Ghose, R. (2007). "Politics of scale and networks of association in public participation GIS." Environment and Planning A 39(8): 1961-1980.
This article explores an interesting participatory method for researching communities: the public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) research agenda, which explores the issue of equitable access and use of geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial data among traditionally marginalized citizens, in order to facilitate effective citizen participation in inner-city revitalization activities. The author responds to criticisms that PPGIS is a complex process with uneven outcomes by developing a new theoretical framework based on the literature on the politics of scale and networks, with the aim of contributing to greater theorization and understanding of the uneven and contradictory nature of PPGIS processes. The author shows how the PPGIS process occurs in 'spaces of dependence' and 'spaces of engagement', where networks of association evolve to connect actors with community organizations, but that these networks can contain structural inequities, hierarchical dominance, and fluctuating resources. This means that in practice, some community organizations lag behind, unable to form the relationships that would enable them to gain effective community participation. This article, read alongside that by Aldred* which criticises participatory community research methods World café and Appreciative Inquiry, highlights some of the limitations of participatory methods, in this case from the point of view of uneven geography and inequalities between community organizations within urban space.