Gis and Spatial Knowledge Production for Neighborhood Revitalization: Negotiating State Priorities and Neighborhood Visions

Abstract

In this article, we examine the role of geographic information systems used by neighborhood organizations in their planning and revitalization efforts in US inner cities. The use of GIS is related to marked changes in the roles and responsibilities of neighborhood organizations as part of a neoliberal policy agenda that expects them to play an increasing role in neighborhood revitalization. Drawing upon research about neighborhood organizations in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, we show how the spatial knowledge and revitalization strategies produced by these organizations frequently reflect and reinforce those promoted by the state. At the same time, some neighborhood organizations construct alternative knowledge through their use of GIS and employ alternative visions of neighborhood revitalization as they navigate the tensions between community visions and state priorities.

GIS, modeling, and politics: On the tensions of collaborative decision support

“…GIS researchers are also beginning to examine ways in which technology can be used to represent and model diverse understandings of social and environmental problems (e.g., Kwan, 2002;Pavlovskaya, 2002;Elwood and Leitner, 2003;Weiner and Harris, 2003). In some cases, these scholars are investigating how GIS can be used to support collaborative processes in which diverse participants can explore different problem understandings for the purpose of building shared understandings.…”

Mapping whose reality? Geographic information systems (GIS) and “wild science”

“…Other research has found that relationships and politics can influence access as much as technological factors (e.g. Elwood and Leitner, 2003;Ghose, 2005). Findings suggest that non-scientists are aware of many of these factors but remain willing and able to continue collaboration despite them.…”

“…In western Oregon, they appear to have surpassed the effects of map tyranny as they increase their understanding of GIS technology and its drawbacks. In this context, existing power structures are more likely to flex or adjust at least temporarily in ways that allow input from alternative viewpoints (Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004;Elwood and Leitner, 2003). Thus the process of utilizing GIS technology becomes itself a process of change, involving everything from the language used to the organizational structure of an investigation, and potentially catalyzing whole system adjustments that cascade through time.…”

Transdisciplinary, multilevel action research to enhance ecological and psychopolitical validity

“…Analyses utilizing GIS, in particular, have the potential to yield politically persuasive evidence on nearly any topic of concern. Intuitively appealing and accessible maps are of great use for action research and other social change processes (Christens & Speer, 2004;Elwood & Leitner, 2003), and can be useful for generating and testing hypotheses. As the very name of the field implies, Community Psychology is inherently multilevel and geographic setting-or context-specific.…”