“Power to the people”: Contesting urban poverty and power inequities through open GIS

Abstract

Key MessagesHigh costs and non-intuitive design of proprietary GIS software pose barriers to marginalized communities.Free and open source GIS provide unique access opportunities. Open GIS-based community information systems act as an alternative to proprietary GIS.Geospatial technologies are central to spatial decision making and governance, but gaining equitable access to these is still difficult for traditionally marginalized communities. We contend that the dominance of proprietary GIS software has contributed to this digital divide, as these are inherently disempowering to marginalized social groups. Their high purchasing cost and licensing fees pose access barriers to resourcepoor citizens. Design of proprietary software may also not be appropriate for marginalized groups who are neither trained in GIS, nor represent the needs of dominant market base. Therefore, "free and open source software for geospatial" (FOSS4G) and open GIS provide new opportunities in democratizing GIS, as these are open code and free of purchasing and licensing costs. This paper aims to discuss the role of open GIS in advancing the goals of public participation GIS (PPGIS). We first discuss the origins of the FOSS movement, and explore the ways it has shaped the FOSS4G and open GIS movements. Next, we examine how a community information system built with open GIS software is being successfully utilized by an environmental organization in Milwaukee, to contest urban poverty. Our research demonstrates that open source GIS offers unique opportunities in advancing PPGIS research and practice.The Canadian Geographer Le Géographe canadien The Canadian Geographer Le Géographe canadien droit de licence. Cet article examine le rôle du logiciel de SIG ouvert en fonction des objectifs du SIG pour la participation publique (SIGPP). Nous discutons d'abord des origines du mouvement du logiciel libre et ouvert puis nous examinons les faS cons dont il a faS conn e le FOSS4G et l'usage du logiciel de SIG ouvert. Ensuite, nous examinons la faS con dont un syst eme d'information communautaire conS cu avec le logiciel de SIG ouvert est utilis e avec succ es par une organisation environnementale a Milwaukee pour combattre la pauvret e urbaine. Notre recherche d emontre que le logiciel de SIG ouvert offre des possibilit es uniques pour faire progresser la recherche et la pratique du SIG pour la participation publique. Mots cl es : FOSS4G, logiciel de SIG ouvert, SIGPP, acc es au SIG

Geospatial Analysis: A New Window Into Educational Equity, Access, and Opportunity

“…Indeed, there have been increased calls for moving beyond post-post-positivistic geospatial research and toward more mixed and qualitative methods (Elwood & Cope, 2009; Lubienski & Lee, 2017; Yoon & Lubienski, 2018), as well as the application of critical perspectives in GIS research (Hogrebe & Tate, 2012; Jabbar et al, 2017; Yoon, Gulson, & Lubienski, 2018). Those calls are now being answered, and more qualitative GIS studies have emerged (Bell, 2007; Jabbar et al, 2017; Yoon, Lubienski, & Lee, 2018), including “participatory GIS” (Dunn, 2007; Elwood, 2006; Weiner & Harris, 2008; Yoon & Lubienski, 2018), those that engage marginalized communities and their members (Ghose & Welcenbach, 2018; Hogrebe & Tate, 2012; Kwan & Ding, 2008), or those that are emancipatory in nature (Sui, 2015). Mixed-method approaches invite both etic and emic perspectives, giving deeper accounts of “place” and pushing GIS research to consider not only multiple ways of knowing but also multiple ontologies.…”

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“…It is worth exploring what types of participatory politics are already emerging around GIS. This includes, for instance, the idea of open-source sharing of geospatial software (Ghose & Welcenbach, 2018) and what is termed public participation GIS, in which the software and the practices and input using GIS are provided as part of community organizing projects.…”

“…For example, Ghose and Welcenbach (2018) outlined the use of public participation GIS by schools in Milwaukee, where students from areas of poverty were trained as citizen scientists by people working on community garden projects. These authors concluded, "While there is no technological fix towards resolving poverty, open GIS can bridge the GIS digital divide, enabling marginalized communities to formulate spatial strategies in their contestations against hunger, poverty, and deprivation" (p. 79).…”

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“…Amplifying the calls to move beyond platforms and tools provided by commercial vendors, and to develop a healthy free and open source software (FOSS) ecosystem is a key consideration for Gieseking. Ghose and Welcenbach () echo this, demonstrating how the reliance upon proprietary software and training has contributed to a digital geospatial divide. Noting the central role GIS and spatial analysis play in distributing power and knowledge claims within policy and planning environments, they call for scholars to take greater care of the political economy that shapes access to and ability with spatial analysis and visualization systems.…”