Abstract

GIS mapping to support social/racial justice issues, policy and advocacy
Track: Urban and Regional Planning
Authors: Mikyung Baek, Matthew Martin

The disparities facing marginalized communities are long-term, multi-faceted and interrelated challenges. Multiple factors such as education, economy and housing interact together creating a system of disadvantage for these communities, limiting access to opportunity and restricting individual's potential to build wealth. These social inequities often manifest as spatial inequities.
Kirwan Institute's "Communities of Opportunity framework is a community development model advocating for a fair investment in all of a region's people and neighborhoods, connecting marginal communities to critical opportunity structures. Kirwan Institute's "Opportunity Mapping initiatives analyze and communicate the cumulative structural disinvestment and segregation of people of color into declining and distressed neighborhoods. Through extensive use of GIS technology and its analytical prowess, composite index maps are created based on numerous neighborhood indicators of community opportunity and vitality. These maps are a powerful tool to help guide coalition building, policy, service delivery and investment around issues face by these communities.