Public Participation GIS for Healthy Urban Planning

This scoping review investigates the utilization of public participatory geographic information system (PPGIS) methods in the context of healthy urban planning. A set of scientific publications (n = 38) applying PPGIS in urban settings has been extracted to map the addressed health topics, the characteristics of science–practice cooperation, and participation bias. Findings show that predominantly spatially well-representable features are subject to PPGIS surveys, while cluster analysis reveals specific patterns in health topic combinations. PPGIS results add value for officials performing their tasks. However, as a new tool, the full potential to aid planning has yet to be unleashed. PPGIS has been believed to reduce participation barriers and partially succeeds in reaching more diverse participants, as experiences with public participation show. However, there is no improvement in the recruitment of participants with lower levels of education.