Geographic Information Systems

Democratizing Spatial Data

However, in recent decades, action researchers and community activists have effectively democratized access to the tools and data in some communities. Social geographers have argued the case for Participatory Action Research as a way to create shared geographic knowledge, increasing community residents' capacity to engage in (and define) policy debates. Interactive mapping portals enable users with no specialized GIS knowledge to access multiple data sources, overlaying information to answer questions they define themselves. Empowering users enables meaningful participation in research, breaking down the monopoly of ‘expert knowledge’ and allowing users to critique official interpretations of data.

One example of these efforts has been the emergence of community information systems in the USA, empowering communities and enabling critical analysis of spatial data that can effectively challenge technocratic decisions. Community residents have been trained to use interactive mapping programs to draw together data in new ways, enabling them to identify relationships that official analyses have ignored or obscured. Spatial inequalities often reflect social and economic inequalities, but until the advent of GIS, it was difficult to tie these to inequalities in service provision, enforcement of regulations and other government actions. New spaces have been created for a Participatory Action Research agenda focused on community interpretations of spatial data.

Community information system advocates (often based in partnerships between community groups, university researchers and broader public interest organizations) have gathered existing public data, combined it with service provision data from government agencies and often added data generated from within the community to create new ways of understanding spatial relationships. Combining data sources and analyzing spatial patterns enable groups to trace potential causal links and identify how service inequities, for example, may affect disadvantaged communities. Bottom-up research, with questions defined by community members rather than government agencies, identified new action strategies to address shared problems. It also provided the evidence base needed to change pre-existing practices.

Applications

In Providence, Rhode Island, USA, a land information system enabled community development groups to track the relationship between ‘nuisance’ complaints, reported housing and health code violations and tax delinquency. GIS analysis enabled community members to identify the spatial clustering of problem properties, highlighting priorities for redevelopment efforts, for resident participation in controlling the community environment by reporting complaints consistently and [Page 382]for enhanced code enforcement in problem precincts. In Memphis, Tennessee, USA, police incident reports are analyzed against other community information to identify spatial patterns that can enable proactive policing efforts. For instance, GIS analysis identified concentrated robberies of Hispanic day labourers leaving building sites with cash pay. Police were able to target existing and potential hotspots during the afternoon and evening hours, significantly reducing the victimization rates. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, community organizers used the results of blood lead level tests required for all children entering school to identify where affected children lived to increase residents' participation in city lead abatement programs and help the city target their efforts to address the problem. Between 1996 and 2005, the incidence of children with unsafe lead levels was substantially reduced in the worst affected neighbourhoods.

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