A research and policy charity has called for a debate on the potential worsening of social exclusion caused by neighbourhood websites.
Professor Roger Burrows, who led the research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, has warned that internet based neighbourhood information systems could create a segregated society by directing home buyers to more desirable areas. He said that the "social sorting" of such systems prevents communities of mixed incomes from developing social cohesion. His findings were published in the "Neighbourhoods on the net" report on 17 August 2005.
Two public sector websites are listed among the many commercial sites as examples of those contributing to the trend: the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) Neighbourhood Statistics and the Environment Agency's "What's in your backyard".
Burrows told Government Computing News that, although the websites are not harmful in themselves, collectively they can portray a damaging image of an area which may not be entirely accurate.
He described Neighbourhood Statistics as "brilliant as a research facility on regeneration, while the availability of data is tremendous".
"But I don't think they (the ONS) thought through exactly how it interfaces with the public, who are using the data in an intelligent way," he said.
He suggested that the ONS develop an alternative interface specifically for citizens to find the information that is relevant for them. While he believed there is a place for these sites, he said their content should be checked for authenticity and to ensure communities should have the ability to present themselves in a more favourable light.
Burrows cited an example on the Up My Street portal where communities have been able to give their interpretation of the local area.
"We need a debate on the issues," he added. "It could become a collective privacy issue for people if their postcodes and street become public knowledge."
He said this debate would involve organisations talking to one another, private and public sector, to ensure that the information is accurate.
"There are websites that list certain towns as crap towns or chav towns, and although this is only half joking, the labels can be detrimental."
Quelle: KableNET, 18.08.2005
