The University’s Role in
Fostering Spatial Citizenship
Laxmi Ramasubramanian, PhD, AICP
President
University Consortium for
Geographic Information Science (UCGIS)
A little bit about me & my work
Digital
Technologies
& Web Apps
SocioPolitical &
Institutional
Contexts
Planning
Activities &
Processes
Citizenship; Digital Citizenship
Citizenship is a status that is bestowed upon those who are
full members of a community
- T. H. Marshall, 1949
Digital citizenship is the ability to participate in society
online
Digital citizens:
• Use technology frequently;
• Use technology for political information to fulfill their civic
obligations;
• Use technology at work for economic gain
- Karen Mossberger, Caroline Tolbert, and Ramona McNeal, 2008
What is Spatial Citizenship?
Who is a Spatial Citizen?
An individual who has the motivation,
knowledge, skills, and competencies to access
and reason with geo-information in order to
participate in democratic processes
- Adapted from I. Gryl, T. Jekel, and K. Donert, 2010
methodological
competency
communication
competency
spatial data and its representations
technical
competency
active
participation
situational assessment
competency
- Adapted from T. Jekel, and I.Gryl, 2012
VOTESCOPE NYC
http://votescope.us
Nathan Storey
SANDY STORIES
https://sandystories.crowdmap.com/
Lauren Masseria
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES
http://google.org/crisismap/2012-sandy-nyc
Alyssa Pichardo
November 1: Map created by Alyssa
November 2: 50,000 people had viewed the map
November 2: Google.org contacted Alyssa
November 3: Alyssa’s map added to the Google Superstorm Sandy NYC Crisis Map.
Benefits of Spatial Citizenship
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Problem solving & problem posing
Integrating qualitative and quantitative info
Promotes civic involvement
Geo-spatial solutions that are:
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Purpose-built;
Place-based solutions;
Developed in real time or in near real time;
Collaboratively;
At relatively low cost;
Respectful of local knowledge and experience;
Useful to different types of publics/ end users
Universities and GIS Adoption
• Amazing richness, where GIS can be
found on an individual university campus;
• Many new academic departments;
• More service roles for GIS on campuses
• GIS is being extensively used to
– support community mapping activities (38%),
– planning and emergency preparedness
(36%), and
– data and services hosting (26%).
Moving Forward
• Challenges like sustainability, climate
change, human rights and so on…
• Cannot focus solely on analysis, we have
to use our knowledge and skills to
synthesize, integrate, and communicate...
• University educators must take some
responsibility for creating spatially aware
citizens
Realizing the Promise
• Information sharing across disciplinary
boundaries
• Illustrating different dimensions of change
• Visualizing/Integrating multiple opinions and
perspectives
• Provides alternative ways of exploring data
• Facilitating real time planning and decisionmaking
• Improving participatory processes
• Building community memory
Thanks!
Questions?
Contact: laxmi@hunter.cuny.edu