The vocabulary behind participatory mapping and place intelligence, explained in plain language.
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An urban planning concept built around the idea that all essential daily needs - work, shopping, healthcare, education, and leisure - should be reachable within a 15-minute walk or cycle from home. Rather than organising cities around car-based mobility, the 15-minute city prioritises proximity, mixed land use, and neighbourhood-level completeness as the foundation of a liveable urban environment.
A practice in which members of the general public actively contribute to scientific research, typically by collecting observations, recording data, or participating in analysis. Citizen science broadens the reach and scale of research beyond what professional teams alone could achieve, while producing findings that are grounded in the direct experience of the people involved.
Technology designed to strengthen the relationship between communities and the institutions that serve them. Civic tech encompasses digital tools, platforms, and systems that make public services more accessible, government processes more transparent, and community participation more meaningful.
A spatial analysis method that identifies where observations, issues, or phenomena concentrate geographically. Rather than treating data points as isolated incidents, hotspot analysis reveals the underlying patterns and clusters that emerge when location-based information is read as a whole, showing where conditions are most intense and where attention or intervention is most needed.
A framework developed by Sherry Arnstein in 1969 describing the different degrees to which citizens are involved in decision-making processes. The ladder runs from tokenistic or manipulative forms of engagement at the bottom, where communities are informed or consulted without genuine influence, through to full citizen control at the top, where communities have real power over decisions. It remains one of the most widely referenced models in participatory planning and community engagement practice.
Information gathered directly from people about how they personally experience a place, situation, or environment, as distinct from data derived from technical measurement or administrative records. Lived experience data captures the subjective, qualitative dimensions of place: how safe a street feels at night, how comfortable a public space is in summer, how welcoming an area is to different groups, knowledge that objective datasets alone cannot produce.
A democratic process through which community members directly decide how a portion of a public budget is allocated. Participatory budgeting gives residents a direct say in identifying local needs, proposing projects, and voting on priorities.
A method for collecting location-specific knowledge directly from the people who use and experience a place. Rather than relying solely on technical surveys or expert analysis, participatory mapping invites participants to contribute observations, concerns, and ideas anchored to exact locations on a map, turning lived experience into structured spatial data.
Location-specific knowledge about how people experience, use, and value a place, structured in a way that decision-makers can act on. Place intelligence goes beyond what technical data can measure, combining spatial precision with the human context of lived experience to produce a fuller, more accurate picture of how a place actually functions for the people in it.
A collaborative approach to the planning, design, and management of public spaces that centres the needs, experiences, and aspirations of the people who use them. Placemaking treats public space not as a fixed infrastructure problem to be solved by experts, but as a living part of community life that benefits from ongoing input, care, and stewardship from the people it belongs to.
An approach to geographic information systems that involves the general public as contributors of spatial knowledge, rather than relying solely on technical experts or official data sources. PPGIS methods collect location-based observations and experiences from communities, combining the structure of spatial mapping with the breadth of public input to produce evidence that reflects how places are actually experienced.
The discipline of examining data through the lens of location, based on the principle that where something happens is as meaningful as what happens. Spatial analysis encompasses a wide range of methods for understanding geographic patterns, relationships, and distributions, providing the analytical foundation for evidence-based planning, design, and decision-making.
A strategic planning framework developed to guide the long-term development of urban transport systems in a way that is safe, accessible, efficient, and environmentally responsible. SUMPs are used across European cities and municipalities as the primary tool for coordinating mobility policy, infrastructure investment, and community needs into a coherent, evidence-based plan.
A short-term, low-cost approach to urban change that tests ideas in real places before committing to permanent interventions. Tactical urbanism treats the city as a space for experimentation, using temporary installations, pop-up amenities, or small-scale redesigns to gather evidence about how a change affects the people who use a space.
Shared urban spaces, resources, and infrastructure that belong to and are managed by a community rather than private or solely public ownership. Urban commons include parks, squares, community gardens, and local facilities - spaces where collective use, access, and stewardship are shaped by the people who depend on them.
Location-based data created and contributed by members of the general public, rather than produced by official mapping agencies or technical specialists. VGI encompasses any form of geographic knowledge that people voluntarily share, from tagged photos and check-ins to structured spatial observations, and has become a significant source of real-world geographic understanding alongside traditional data collection methods.
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