Theodore H. Grossardt

Toward Structured Public Involvement: Justice, Geography and Collaborative Geospatial/Geovisual Decision Support Systems

This article addresses how collaborative geospatial/geovisual decision support systems (C-GDSS) can achieve greater measures of spatial justice within an institutional, democratic framework for public goods allocation. Current public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) and participatory geographic information science (P-GIS) literature identifies issues of scale and consensus as problematic for such systems. C-GDSS deployments aimed at achieving spatial justice through small-scale, consensual processes fail when scaled to large processes involving heterogeneous groups where consensus is not realistically achievable. For this case study, we identify a significant deficit in the quality of public involvement in transportation infrastructure (TI) planning and design in the United States. We call this the Arnstein Gap. This exists in part because professionals lack confidence that they can integrate community cultural values, despite C-GDSS use, and have come to fear public engagement. To close the Arnstein Gap using C-GDSS we reconsider relationships among landscape, justice, and difference. The nature of power in the U.S. democratic polity and TIs role is examined and a geographical justice framework is derived from Rawlss (1971) theory of justice. We argue that within the normative framework of Jeffersonian democracy in the United States, spatial justice cannot be attained through an epistemology of distributional justice. Instead, it can more feasibly be attained by increasing procedural justice and access to justice. From these principles we develop a more suitable methodology for reflexive, large-scale group deployment of such systems termed structured public involvement (SPI). SPI holds that large-scale, nonconsensual collaborative TI planning is not oxymoronic, nor is it morally or practically inferior to other options. Methodological consideration is given to how geospatial and geovisual technologies can be used in TI design to elicit and respect cultural preferences. SPI consists of a reflexive public involvement framework that situates these technologies as dialogic media in participatory, nonconsensual collaborative planning and design. Two SPI case studies are discussed. AMIS is a participatory multicriteria/GIS corridor evaluation methodology and CAVE is a fuzzy-logic-based visual evaluation methodology. Anonymous real-time public process evaluation data demonstrate SPIs high performance. We discuss impediments, such as project sponsors preferred Arnstein level, public participation patterns, professional resistance, and other considerations. This work has implications for collaborative public goods decision making using geovisual/geospatial methods in participatory democracies.

STRUCTURED PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Public involvement in transportation planning and design has a problematic history. Professionals lack access to a coherent, organized method for communicating with the public, and some important principles of public involvement known to community design professionals are still being discovered by transportation professionals. A protocol, structured public involvement (SPI), is proposed. SPI was designed to ensure that public involvement is meaningful to the professional and the public. Principles of SPI are presented, and a series of steps useful for engaging the general public in a complex design or planning problem is given. SPI is intended to be transparent, accountable, democratic, and efficient. SPI places the use of technology within a public involvement framework built on community design experience. While technology can be useful, it must be placed in a social context. That is, various technologies are used because they can address such problems as lack of access to information, inconvenient and time-consuming meetings, confusing terms and graphics, and one-way communication. Highlights and examples are drawn from practical experience, where SPI protocols have been designed and used to solve problems of route planning, highway design, and transit-oriented development. While each problem set called for a different mix of technical tools, the protocol within which those tools were used was the same, with similar encouraging results. With SPI, public participation is less contentious and more informed, and the professional has information of high quality with which to begin the design process.

Planning, Technology, and Legitimacy: Structured Public Involvement in Integrated Transportation and Land-Use Planning in the United States

The authors have measured an Arnstein gap, that is, a significant difference between desired and actual levels of citizen participation in planning processes. This Arnstein gap exists because even well-intentioned professionals have an unrealistic expectation of achieving consensus across large planning scales. Further, it is often hoped or believed that technologies of representation will somehow accomplish consensus. The authors argue this is not possible without developing a stronger theoretical framework for their deployment in planning in democratic societies. The purpose of this research is to move the public closer to the center of the public infrastructure planning and design process in a productive, efficient, and more satisfactory manner, that is, to close the Arnstein gap. The authors adapt a participatory framework, called structured public involvement (SPI), for integrating visualization and geospatial technologies into large-scale public involvement in planning domains. The authors discuss how SPI using the casewise visual evaluation method is applied in collaboration with planners. A case study is presented of integrated transportation and land-use planning for an Indiana city. The results demonstrate that SPI achieves high levels of stakeholder satisfaction in addition to providing high-quality planning and design guidance for professionals.

Structured Public Involvement in Context-Sensitive Large Bridge Design Using Casewise Visual Evaluation: Case Study of Section 2 of Ohio River Bridges Project

Subject to engineering constraints, bridges should present a pleasing visual aspect to their user communities. The research team extended its structured public involvement (SPI) protocol using casewise visual evaluation (CAVE) to the field of context-sensitive large-scale bridge design. The context-sensitive design process was used for Section 2 of the Louisville Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project. Key design parameters including bridge type, height, symmetry, complexity, and tunnel effect (superstructure shape) were identified by bridge designers. During a 3-month period, an SPI protocol was used to determine community preferences from Kentucky and Indiana participants. Group preferences were gathered rapidly, anonymously, and fairly from a focus group by using electronic polling technology to evaluate potential designs. A preference model was built by using CAVE, and a range of nonlinear preference variations relative to the design parameters was investigated. The favorable public evaluation results of the SPI process using CAVE are presented, and the reasons for its high performance are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the need for a close collaboration between bridge designers and public involvement specialists. The project demonstrates how an analytic approach to public involvement that integrates technology into the dialogic relationship between designers and the public allows for the achievement of inclusive, successful context-sensitive design even for large, complex infrastructure projects.

