Web-based GIS and public participation: An aid to widening female participation in revitalizing outdoor recreational facilities in Saudi Arabia. A case study in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

During the last decade, the Internet and Geographic Information System (GIS)\nhave made changes in the relationship between governments and citizens in many\ndeveloped countries. Citizens, in such countries, have been given more chances to\nparticipate in the decision making process of the spatial issues relevant to them. Such\nparticipation has helping to make urban planning more democratic and to make planners\nplan with the public rather than plan for the public. In Saudi Arabia (a developing\ncountry), participation of citizens in spatial decision making is very limited. Such\nlimitation is more severe when considering women due to the circumstance of gender\nsegregation in the Saudi society. While males may somehow muddle through ways to\nexpress their views about spatial issues to the planning authority, females have no ways\nunless they behave against the local norms. There is a persistent need for implementing\ndistance participation for women in Saudi Arabia. This research examines whether\ndeveloping and employing an Internet / GIS participatory approach can facilitate (without conflicting with the local conservative cultural norms) women’s participation in\nthe municipal decision making process of the neighborhood’s outdoor recreational\nfacilities. The goal was primarily to adapt the technology to serve the society instead of\nnecessitating the society to change its inherited norms to be able to advance. The\nresearch involved an exploratory ethnographic case study carried out in a selected\nresidential community in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.\nThe research was carried out in two phases where the current status of public\nparticipation in the Saudi community planning was investigated first, and then a\nprototype for an Internet/GIS system for female public participation was developed and\nevaluated. The research found that there is a legitimate enthusiasm amongst the public\nand officials of the research sample for adopting e-public participation. Such enthusiasm\nis supported by a number of political, economical, technological and religious reasons.\nHowever, the findings showed that adopting e-public participation is more promising in\nthe near future than currently due to different reasons including the current relatively\nsmall number of Internet users in Saudi Arabia. Since such research is the first of its type\nto be conducted in the Saudi context, the findings can serve as a road map indicating that\nadopting e-public participation in Saudi Arabia is promising and worth researching.

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