Participatory GIS in design of the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology campus web map and spatial analysis of campus area quality

Public participation geographic information system (GIS) and participatory mapping data collection methods are means that enhance capacity in generating, managing, and communicating spatial information in various fields ranging from local planning to environmental management. In this study these methods have been used in two ways. The first one, to gather information on the additional functionality of campus web map expected by its potential users, i.e. students, staff and visitors, through web based survey. The second, to collect geographically referenced information on campus areas that are liked and disliked in a geo-survey carried out with ArcGIS Online GeoForm Application. The results of the first survey were used to map facilities such as: bicycle infrastructure, building entrances, wheelchair accessible infrastructure and benches. The results of the second one, to analyse the most and the least attractive parts of the campus with heat and hot spot analyses in GIS. In addition, the answers have been studied with regard to the visual and functional aspects of campus area raised in the survey. The thematic layers developed in the results of field mapping and geoprocessing of geosurvey data were included in the campus web map project. The paper describes the applied methodology of data collection, processing, analysis, interpretation and geovisualisation.

In our study we focus on using selected participatory GIS methods, from the above mentioned approaches, to collect information with the aim to aid design and development of campus web map and to study perception of campus area. The target group is the academic community of the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (Poland). The tasks have been realised within student bachelor diploma theses and activities of student GIS science club. The scope of work consisted of: internet based survey of the usefulness of present-day campus map and the desired thematic content and functionality of campus web map, mapping campus features indicated in the survey with mobile GIS, as well as analysis and identification of most and least likeable places on the campus with spatial statistic methods based on results of second internet-based geo-survey.
The methodology, data processing and analysis and discussion of results have been described in the following sections of the paper.

Wroclaw University of Science and Technology Campus and campus maps
Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST) is one of biggest and best technical universities in Poland with approx. 34,000 students being educated by 2000 academic teachers in 16 faculties. There are 157 student scientific clubs and 22 student organizations operating within the University. WUST has been dynamically developing in recent years with new investments on its campus, e.g.: Bibliotech Library building, which is the seat of the Centre of Knowledge and Science and Technology Information, Technopolis, Student Cultural Zone, as well as cable car named "Polinka" across the Odra River connecting main campus of the University with the new Geocentrum building -an educational and research complex where a new Geocentrum III extension is under development [18].
Most of the WUST facilities in Wroclaw are located on the campus located between Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego and Cuire-Sklodowska Streets and Plac Grunwaldzki (Fig. 1). There are several other smaller campuses hosting Faculty of Architecture, sport facilities, laboratory and administrative buildings.
The present interactive map of the University available on its web site has been prepared with Google Maps API and offers functionality and content limited to locations of buildings marked with point symbols. Map user can access information, in a pop-up window, limited to building name and geographical location by clicking symbol representing a given building.
The map is available at the following url address [19] and its visualisation has been shown in Fig. 1. This is the first public interactive map of the campus. In addition there are numerous paper versions of campus plans included in promotional materials such as factfinders or academic calendars. These plans show location of buildings and selected descriptive information (i.e. symbol of building). One of such plans is shown in Fig. 2. been developed with ESRI Web App Builder. In the process of web map design authors' experiences from [24] have been used.
The first edition included 15 thematic layers representing information (point or polygon geometry depending on scale) such as: campus buildings, faculties, dean offices, libraries, pharmacies, photocopy services, food points, as well as cable car "Polinka". The next two editions added information on organisational structure of the University such as thematic layers representing: departments, institutes, as well as student associations and organisations.
In terms of functionality the web map enables: zooming and panning, printing and various queries including, building, department, student association searches. Additional functionalities are time slider and swipe functions. At the moment the map hosts floor plans of the main campus building A-1 and Geocentrum building L-1. Example view of map's graphical interface is shown in Fig. 3. With the aim to enhance applicability and appearance of this web map, surveys of expected usefulness and functionality, as well as perception of campus area have been conducted among academic community. Fig. 4  Step 2 consisted of a practical part where members of the student GIS club created mobile application to collect geographical and attribute information (location and description) on features of the campus area indicated in Step 1. For this purpose Collector for ArcGIS application has been used. In the first step a geodatabase feature class with appropriate attribute field definitions is created in ArcGIS Desktop and shared as a service to ArcGIS Online platform. There, it is used to create a map and interactive form that can used by authorised users who connect to ArcGIS Online with smartphones. The Collector application allows to use selected forms to input data to the database while in the field. The complete procedure is described in [25].

