GIS MAPPING

IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL

EQUITY AND ADVOCACY

2010 SOUTHEASTERN COLLOQUIUM ON RACIAL INEQUALITY AND POVERTY

Samir Gambhir

Senior Research Associate (GIS)

Gambhir.2@osu.edu

Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity

The Ohio State University

About Kirwan Institute2

Multidisciplinary applied research institute

Our mission is to expand opportunity for all, especially for our most marginalized communities

Founded in 2003 by john powell

About Our Work

Emphasis on how systems work to produce inequity

How do multiple issues interact to either depress or uplift certain populations or communities?

What can we do to “strategically intervene” and improve outcomes for marginalized communities

Extensive use of GIS/mapping in our work

Inequity has a geographic footprint

Leverage points sometimes geographic in scope

Maps powerful for tools for

Research

Designing policy/programming

Communicating research/issues to the public and other stakeholders

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GIS, its use and effectiveness

Use of mapping in our work

Opportunity mapping: Assumptions, methodology

and examples

Applications and Impact

Overview4

Introduction5

What is GIS?

"A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing things that exist and events that happen on earth. GIS technology integrates common database operations such as query and statistical analysis with the unique visualization and geographic

analysis benefits offered by maps."

“GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts.”

“A GIS helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared.”

Bing maps, Google Earth, GPS

Source: Environmental Systems Research Institute

Why use maps?

Maps are incredibly efficient

compacting volumes of data

ability to convey information in seconds

tell a story or solve a problem

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Why is visual information important?

A picture is worth a thousand words

“People are able to look at the information based

on where they live or areas they are familiar with

and obtain a better understating”

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Why are maps effective?

Provide spatial reference

“People feel like they understand maps. Nobody

will give you feedback on regression analysis”

Identifying strategic intervention points

Shared sense of value; builds mutual trust

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Research project

In collaboration with

The Opportunity Agenda

Joint Center for Political

and Economic Studies

http://opportunityagenda.org/mapping

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Findings

Maps must be clear and easy to comprehend

Maps work best when framed to convey specific

advocacy issues

Mapping is

powerful in identifying systemic community-based

disadvantage and spatial racialization

very effective at identifying strategic intervention points

a good entry point for uniting diverse coalitions or

stakeholders

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Space and Social Equity

Racial and social inequity often manifest as spatial inequity

Local issues tend have a regional scope and variation e.g. school performance, housing vacancy

Maps are naturally the best tools to display this spatial phenomena

Maps give us the opportunity to look at our entire regions or states

Informing people about an issue at a scale they may not usually think of

linking communities sharing similar problems

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Using Maps for Advocacy

In our work we see mapping as serving these primary advocacy goals

Analysis

Existing conditions, spatial trends, scenarios, optimization etc.

Storytelling

A narrative

Combination

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Analytical Examples

Are minority businesses located in areas of economic

opportunity? (Cleveland)

Are hospital investments benefiting communities of

color? (Columbus)

Are job growth areas connected to transit? (Baltimore)

What is the impact of stimulus money investment on job

creation? (Florida)

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MBE and Projected Job Change 2000-2030

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Hospital Investments

and African

American

neighborhoods

Columbus

Health equityresearch

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Spatial Mismatch

Percent Change in Jobs

30 - 66.6

15 - 30

5 - 15

0 - 5

Job Loss

Recent Job Growth 98-02 and Public Transit

in the Baltimore Region

Job Growth & Public

Transit in Baltimore

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Stimulus investments

and Job creation in

Orlando MSA, FL

ARRA Investments

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Narratives Examples

Subsidized housing policy is reinforcing segregation (Baltimore)

Foreclosures in African American neighborhoods are due to subprime lending patterns (Cleveland)

Vacant property problems are spreading, vacant property challenges are not just an inner city problem (Detroit)

What if Montclair, NJ schools returned to neighborhood school system?

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Conditions in

Baltimore

Subsidized housing opportunities in Baltimore are generally clustered in the region’s predominately African American neighborhoods

c

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Race and Foreclosure (Cleveland MSA)

(Note: Not one of our maps)

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Race and Subprime Lending (Cleveland MSA)

(Note: Not one of our maps)

Maps: Produced and adapted from Charles Bromley, SAGES

Presidential Fellow, Case Western University

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Time and Space: Vacant Land Problem in Detroit

8 0 8 16 Miles

N

EW

S

Growth of Vacant Housing in Detroit 1970-2000(% Vacant Housing in 1970 and 2000)

% Vacant 1970

% Vacant 2000

% of Homes Vacant

0 - 3

3 - 1010 - 15

15 - 20

20 - 57.6

Counties

Highways

City of Detroit

Prepared by: Kirwan InstituteSource Data: U.S. Census Bureau

Legend:22

Montclair School District, NJ

Opportunity Mapping:Combining Analysis with a Strong Narrative

Research tool to

understand the dynamics of “opportunity” within

metropolitan areas

illustrate where opportunity rich communities exist (and

assess who has access to these communities)

understand what needs to be remedied in opportunity poor

communities

Based on Kirwan Institute’s “Communities of

Opportunity” framework

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The Communities of Opportunity Approach

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Everyone should have fair access to the critical opportunity structures needed to succeed in life.

Low Opportunity neighborhoods limit the development of human capital.

A Community of Opportunity approach can develop pathways that result in increased social and economic health, benefiting everyone.

The Communities of Opportunity Primer

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Opportunity Matters: Space, Place, and Life Outcomes

“Opportunity” is a situation or condition that places individuals in a position to be more likely to succeed or excel.

