Complexities in Sustainable Provision of GIS for Urban Grassroots Organizations

Abstract

Over the past decade there has been a significant increase in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) technologies by a plethora of social groups in various fields. Public participation GIS (PPGIS) has emerged to advance more equitable access to and more inclusive use of GIS among resource-poor and traditionally marginalized community-based organizations. The issue of sustainable provision of GIS for these community groups remains critical; thus, it is worth continuing investigation, particularly with respect to unravelling the dynamic process of GIS provision. This article presents such an attempt through a critical examination of the Data Center program in Milwaukee, which has been suggested as a valuable model of GIS provision in local PPGIS practice. This study proposes that a synthesized approach of scaled network analysis helps to better explain the dynamic process of social struggle for power and control within which the GIS provision is situated. The article illustrates how multiple scaled networks have been constructed by the Data Center to facilitate its GIS provision and examines the implications of this network construction to the dynamic production of its GIS provision.

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