Ever since behavioural geographers started working with place perception; and Peter Gould and Kevin Lynch used mental maps to explore city visualization and spatial preferences, participation has become an integral part of geographical research. Later, when Robert Chambers and others introduced maps into Participatory Rural Appraisal, Participatory GIS and Public Participation GIS were also recognized by quantitative geographers as research methods and visualization tools. In the era of smartphones and global Internet coverage, applications such as FixMyStreet, ArcGIS Online, CartoDB and Maptioannaire allow users to cross the technology gap and become neocartographers without the need for GIS knowledge. GeoParticipation based on using spatial tools in order to involve citizens in community participation can be the future development of Public Participation GIS as it provides an easy-to-use environment and social engagement while creating the feeling of belonging to a certain social group or community. The paper presents a historical review of participatory approaches to the creation of maps, while focusing on the changing role of citizens; from being the objects of geographical research to being the creators of the agenda as well as decision-makers within their communities. Maps were always used as tools of power, but there is a visible shift in the (map) power structures, from maps created by experts and state administration representatives towards maps created by people and their users.

Community mapping and emotional cartography have close links to participatory planning in the urban environment. The case study presented in this paper describes the deployment of the Emotional Maps platform for the collection and visualisation of spatial data related to the participatory planning of public space. The results (Main Map) presented are a combination of paper-based and web-map surveys. 2117 respondents from Olomouc (2% of the city's population) marked 25,760 points, lines and polygons, and made 4801 comments. Six spatial questions were asked in the survey and four of them are presented in the attached map. The questions were related to the general attractiveness of the city, safety, satisfaction with public transport and suggestions for the future development of some areas. The outcomes of the survey served as the groundwork for the Strategic Plan of Olomouc for 2017–2023.

Web-based participatory mapping technologies are being increasingly harnessed by local governments to crowdsource local knowledge and engage the public in urban planning policies as a means of increasing the transparency and legitimacy of planning processes and decisions. We refer to these technologies as “geoparticipation”. Current innovations are outpacing research into the use of geoparticipation in participatory planning practices. To address this knowledge gap, this paper investigates the objectives of web-based geoparticipation and uses empirical evidence from online survey responses related to 25 urban planning projects in nine countries across three continents (Europe, North America, and Australia). The survey adopts the objectives of the Spectrum for Public Participation that range from information empowerment, with each category specifying promises about how public input is expected to influence decision-making (IAP2, 2018). Our findings show that geoparticipation can leverage a ‘middle-ground’ of citizen participation by facilitating involvement alongside consultation and/or collaboration. This paper constitutes a pilot study as a step toward more robust and replicable empirical studies for cross-country comparisons. Empowerment (or citizen control) is not yet a normative goal or outcome for web-based geoparticipation. Our evidence also suggests that information is pursued alongside other objectives for citizen participation, and therefore functions not as a “low-hanging fruit” as portrayed in the literature, but rather as a core component of higher intensities of participation.