Web Mapping Platforms for Community Planning and Engagement: Lessons Learned from NJ MAP

Katrina McCarthy, John Hasse, Mahbubur Meenar

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

This chapter offers a brief background on web mapping including examples of US-based web maps and a case study on an award-winning web mapping project known as NJ MAP. NJ MAP is an interactive atlas for ecological resources, environmental education, and sustainable communities. NJ MAP was created to assist New Jersey municipalities, nonprofits and local-level stakeholders in visualizing and understanding their environment and engaging in effective action. The platform, created and maintained by Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, since 2011, facilitates sound land use and environmental management decisions to achieve sustainability objectives and goals. The vision of NJ MAP is to democratize data so that it is easily accessible and understandable for all; not locked away to tech experts. This means making New Jersey GIS data relatable and easy to understand. Map collections, data layers, and tools are intuitively designed so that volunteer citizen users (such as planning board members, environmental commission members, watershed organizations, green action committees, and citizen groups) may easily access the vast amounts of geospatial data available that are typically only accessible to trained GIS professionals. The map-based platform is designed to be responsive and up to date so that it may be used in the field or during public meetings. This functionality allows for on-the-fly analysis at multiple scales from the parcel level to regional or statewide scale.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSmart Innovation, Systems and Technologies
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages205-229
Number of pages25
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

Publication series

NameSmart Innovation, Systems and Technologies
Volume294
ISSN (Print)2190-3018
ISSN (Electronic)2190-3026

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Decision Sciences
  • General Computer Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Web Mapping Platforms for Community Planning and Engagement: Lessons Learned from NJ MAP'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this