Equity, Opportunity, Community Engagement, and the Regional Planning Process: Data and Mapping in Five U.S. Metropolitan Areas

NCSG’s Nicholas Finio, Willow Lung-Amam, Gerrit Knaap, Casey Dawkins and PhD Student Brittany Wong recently published this journal article, titled Equity, Opportunity, Community Engagement, and the Regional Planning Process: Data and Mapping in Five U.S. Metropolitan Areas, in the Journal of Planning Education and Research. Contact nfinio@umd.edu with questions about the article.

From the abstract: Government agencies and nonprofit organizations have increasingly used spatial data to create equity and opportunity atlases or maps. This paper investigates how such maps have been integrated into planning processes, and if they have been useful in catalyzing engagement on equity issues. We employ a multiple case study approach to assess efforts in five U.S. regions: Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Portland, and Seattle. Our findings show that equity and opportunity mapping have stimulated new conversations, local actions, and regional plans, but many regions are still struggling to adopt policies that could meaningfully shift their landscapes of equity and opportunity.