An Evaluation of the Capacity-building Effects of Participatory GIS (PGIS) for Public Participation in Land Use Planning

Spatial participatory methods called ‘participatory GIS’ (PGIS) are intended to improve public participation for land use planning. An internet PGIS was implemented in Perlis, Malaysia, to examine the public capacity-building effects of PGIS. Two delivery modes (facilitated and self-administered) were evaluated. We found that PGIS significantly enhanced perceived public knowledge about place and land use planning while increasing spatial technology skills, regardless of implementation mode. The results indicate that PGIS can increase public capacity for participating in land use planning, an important finding for developing countries with historically low levels of public participation and low public awareness and knowledge of planning.