Greater Humboldt Park Community GIS

Transforming the Politics of Place:
GIS, Knowledge Production, and Community-Based Organizations (2003-2008)

Greater Humboldt Park Community GIS activities emerged from a 5-year research, teaching, and community development project undertaken by Dr. Sarah Elwood (University of Washington, Department of Geography), in collaboration with the Near Northwest Neighborhood Network and the West Humboldt Park Family and Community Development Council, two community organizations that work in Chicago's Humboldt Park area and surrounding communities.

The project had three integrated objectives:

1. In urban geography research, the project sought to better understand and explain the urban spatial and political impacts of GIS technologies and the application of GIS-based knowledge by community-based organizations. GIS is a computerized system used to capture, store, integrate, manipulate and analyze data, such population and housing information from the U.S. Census, for display in multi-layered maps.

2. In education, the project sought to develop experiential and service learning practices in undergraduate geography education that enhance students' capacities to connect conceptual and applied geographical knowledge, and critically reflect upon the societal significance of their active learning efforts.

3. In community development, the project sought to foster sustained and effective GIS capacities in the participating community organizations and to create a robust GIS database containing data and maps that advance the activities and goals of these community partners and their own partner organizations and networks.

We worked toward these objectives  through ongoing participatory research and educational activities. In the first year, university and community partners created a spatial data library for community use in neighborhood organizing and revitalization activities. This community GIS database is being used by staff members at the partner organizations, and both organizations are building hardware, software, and skills resources to make use of the database in their activities. Increasingly, they are also involving other Humboldt Park area community organizations in using their GIS resources.  As part of experiential learning activities offered annually in undergraduate GIS courses, students work with these organizations to plan and implement mapping and analysis projects using the community GIS.

While the funded portions of this project are now complete, the GIS activities of NNNN and WHPFCDC continue; and Prof Elwood continues to facilitate university-community GIS partnerships. See her UW faculty webpage for more information.