{"id":1303,"date":"2013-10-12T10:36:42","date_gmt":"2013-10-12T10:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chrisspeed.net\/?p=1303"},"modified":"2013-10-12T11:12:46","modified_gmt":"2013-10-12T11:12:46","slug":"maplocal-community-mapping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisspeed.net\/?p=1303","title":{"rendered":"MapLocal Community Mapping"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last year and into this year I was involved in an AHRC Connected Communities project led by \u00a0Phil Jones with Colin Lorne and Antonia Layard (University of Birmingham) in which we designed an Android app that allowed residents of communities to gather information about their neighbourhoods. The app was developed by Chris Blunt (Plymouth Software) and is now available for everyone on the Google Play<\/a>. Naturally the project and app comes with its own website too:\u00a0http:\/\/maplocal.org.uk\/<\/a>\u00a0where you can view the maps and learn more about the project.<\/p>\n

The research project, entitled\u00a0Localism and Connected Community Planning, was initiated to develop techniques that would unlock the creativity of communities by gathering materials to inform neighbourhood planning. The application was given to 25 residents in Balsall Heath and 25 residents in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, and used GPS technology to allow them to pin point locations of interest in and around their neighbourhoods by taking photos and making audio commentaries. A web browser was developed to review material received from the phones over a Google map.<\/p>\n

The MapLocal app allows people to walk around their neighbourhood taking photographs and making voice recordings using their smartphone. The pictures and audio clips are then uploaded to a central map which can be accessed on the MapLocal website. As more people from the local area take part, so more and more information about the neighbourhood appears on that community\u2019s map, building a detailed picture of the area.<\/p>\n

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MapLocal can be used for different purposes, for example, gathering information about a local area in preparation for the production of a local plan which communities in England and Wales have been empowered to make under the provisions of the Localism Act, 2011. It could also be used for local campaigns to highlight issues in a neighbourhood that need addressing or as a means of recording the history of an area that is about to be radically changed as part of a regeneration scheme.<\/p>\n

The MapLocal app is currently only available for Android phones and is available via Google Play<\/a>. The App was developed with the help of members of Balsall Heath and the Jewellery Quarter Neighbourhood Forums.<\/p>\n

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\nDocumentation and Manual<\/strong>
\nColin Lorne who carried out the case studies in Birmingham developed a small book designed by Rosa Nussbaum.<\/p>\n

PDF Available\u00a0here<\/a><\/p>\n

The book introduces the app and how to use it, but also includes some of the quotes and images that participants tagged using the application:<\/p>\n

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AHRC Connected Communities Showcase, July 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

In July of this year Colin and I gave delegates at the\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>AHRC Connected Communities Showcase a chance to play with MapLocal. Based at the Heriot Watt in Edinburgh participants used the application to map ‘landmarks’ across the campus.<\/p>\n

Video documentation provides an insight into how the application works and how content is pushed to the shared google map for review later.<\/p>\n