Mapping Communities:Place-Based Stories and Participatory Planning

Abstract

Maps of communities can provide powerful tools for development. However, mappingcommunities is not always entirely beneficial or even harmless. Just as persons can be affected bythe singular focus of a dominant story or myth, so too can community development planning beswayed for good and ill by the dominant perspective presented in a map of community life.Understanding maps as a special type of text and storytelling can help us to understand the powerand potential of community mapping. Maps of communities, especially where social services playa major role, have tended to emphasize stories focused on deficits and issues of order and need.While such an emphasis is not without value, there are also hidden costs. Consequently,alternative mapping strategies need to be developed. By utilizing the full array of mapmakingperspectives and "story types," such alternative strategies may lead to improvements incommunity development and human services planning

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