This project contains the source Java code for a collaborative 3D GIS to enhance public participation. Public-involved decision-making is often a multistage process, and therefore this system is designed to provide coherent support for collaborations in the different stages. We differentiate ubiquitous participation and intensive participation and identify their suitable application stages. The proposed system, then, supports both of the two types of participation by providing synchronous and asynchronous collaboration functionalities. Applying the concept of Digital Earth, the proposed system also features a virtual globe-based user interface. Such an interface integrates a variety of data, functions, and services into a unified virtual environment which is delivered to both experts and public participants through the Internet. The system has been designed as a general software framework and can be tailored for specific projects. In this study, we demonstrate it using a scene modeling case and provide a preliminary evaluation toward its usability.

Y Hu, Z Lv, J Wu, K Janowicz, X Zhao, B Yu (2013): A multistage collaborative 3D GIS to support public participation, International Journal of Digital Earth, 8(3), 212- 234.

Five stages of a general decision-making process and an idealistic view of public participation.

Screenshot of the collaborative 3D GIS.