برنامه ریزی فضایی (Aug 2023)
Pattern Recognition of New Urban Technologies from the Perspective of Experts and Officials (Study case: Volunteer Geographic Information Systems (VGIS) Technologies)
Abstract
AbstractThe concept of citizen participation is not new. Today, there is a greater desire to employ modern participatory technologies, with population or community-based strategies, such as participatory volunteered location-based crowdsourcing (VGIS) software to make the cities smarter. Because, in addition to being location-based, the system is voluntary and can simultaneously collect humans’ data. However, there is no precise understanding of how experts are going to execute this method in practice; thus, this study helps to fill this important research gap. The objective of this research is to determine the key factors that have a significant impact on the adoption and utilization of new volunteer crowdsourcing technologies, specifically location-based systems like volunteered geographic information (VGI), as a means of crowdsourcing in urban management, as viewed by both researchers and officials. The research, in terms of its practical goal and nature, is descriptive-analytical. In this study, two qualitative methods, Delphi and the quantitative survey questionnaire, were used sequentially and their results were combined. The results were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis by SPSS software to extract the main components. The research results show that, according to researchers, the most important and effective factors for the successful design and implementation of the voluntary geographic information system technology and its acceptance by citizens are citizens. However, according to municipal officials and experts, the most important factor is organizational and institutional factors, which refer to policy-making and legal support. In fact, municipal officials and experts believe that in order for citizens to accept voluntary location-based technology, the path should be determined by top-level officials first.Keywords: New Technologies, Crowdsourced Technologies, Voluntary Geographic Information System (VGIS), Citizens’ Participation. IntroductionNew urban planning requires greater public participation for achieving scientific and democratic decision-making. Crowdsourcing is a new approach to information gathering, encouraging innovation, and facilitating collective decision-making in urban planning. Nowadays, there is a growing tendency to use participatory new technologies with population or community-based strategies, such as volunteer geographic information systems (VGIS) in city management.The objective of this research is to determine the key factors that have a significant impact on the adoption and utilization of new volunteer crowdsourcing technologies, specifically location-based systems like volunteered geographic information (VGI), as a means of crowdsourcing in urban management, as viewed by both researchers and officials. Materials and MethodsThe research, in terms of its practical goal and nature, is descriptive-analytical. In this study, two qualitative methods, Delphi and the quantitative survey questionnaire, were used sequentially and their results were combined. The results were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis by SPSS software to extract the main components. Next, the factor structure and the factors that influence the adoption of location-based volunteer crowdsourcing technologies by citizens were verified using the Mplus software. The statistical population in this research includes two groups: researchers with research backgrounds in new technologies, especially crowdsourcing and voluntary geographic information systems, and officials involved in the smart city affairs of Isfahan. Using non-probability and purposive sampling, a panel of 40 international experts and 25 officials in Isfahan's smart city affairs were formed for the Delphi panel. Research Findings The research results show that, according to researchers, the most important and effective factors for the successful design and implementation of the voluntary geographic information system technology and its acceptance by citizens are citizens, environmental conditions and background, as well as the design of the technology, respectively. However, officials prioritize institutional and organizational factors, interactive and exchange design, and technical and infrastructural design in order of importance. In fact, from the perspective of researchers, projects that prioritize citizens as the most important variable and the necessary driving force for participation are more likely to succeed. However, according to municipal officials and experts, the most important factor is organizational and institutional factors, which refer to policy-making and legal support. In fact, municipal officials and experts believe that in order for citizens to accept voluntary location-based technology, the path should be determined by top-level officials first. Discussion of Results and ConclusionsThis research contributes a lot to crowdsourced technology adoption literature, and the conceptual framework of this study increases the understanding of VGIS as a new urban technology to improve urban management. The results of the study show that from the point of view of 40 active experts and researchers around the world regarding the acceptance and use of crowdsourced, voluntary, and location-based technologies (VGIS) by citizens, 6 main factors were of high priority (i.e. citizens, design, environmental and contextual conditions, cost, internal, and external quality).Technical and infrastructural factors should also be considered in the design and use of this technology, among which the factor of citizens is the most important factor. According to municipal officials and experts, the most important factor is the organizational and institutional factors that refer to policymaking and legal protections. In fact, municipal officials and experts believe that for voluntary acceptance of location-based technology by citizens, the path must first be determined by high-ranking officials. The second factor is interactive technical and infrastructural design and exchange that refers to the characteristics of the technology. This factor is also present in the group of researchers. Of course, in the group of researchers, this factor ranks sixth. The fourth factor is called mental and normative factors. The fifth factor in the group of officials is called the citizen. This factor is also present in the group of researchers, but it is the first priority and it is the most important factor according to the researchers. The sixth factor is education and culture and the last factor is economic and financial.
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