The methodology of the study consisted of the following main steps: (1) research of the functionality and thematic content of WUST campus web map expected by its potential users, (2) mapping of elements in the campus area with mobile GIS technology, (3) study of visual and functional attractiveness of campus area with web based geoform, (4) analysis and interpretation of results of the study. The procedure is illustrated in
Step 3 utilised web based geographic form application created with template available within the WUST ArcGIS Online SITE licence subscription. The form utilised two editable layers used to collect geographically referenced data of parts of the campus that are attractive and those that are disliked by the survey respondents. The graphical interface of the form has been presented in Fig. 5

Study of the expected functionality of campus web map
The web based survey has been filled by 508 respondents, both students and academic staff, representing 14 faculties at the University [23]. The results have been presented and commented below. In the assessment of the functionality of present interactive map (question 6) 34,3% participants said that it is useful or very useful and 35,2% that it is helpful. Whereas, 20,5% decided that this map is useless or unhelpful (Fig. 6)  The last, open type, question (10) concerned what else is expected from campus web map. The most frequent answers suggested: simplicity, clarity, intuitiveness, as well as mobile version of the application.

Field mapping of campus area
Based on the results of survey described in part 4.1. GIS database structure of the following campus area features has been prepared and collected in the field using procedure given in  Table 2 contains information on additional attributes recorded during mapping. The collected data have been used to create new thematic layers of campus web map application.

Study of the campus area quality
In the second geo-survey of academic community 335 answers have been collected, 203 concerning most attractive and likeable parts of the campus and 122 concerning locations considered to be unattractive. 51% of respondents were female and 49% were male. Based on these results two heat maps have been created showing most (Fig. 7) and least (Fig. 8) attractive areas of the campus. To create these maps Kernel Density function of the ArcGIS software licensed to Wroclaw University of Science and Technology has been used. Statistical significance of identified sites has been analysed with Hot Spot function using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic [27].

B-4 -seat of the Mechanical Faculty and D-2 buildings. In addition to location of popular and unpopular sites of the campus information on the causes of these feelings have been
collected. In the case of attractive areas, 63% of respondents selected these sites because of their functional qualities, and 37% have chosen the sites based on visual appearance (Fig. 9). Unlikeable areas have been indicated due to their functional properties in 76% of votes and visual appearance in 24% of votes. There has been general agreement between answers provided by male and female respondents. The only significant difference has been observed in answer concerning visual aspect causing features to be regarded as unlikeable. The most common causes have been uncomfortable temperatures (too cold or too hot) pointing to defective air-conditioning systems, dirty or out of use toilets and difficulties with obtaining something to eat due to lack of nearby food points and shops.

Conclusions
In the presented study methodology for community participation in design and development of campus GIS web map has been proposed. In the result of web-based survey of academic community the following new feature classes have been prepared: location of building entrances, wheelchair accessible facilities, location of bike racks, benches, trash bins, street lamps, monuments, hydrants. In an accompanying study web-based geoform has been used to collect information on perception of campus area. In the result of GIS processing heat and hot spot maps have been prepared and most and least attractive areas of WUST campus have been located and the functional and visual reasons for such perception was determined. The most attractive features are: boulevard on the Odra River bank, building of the student culture zone and cable car "Polinka". According to the respondents the least attractive sites of the campus are buildings with poor air-conditioning systems, unclean facilities and lacking food services.
The focus group has been represented by over 500 people (students and academic staff) in the case of first survey and over 300 in the second one. We regard that the sizes of these groups are satisfactory to provide information representative for the academic community of WUST. One of the noticed drawbacks, and in accordance with [7] is the limited control on the course of mapping (e.g. quality of data introduced into forms).
The study has demonstrated usefulness of mobile and web based GIS for participatory mapping and inclusion of local community opinion on the example of campus web map