Opportunity structures are critical to opening pathways to success:

High-quality education

Healthy and safe environment

Stable housing

Sustainable employment

Political empowerment

Outlets for wealth-building

Positive social networks

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Space and Opportunity

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Redlining maps (Hartford, CT)29

Some people ride the “Up”

escalator to reach opportunity.

Others have to run up the

“Down” escalator to get there.

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Affordable housing frees up

money for transportation

Increased access to jobs

A better job provides more

income

Higher income allows you to provide better

educational opportunities for your

children

Well-educated children will benefit in the

employment arena as adults

Opportunities Lead to Equity

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Mapping Opportunity:

Why and How

The Communities of Opportunity framework is inherently spatial

Inequality has a geographic footprint

Maps can visually track the history and presence of discriminatory and

exclusionary policies that spatially segregate people

Identifying places with gaps in opportunity can help direct future investment

and identify structures which impede access to opportunity

The model uses state-of-the-art GIS and extensive data sets to analyze the distribution of opportunity in our metro regions

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Opportunity Mapping Model

A refined model to depict spatial pattern of

opportunity

Identifying indicators as proxy for opportunity

Supported by social science literature

Data easily available

Index based approach compresses multi-factors to an index

Model is a good communications tool to work with

communities

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Opportunity Mapping Booklet

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Mapping Communities of Opportunity: Methods and Indicators

How do you map opportunity? Data representing community conditions is gathered for neighborhood

(census tracts) across the state or region Aggregated to the Census Tract level

Analyzed to create a comprehensive opportunity index for the region

The opportunity index is then mapped and census tracts are broken into quintiles based on their opportunity score Very Low, Low, Moderate, High, Very High

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OPPORTUNITY MAPPING FOR

ATLANTA METROPOLITAN REGION

Example36

Education Indicators

Adult Education Attainment

Neighborhood School Poverty

Math and Reading Test Scores for Neighborhood

Schools

Teacher Qualifications

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Education Opportunity Map38

Economic Indicators

Unemployment Rates

Population on Public Assistance

Proximity to Employment

Economic Climate (Job Change)

Business Climate (Business Creation)

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Housing and Neighborhood Indicators

Housing Vacancy Rates

Poverty rates

Crime Rates

Home Ownership

Foreclosures

Property Appreciation

Proximity to Toxic Waste Sites

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Creating the Composite Opportunity Map

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Education Opportunity

Score

Economic Opportunity

Score

Housing & Neighborhood

Score

Final Opportunity Score (Map)

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Opportunity Analysis45

Redlining: 1937 to 200946

African American men are isolated

from neighborhoods of opportunity

in Detroit

Detroit Opportunity

and Race47

Low opportunity neighborhoods have higher number of linguistically isolated households

Austin Opportunity and

Linguistic Isolation

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Applications and Impact49

Thompson v. HUD50

Fair housing Litigation in Baltimore

brought on behalf of 14,000 African-American residents of public housing

in response to history of racial segregation of public housing

Represented by Maryland ACLU and NAACP Legal Defense Fund

US District Court of Maryland, Judge Marvin Garbis

Began in 1995…judge issued liability ruling in 2005 found HUD liable for violating the federal Fair Housing Act

Opportunity Mapping in Baltimore

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Use of 14 indicators of neighborhood opportunity to designate high and low opportunity neighborhoods in the Baltimore region

Indicators of Opportunity (General) Neighborhood Quality/Health

Poverty, Crime, Vacancy, Property Values, Population Trends

Economic Opportunity Proximity to Jobs and Job Changes,

Public Transit

Educational Opportunity School Poverty, School Test Scores,

Teacher Qualifications

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Subsidized housing

opportunities in

Baltimore are

generally clustered in

the region’s lowest

opportunity

neighborhoods

Impacts

Outside of the litigation, the opportunity maps have been used in a variety of ways Program evaluation and planning Monitoring partial consent decree program

Identifying Opportunities/Challenges Assessing opportunities/challenges related to the foreclosure

crisis

Regional housing advocacy Baltimore Regional Housing Coalition

Research Tracking outcomes for families who move to high opportunity

areas (John Hopkins)

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Initial Moves and Secondary Moves by Thompson Consent

Decree Program Participants

c

c

c

MA Legal Services and

Opportunity Communities

Background on this project Originated from effort to incorporate

mapping analysis into legal services

Partners Massachusetts Law Reform Institute,

MA Legal Assistance Corp (foundation) and other Legal Services Entities

Year long process of meeting with stakeholders to understand mapping needs and issues

Training with service providers & agencies (using mapping for programming)

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Mapping Communities of Opportunity:

Methods and Indicators

Three areas of

opportunity were

analyzed using GIS

mapping capability:

Education Quality and

Opportunity

Economic Health and

Transportation

Neighborhood Stability and

Health

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Impact

Program design and use within the legal services New programming – proposed “Adopt A Zip Code” program Use in exploring client concerns/challenges Use in litigation (National Consumer Law Center) Internal use by funder (MLAC)

Direct advocacy State opportunity impact assessment (proposed) Dissemination among state agencies

State level program design (public sector) New $5 million state affordable housing program, targeted to

high opportunity communities Implementation still unfolding

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Concluding Thoughts59

Tools and Tips for Using GIS to Support Regional Equity

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Do not underestimate the power of maps to illustrate problems, build support, increase awareness and change minds

Think regional when mapping

Even when looking at localized issues/problems, you may find they are regional in scope

Maps are just another tool to help you

Do not be wary of the technology

Many places to receive help: universities, research/advocacy organizations, some non-profits

What story do you want to tell?

Utilize maps to tell that story

Thank you!For questions, comments or for more information: www.kirwaninstitute.org

or e-mail us at Gambhir.2@osu.edu61