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Public participation and the concept of space in environmental governance: An application of PPGIS
Author(s) -
Sun Milan TungWen,
Tsai YunTung,
Shih MeiChiang,
Lin Jessica YuWen
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
public administration and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-162X
pISSN - 0271-2075
DOI - 10.1002/pad.527
Subject(s) - public participation gis , public participation , citizen journalism , government (linguistics) , citizen science , corporate governance , space (punctuation) , process (computing) , collaborative governance , environmental governance , environmental planning , perception , environmental resource management , political science , public relations , business , public administration , geographic information system , geography , computer science , gis and public health , psychology , environmental science , law , philosophy , remote sensing , linguistics , biology , operating system , botany , finance , neuroscience
Citizen participation ought to be important in environmental governance. However, environmental issues are usually defined as science‐related ones, wherein expert knowledge is more important than the opinions, demands or needs of citizens. On the other hand, environmental issues involve spatial dimensions, the geographic characteristics of which require specific techniques to analyse. PPGIS is applied to study An‐Shun, the site of a well‐known pollution case in Taiwan, to reveal, through a participatory process, the perception of space of citizens of a nearby community. The results of this study suggest that the government needs to ensure more citizen participation in its future plans for the decontamination and renovation of the An‐Shun site. Lay knowledge or citizen perceptions of space should not replace scientific knowledge, but can supplement it. They are additional views that ought to be considered by government agencies in dealing with environmental issues. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.