ANALYTIC MINIMUM IMPEDANCE SURFACE: GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM-BASED CORRIDOR PLANNING METHODOLOGY

Highway corridor alignment presents a highly complex decision environment in which a variety of social, environmental, and economic factors must be defined and weighted and trade-offs must be evaluated. These data vary widely in format and quality. Stakeholders from various groups, often with competing interests, should be integrated into this process efficiently to determine objectives, to select data, and then to quantify the importance. Corridor planning is therefore an appropriate domain for the development and application of enhanced methodologies that conjoin multicriteria decision-support techniques with the spatial analytic and presentation capacities of a geographic information system. The analytic minimum impedance surface (AMIS) methodology is presented, and its application to a case study in the southeastern United States is evaluated. AMIS features the structured integration of stakeholder input into a hybrid analytic hierarchy process. The advantages of the approach are highlighted, along with the significance of process design in building an effective methodology. Several potential applications are discussed. Conceptual constraints and problems related to the implementation of AMIS are set forth, and future enhancements are posited.

Evaluation of Highway Design Parameters on Influencing Operator Speeds Through Casewise Visual Evaluation

Designing highways to influence driver operating speed effectively through environmental feedback is a key research field requiring special attention. Virtual reality video simulations were used to record the influence of environmental elements on driver judgments about the appropriate driving speed. This study evaluated the use of various means that could affect operating speeds and affect driver behavior without compromising safety. Data were analyzed through the fuzzy set nonlinear modeling system of Casewise Visual Evaluation methodology to identify design factors that most strongly influenced perceived operator discomfort. The findings indicated that vegetation type and density and barrier type have a significant effect on driver discomfort and thus have the potential to influence operating speeds. Roadway width has a similar effect where narrower roadways increase driver discomfort. The results indicate that roadside features and certain road design elements can be used to affect driver operating speeds.

A New Method for Public Involvement in Electric Transmission-Line Routing

Public participation in and acceptance of routing decisions for electric transmission lines has delayed and prevented the construction of numerous lines in recent decades. A new method of public participation called structured public involvement (SPI), developed previously by two of the authors for routing other public infrastructure, has been adapted to routing electric transmission lines. SPI elicits and quantifies community values then routes the line according to these values and best engineering design practices. The process is done before any potential routes are ever considered by the transmission company and routing professionals, effectively allowing the public, in collaboration with experts, to determine the line route. This reduces the chances of line routing failure by simplifying the project and greatly accelerating the complex problem of comparing alternate line routes, and it facilitates public acceptance of a final route.

Structured Public Involvement in Context-Sensitive Noise Wall Design Using Casewise Visual Evaluation

The research team extended its structured public involvement (SPI) protocol to the field of context-sensitive noise wall design. Subject to a minimum sound attenuation capacity, noise walls must present a pleasing visual aspect to their user communities including residents, commuters, and others. This paper details the casewise visual evaluation (CAVE) methodology and discusses its application to a context-sensitive noise wall design in Arizona. The research team designed a fuzzy logic nonlinear modeling process, CAVE, that predicts group preference for specific designs even when such designs have not been created. CAVE offers significant advantages over current visual assessment methods such as the visual preference survey. Key noise wall design parameters, including height, topological variation, color value, plant coverage, and plant complexity, were identified by landscape architecture experts. Group preferences were gathered rapidly, anonymously, and fairly from a focus group by using electronic polling technology to evaluate digital images of samples and potential designs. Highest preference was achieved with berm-type walls combining medium-value, smooth stone featuring a basic pattern with undulating topographic variation and a higher degree of plant complexity. A range of nonlinear preference variations in response to changes in value and plant complexity were noted. Other preferred designs were documented for this context-specific Arizona case study. The advantages of the SPI process using CAVE and obstacles in its implementation are discussed.

Toward Environmental Justice in Transportation Decision Making with Structured Public Involvement

Environmental justice (EJ), in the form of distributional justice, is mandated by a 1994 Executive Order. However, EJ is not easily achieved. EJ research can be divided into identification and mitigation strategies. EJ mitigation strategies intersect with public involvement, which in transportation has a long, and often controversial, history. This paper examines how a philosophy based on John Rawls’ theories of procedural justice and access to justice can address the need to achieve distributional justice. To improve procedural justice, the authors examine how effective large-group processes can deliver high-performance public involvement. Methodological barriers and the role of technologies such as electronic polling and visualization are discussed. The authors propose four process metrics for public involvement. On the basis of data on structured public involvement projects, the authors argue that such processes enhance procedural justice and thereby address specific EJ aims. These data illustrate that realizing this potential improvement will require a philosophical shift to a higher Arnstein ladder level, the identification and use of appropriate methodologies for involving large groups, and the integration of their valuations into effective decision support systems.

Use of Structured Public Involvement to Identify Community Preferences for a Superfund Site End State Vision

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant is a uranium enrichment facility built in the mid-1950’s in western Kentucky. Many thousands of people over several generations have been employed at, or in activities devoted to, the PGDP. Over the years, the plant has also generated significant nuclear and industrial contamination. This contamination is composed of various surface disposal activities such as burial grounds, which has resulted in multiple potential sites across the plant grounds, and surface and subsurface water contamination, the extent and full nature of which is still subject to ongoing research and monitoring. Because of this, the PGDP retains a joint legacy as a regional economic engine and a major source of environmental contamination and worker exposure.