Cartography for Communities: An Examination of Participatory Action Mapping

• Main Author: Boll, Amber J.
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University 2015
• Subjects: Participatory action research; Community-based; participatory research; Public participatory GIS; Community mapping; Westside Atlanta; Critical GIS
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/geosciences_theses/84; http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1087&context=geosciences_theses

Participatory Action Mapping (PAM) as a methodology strives to fill the gaps created by participatory and critical mapping methodologies. Public participatory GIS (PPGIS), which often fails to elicit a bottom up approach to mapping, and community mapping, which typically produces critical mappings that often fail to be taken seriously by decision makers both fall short in offering members of the public meaningful opportunities to make claims about particular places. Through the implementation of a critical mapping methodology that utilizes professional cartography techniques, PAM offers community organizations the ability to assert their claims through maps. Using a critical cartography lens, this case study focuses on PAM with a community-based organization in west Atlanta and reveals how this methodology can be successful in engaging professional mapping practices to communicate the truths of, and subsequently inspire action among, community members.