A Public Participation GIS for Infrastructure Assessment in Rural Human Settlements

A significant part of the rural problems is related to infrastructure issues, which can cause economic, cultural, and social problems in villages or rural human settlements. Various methods for evaluating infrastructure issues are currently used traditionally in many countries. However, due to the rapid growth and range of infrastructure problems in the villages, as well as the need for immediate and optimal handling of the problems in the villages, the need for a tool to record and monitor the problems as best as possible is felt more than ever. Today, with the advancement of Geographic Information System (GIS) and web-based tools, a quick and easy platform for participatory and collaborative spatial problem solving has been provided at any place, at any time, and with any means. The current research involves the evaluation of infrastructures in rural human settlements using the Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) tool. The research consists of three main stages: (1) the needs assessment of the PPGIS to solve the infrastructure problems of rural human settlements, (2) the design of the system based on the needs assessment, and (3) the evaluation of the usability of the designed system in the villages. To achieve the above goals, first, a system needs assessment questionnaire was designed and distributed in the villages of Shahriar County, Tehran province, Iran. Then, based on the needs assessment results, a PPGIS was designed and implemented in the villages of Eskman, Dehshad Bala, Razi Abad Bayan, and Asil Abad. The people of these villages were invited to report their problems in a location-based manner through the PPGIS tool and finally to complete the questionnaire related to the system’s usability. The results show that 24% reported that water and sewage problems were the highest infrastructure problems. Regarding using the system’s features, 92% of the participants used point features to report problems, and 20% uploaded their problem reports along with a photo. The results of the evaluation of the system’s usability show that despite the willingness of the villagers to use the system, the need for training in the use of maps and geographic information tools, simplifying and improving the user interface, creating a culture in the field of using geographic information systems to participate in reporting problems is felt.