This book critically assesses the potential and identifies the opportunities and challenges for local governments to embark on emerging geo-enabled practices. Advances in spatially enabled information and communication technologies (ICTs) have provided governments with the potential to enhance public participation and to collaborate with citizens.

A new typology for classifying geo-enabled practices related to public participation (termed here as geo-participation) was first proposed. The emerging opportunities presented by geo-participation to improve government-citizen collaboration and government operations were demonstrated through a set of cutting-edge examples. These case studies were examined and critically assessed to shed light on local governments' practices of soliciting citizen input and developing new ways of government-citizen interaction.

Both researchers and local government practitioners may find this book helpful as it lays the foundation for researching and implementing geo-participation practices.

Dr. Shanqi Zhang is an Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, China. Before joining Nanjing University, she received her PhD at the University of Waterloo, Canada and Masters at the University of Georgia, USA. Dr. Zhang's research interests broadly lie in the use of new technology for developing citizen-centric smart cities. By understanding public opinions and analyzing human mobility patterns using big geo-spatial data, she developed new approaches for evaluating, modeling, and planning cities that emphasize citizens' diverse needs. Dr. Zhang is the recipient of two NSFC grants and has published in various distinguished academic journals, including Cities, Environment and Planning B, Journal of Transport Geography, Journal of Urban Technology, Transportation Research Part A/D.