriculture", World Development, 23(8), 1247-1263.

Rocha, E.M. (1997), "A Ladder of Empowerment", Journal of Planning Education and Research, 17(1), 31-41.

Cecchini, A. (2010), "Il paesaggio come bene comune (e un esempio di gioco per imparare i beni comuni)", Quaderni dell'Istituto Alcide Cervi, 6.

Downloads

Published

2014-05-18

How to Cite

Blečić, I., Canu, D., Cecchini, A., & Trunfio, G. A. (2014). Online Citizen Reporting on Urban Maintenance: A Collection, Evaluation and Decision Support System. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/2536

Issue

2014: INPUT 2014 - Smart City: planning for energy, transportation and sustainability of the urban system

Section

input2014

License

Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following:

1. Authors retain the rights to their work and give in to the journal the right of first publication of the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons License - Attribution that allows others to share the work indicating the authorship and the initial publication in this journal.

 

2. Authors can adhere to other agreements of non-exclusive license for the distribution of the published version of the work (ex. To deposit it in an institutional repository or to publish it in a monography), provided to indicate that the document was first published in this journal.


3. Authors can distribute their work online (ex. In institutional repositories or in their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges and it can increase the quotations of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access)