Today terrorism has become a serious threat to the security of the entire world and regional communities. It is expressed in the commission of explosions, arsons, or other actions which create the threat of death of people, causing significant property damage or the onset of other socially dangerous consequences, if these actions are committed in order to violate public safety. Terrorism is a multi-object crime, with the main purpose of encroachments on the life and health of citizens, critical infrastructure facilities, the natural environment, and information systems. Thus, it obviously poses a threat to the urban environment and leads to emergency situations, requiring appropriate urban emergency management.
Recently, new concepts and methods of urban emergency management have arisen. One of the innovative approaches is crowdsourcing, in frames of a systematic literature review, making comparison of crowdsourcing tools intended for urban planning and urban emergency management, was offered by Chaves et al. (2019). The authors also suggest a five-dimension typology for measuring quality in crowdsourcing, applicable for use in the processes of urban planning and emergency management.
The idea presented in the article implies participation of citizens in prevention and management of disasters, which allows effective introduction of the disaster risk reduction concept and early detection. The relevance of the application of crowdsourcing technology in public governance is due to the objective complication and rise in the cost of regional management processes. At the same time, it is not about giving new names to old bureaucratic procedures and operations, but presenting a qualitatively new way of urban management (Judd, 2018). Modern management technologies should cause profound transformations in the entire system and ensure the rationality and efficiency of governance activities of the municipal sector.
The main idea of crowdsourcing is that the necessary work is done not by professionals, but by amateurs. Thus, the purpose of this technology is to use the potential of more people to solve socially significant problems in the urban environment. In order to have a clearer understanding of crowdsourcing, it is needed to outline its advantages, such as (Benna, 2018; England et al., 2016; McGovern, 2016):
- Scalability. Access to the results of labor of a practically unlimited audience allows to quickly create a global product in a region or city.
- Talents. One of the main advantages of crowdsourcing is attracting talented people and providing the principle of diversity, which ultimately gives new ideas and positive results.
- Competence. Crowdsourcing ensures that everyone works on their own task, which means that they will be performed by people with the appropriate qualifications.
- Ease of implementation. Implementation of crowdsourcing tasks is easy to use, usually via a website or social media.
- Low costs. It is an inexpensive tool for the development of the region or municipality, as all the necessary work is done by unpaid or low-paid amateur professionals.
The basis of crowdsourcing projects are talented people who want to voluntarily spend their time discussing global issues in the region – those who are not seeking to make money but rather to receive moral satisfaction from their activities. Crowdsourcing represents a social technology implemented by civil society actors in the public and state interests. As a result, it is possible to create a whole bank of innovative ideas and proposals, improve the quality of decisions made, and actively interact with the population and decision-makers. However, “successively reaching high-quality outputs from a massive number of crowd participants is still a challenge for the widespread adoption of crowdsourcing systems” (Chaves et al., 2019, p. 3). The authors conducted an analysis of literature and revealed an array of models suggesting quality control and solutions for management issues arising in crowdsourcing. At the same time, they apply findings to practical issues arising in emergency situations, for example, in case of the need for shelter deployment, when the specific solution depends on the type of disaster and other factors. These research questions made it possible to formulate valuable suggestions for crowdsourcing in urban emergency management.
The framework provided in the article attempts to combine institutional, social, policy, and technical aspects of urban emergency management in one model. In the article, it is proposed to develop strategies to “engage participants based on civic or academic motives,” in frames of “the idea of building a collaborative emergency map,” as well as “mobile GWAP participatory sensing to support escape route simulations” (Chaves et al., 2019, p. 19). In the study, the authors offer to consider the nature of task, its availability, tasks’ interdependence, motivation for engagement and appropriate strategies, and quality assessment for works performed.
Classical approaches to motivating labor participants in relation to crowdsourcing are unacceptable, and the possibilities of monetary motivation are limited. Therefore, it would be more correct to talk not about motivation, but about the involvement of crowdsourcers in solving the tasks assigned to them. A high level of population involvement, ensuring early detection and effectiveness of attempts to prevent emergency situations, can also become a barrier on the way of terrorists in the preparation and implementation of socially dangerous acts.
In conclusion, it should be noted that in order to introduce crowdsourcing technology into urban management practice, it is necessary to adopt uniform standards for ensuring openness for government bodies at all levels. Transparent procedures for feedback and taking into account citizens’ opinions when making decisions seem to be of high importance, as well as developing the basic rules of the systems for public control and people’s expertise. It is advisable to create open data portal; moreover, civil crowdsourcing projects should be stimulated, including those aimed at prevention and early detection of possible terrorists’ attacks on urban infrastructure.
References
Benna, U. (2018). Crowdfunding and sustainable urban development in emerging economies. IGI Global.
Chaves, R., Schneider, D., Correia, A., Motta, C., & Borge, M. (2019). Crowdsourcing as a tool for urban emergency management: Lessons from the literature and typology. Sensors, 19, 1-29. Web.
England, R., Pelissero, J., & Morgan, D. (2016). Managing urban America (8th ed.). CQ Press.
Judd, D. R. (2018). City politics (10th ed.). Routledge.
McGovern, S. J. (2016). Urban politics: A reader (1st ed.). CQ Press.