Without going too far back in history, we can set the year 1948 as an important milestone in the origins of citizen participation. On that date, the declaration of human rights laid the foundations for which “Everyone has the right to participate in the government and public functions of his country.” Thus, individuals who live as members of a community are citizens who, due to their condition or citizenship, have rights and obligations towards their State.
This quality of a deep dive into the demographics of the u.s. chinese population citizens entails, among other rights, the right to have the same opportunities as others to influence the destiny of their society. That is, to participate in it and in its decision-making, with the aim of achieving a common good.
New technologies at the service of citizens
It makes sense to say that the defense of citizenship can be done in every decision that is made daily as citizens.
Everything revolves around the concept of the State, its laws and institutions, and as the philosopher Javier Gomá states, "the only firm support of culture and civilization is an enlightened citizenry, not laws or institutions."
Such illustration, always necessary in current times, must be accompanied by tools, nowadays provided by new technologies, that allow for simple, fast, effective participation and, why not, when necessary, geolocated so as to be totally faithful to reality in what is intended to be proposed, contributed or communicated. Most of these participations have an associated spatial component that can be reflected on a map, for better interpretation.
The importance of a society with strong citizen participation is evident. Technology, as in many other areas, plays a fundamental role that is only increasing.
GIS, for decision making
Participating in the community ultimately aims to make the best decisions. If we focus on this concept, that of decision-making, geographic information and its management through GIS (Geographic Information System) systems have much to offer. These systems allow the modelling of a large amount of data geolocated in the real world. They reveal deep knowledge of information, patterns and relationships and in turn, help users (all of them citizens) to choose and decide in a more effective way.
Fortunately, citizen collaboration and participation in governments is becoming more and more common today. With designs for their cities, selection of works, concepts of data and open governments, etc. Specifically, the appearance of GIS systems for citizen participation, mobile applications and geographic platforms that allow interaction with the map and with spatial information are also becoming more common for any type of user, leaving behind the times when these tools were almost exclusively for very specialized users working in isolation.