Abstract:

The web has been used for years as a means of expression for the local communities in highlighting their problems, needs and hopes, often in the form of organized group discussions and fora. The enormous amount of information currently available, Big Data, is already used for business purposes in the private sector, but has never been truly available to decision makers who operate in urban planning and would represent an invaluable help for those communities that undertake the path of selfconstruction of their Community Strategic Frameworks. This paper elaborates methodological and operational proposals to identify sequences of words and common occurrences in sets of documents that would help understanding the problems of the communities on a geographicallylocated basis, creating the search engine “Social Debate” and devising new indicators for indices of disadvantage. Such tool could drastically change the perspective of public participation and planning practice and improve the quality of local public policies and decision making processes.

Keywords: