SpringerBriefs in GIS – serie

Participatory GIS (PGIS) is important in social science research because it provides a powerful tool for exploring and comprehending various socio-spatial phenomena. It makes it easier to investigate intricate spatial relationships, community dynamics, and the effects of policies and interventions on local populations. Researchers can also use it to map and analyze the spatial distribution of social concerns, resources, and assets within a community. This Brief delves into the transformative potential of Participatory GIS (PGIS) in empowering communities and amplifying their voices through geospatial technologies. This book provides an in-depth discussion of PGIS, including approaches, data collection techniques, participatory mapping, critical discussions, the concept and thinking of geospatial citizenship, applications of participatory GIS in terms of socio-ecological concern, geographies and socio-spatial ecologies of a societal space, community cartography, challenges, and future directions. The book also offers real-world case studies that leverage PGIS technology to map the voices of ordinary people. Case studies include mapping natural resource management, modelling mangrove forest ecologies, indigenous technical knowledge of fish catching, social vulnerability to climate change in the coastal community, and identification of traditional coastal fishing sites. The book emphasizes the necessity of community involvement in decision-making processes, as well as the awareness of their perspectives in formulating policies and programs, through the lens of PGIS. It highlights how geospatial technologies can be a strong tool for community empowerment, allowing individuals to actively shape their surroundings and build a sense of ownership over their shared spaces.

The study presented in this SpringerBrief uses GIS tools to analyze incidents of violence against women in West Bengal India, identifying “hotspots” and offering tools and strategies to predict and prevent future violence. The aim of this study is to understand the existing scenarios and the complex crime patterns committed against women in West Bengal, using advanced GIS tools to map and understand the underlying socio-economic and physical environmental contexts of specific crime events, and critically discussed emerging criminogenic issues on the basis of theoretical understanding and immediate situations. This study evaluates the effectiveness of existing legislative measures to extract the gaps that exist between policy formulation and execution and effectively applied statistical methods and GIS technologies to visualize the future potential crime areas so that possible measures might be taken. The study considers four categories of violence perpetrated on women: human trafficking, acid attacks, rape and sexual harassment. Each chapter follows a self-contained design to address the study objectives as each crime follows distinct crime pattern, differentially affects the targets and increase risk of victimization and differential key factors are responsible for specific crime occurrences.

This SpringerBrief uses geospatial techniques to assess shoreline change dynamics in the Indian Sundarban, a unique region located in the delta of three major rivers - the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna – in India and Bangladesh. It is one of the largest mangrove forests in the world. The geomorphological characteristics of this region are quite distinct from other parts of India due to its low elevation, high tidal range, and vast expanse of shallow water bodies. The chapters here cover the basics of the use of geoinformatics applications for shoreline analysis and move to a detailed description of both short- and long-term shoreline change using automated Digital Shoreline Change Analysis (DSAS). The book also covers erosion-accretion hazard zone mapping and shoreline vegetation mapping.