ADOPTING A PUBLIC PARTICIPATORY GIS APPROACH IN URBAN FLOOD VISUALIZATION AND ANLYSIS FOR SINGAPORE

Abstract

Present-day implementation of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is vastly different from its conventional uses as a scientific planning tool. Developments in the realm of public participatory GIS (PPGIS) literature have demonstrated how GIS can be conceptualized as a social technology that is embedded within the network of societal interactions. Coupled with advancements in Internet and computing technologies, PPGIS can function as an enabling technology for social change by increasing access to different members of the public. In context of flooding, literature originating from non-western sources has shown that the implementation of GIS generally as analysis tools for creating early warning systems or risk hazard maps. This thesis therefore, hopes to contribute to literature involving the use of PPGIS strategies for flood visualization and analysis in a non-western context. In the practical sense, the implementation of GIS for Singapore is limited to the display of flood-risk maps and heavy rainfall warning systems. By adopting a framework that addresses an extensive needs analysis, system design and application programming issues, this thesis will illustrate how PPGIS strategies can be used to enhance public awareness and to empower different members of the public to co-produce knowledge regarding flash floods in Singapore. Through a detailed needs analysis of validating the study area and identifying the needs of different users, this thesis creates both a web application and a customized workflow of ArcGIS desktop to illustrate how PPGIS can be implemented. This thesis will also evaluate the practicalities of implementation, address data quality and validation issues and also the notion of collaborative data gathering from this bottom-up perspective.