Papers by Amirulikhsan Zolkafli
Technology advancement in the form of Participatory GIS (PGIS) has emerged as a method for gather... more Technology advancement in the form of Participatory GIS (PGIS) has emerged as a method for gathering public knowledge and opinions to enhance public participation development planning. There is also a huge potential for PGIS to be applied in developing countries because of its capability to pull the public toward a more active role both in participation and the decisionmaking process. Researchers have used various types of geo-information technology to encourage public participation, but their studies showed that public interest in participating in any kind of planning activities has not increased, thus failing to attract the public attention to participate. The article focuses on the description of the potential benefits and barriers of PGIS implementation for land use planning in Malaysia
The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 2017
Public participation for land use planning in developing countries is challenged by multiple barr... more Public participation for land use planning in developing countries is challenged by multiple barriers including low public awareness and engagement with the process. This paper evaluates the capacity of the general public to effectively contribute to land use planning outcomes in Malaysia using Participatory GIS (PGIS). Spatial attributes that identify place values and land use preferences were collected from the public through a web-based PGIS using facilitated and self-administered methods and compared with land use zones developed by planning experts. We assessed the quality of the PGIS mapped data by analysing participants' mapping effort and the consistency of the mapped data with existing land use zones. The results indicate logical consistency between the mapped attributes-place values and preferences-and land use zones contained in the expert-driven land use plans. The results further indicate that the facilitated PGIS process produced higher quality spatial data compared with the self-administered PGIS survey. Our results suggest that PGIS can provide planning authorities with a viable platform to enhance public participation for land use planning in Malaysia, but that a facilitated PGIS process will be required to increase public participation and the quality of spatial data generated.
Evaluating participatory GIS toward effective public participation for land use planning in Malaysia
Applied Geography, 2017
Ineffective public participation in land-use planning contributes to the lack of communication an... more Ineffective public participation in land-use planning contributes to the lack of communication and understanding between the public and experts, acting as a barrier to successful planning outcomes. In this study, we assess whether Participatory GIS (PGIS) is a suitable method to bridge the communication gap between the public and expert knowledge for planning in the developing country context of Malaysia. Through a mixed methods approach, we investigate whether expert knowledge converges or diverges with the public's perceived knowledge obtained through a PGIS process and assess the potential benefits of PGIS from public and expert planning perspectives. The results indicate more convergence than divergence in knowledge and perspective, indicating that a PGIS process can communicate local knowledge to planning authorities to inform land use and development planning in Malaysia. Both the public and planning experts recognize the potential benefits of PGIS, but successful implementation will require major changes in traditional Malaysian public participation processes.
Planning Practice & Research, 2017
Spatial participatory methods called 'participatory GIS' (PGIS) are intended to improve public pa... more Spatial participatory methods called 'participatory GIS' (PGIS) are intended to improve public participation for land use planning. An internet PGIS was implemented in Perlis, Malaysia, to examine the public capacity-building effects of PGIS. Two delivery modes (facilitated and self-administered) were evaluated. We found that PGIS significantly enhanced perceived public knowledge about place and land use planning while increasing spatial technology skills, regardless of implementation mode. The results indicate that PGIS can increase public capacity for participating in land use planning, an important finding for developing countries with historically low levels of public participation and low public awareness and knowledge of planning.
Farmer’s Knowledge in Land Suitability Evaluation and Farmers’ Awareness in Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture: A Case Study in Perlis
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2020
Sustainable agriculture is the heart of organic farming, and human resources are playing a vital ... more Sustainable agriculture is the heart of organic farming, and human resources are playing a vital role in directing the community toward sustainable development in agricultural practices. The research objective is to evaluate the Farmer’s Knowledge (FK) in land suitability variables for crop type’s suitability in Perlis. After that, the collected spatial information variables applied to allocate the spatial distribution for four main crop types in Perlis. Besides that, to investigate farmer’s awareness in organic farming in achieving sustainable agriculture and at the same time to identify young participants in the agriculture field. Participatory Geographical Information System (PGIS) practices and mixed-method approach has applied to collect spatial data information in the study area. Spatial data interpolated using the Kriging method in GIS software. It found that soil types and soil suitability are the most important variables that classed by farmers in land suitability evaluatio...
EJISDC, 2017
Public participation for land use planning in developing countries is challenged by multiple barr... more Public participation for land use planning in developing countries is challenged by multiple barriers including low public awareness and engagement with the process. This paper evaluates the capacity of the general public to effectively contribute to land use planning outcomes in Malaysia using Participatory GIS (PGIS). Spatial attributes that identify place values and land use preferences were collected from the public through a web-based PGIS using facilitated and self-administered methods and compared with land use zones developed by planning experts. We assessed the quality of the PGIS mapped data by analysing participants' mapping effort and the consistency of the mapped data with existing land use zones. The results indicate logical consistency between the mapped attributes—place values and preferences—and land use zones contained in the expert-driven land use plans. The results further indicate that the facilitated PGIS process produced higher quality spatial data compared with the self-administered PGIS survey. Our results suggest that PGIS can provide planning authorities with a viable platform to enhance public participation for land use planning in Malaysia, but that a facilitated PGIS process will be required to increase public participation and the quality of spatial data generated.
Spatial participatory methods called “participatory GIS” (PGIS) are intended to improve public pa... more Spatial participatory methods called “participatory GIS” (PGIS) are intended to improve public participation for land use planning. An internet PGIS was implemented in Perlis, Malaysia, to examine the public capacity-building effects of PGIS. Two delivery modes (facilitated and self-administered) were evaluated. We found that PGIS significantly enhanced perceived public knowledge about place and land use planning while increasing spatial technology skills, regardless of implementation mode. The results indicate that PGIS can increase public capacity for participating in land use planning, an important finding for developing countries with historically low levels of public participation and low public awareness and knowledge of planning.
Ineffective public participation in land-use planning contributes to the lack of communication an... more Ineffective public participation in land-use planning contributes to the lack of communication and understanding between the public and experts, acting as a barrier to successful planning outcomes. In this study, we assess whether Participatory GIS (PGIS) is a suitable method to bridge the communication gap between the public and expert knowledge for planning in the developing country context of Malaysia. Through a mixed methods approach, we investigate whether expert knowledge converges or diverges with the public's perceived knowledge obtained through a PGIS process and assess the potential benefits of PGIS from public and expert planning perspectives. The results indicate more convergence than divergence in knowledge and perspective, indicating that a PGIS process can communicate local knowledge to planning authorities to inform land use and development planning in Malaysia. Both the public and planning experts recognize the potential benefits of PGIS, but successful implementation will require major changes in traditional Malaysian public participation processes.
Spatial participatory methods called “participatory GIS” (PGIS) are intended to improve public pa... more Spatial participatory methods called “participatory GIS” (PGIS) are intended to improve public participation for land use planning. An internet PGIS was implemented in Perlis, Malaysia, to examine the public capacity-building effects of PGIS. Two delivery modes (facilitated and self-administered) were evaluated. We found that PGIS significantly enhanced perceived public knowledge about place and land use planning while increasing spatial technology skills, regardless of implementation mode. The results indicate that PGIS can increase public capacity for participating in land use planning, an important finding for developing countries with historically low levels of public participation and low public awareness and knowledge of planning.
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Papers by Amirulikhsan Zolkafli