Making Maps That Matter: Situating GIS within Community Conversations about Changing Landscapes

Abstract

Geospatial analysis and mapping has tremendous potential to inform community-scale deliberations about land use and growth management, but that potential is rarely realized. This article introduces an iterative, participatory research approach to generating maps about landscape change and development trends rooted in local experiences of place and therefore well positioned to contribute to civic dialogue and action. The research process involved collaboration with community partners; ethnographic interviews to identify salient local issues and perspectives; geospatial analysis, mapping, and visualizations of development trends; focus groups to refine information and imagery for local audiences; and deliberative meetings designed to encourage public discussion. Through a case study from a rapidly growing Southern Appalachian county, we show how this process aided the development of maps and visualizations that were relevant and accessible to local stakeholders, made visible local concerns about landscape change, and increased stakeholders' awareness of landscape-scale processes. We argue that this interdisciplinary approach can help to bridge between critical and analytic GIS traditions, provide a mechanism for integrating research agendas with local policy deliberations, and help foster successful civic dialogues and collective action in communities with histories of contentious debate about land-use planning.