New Southwest Detroit Community Mapping Project Helps Design Neighborhoods of the Future

Thursday, August 13, 2009

By Lori Ella Miller, Detroit LISC Scribe

Detroit is a city filled with eclectic and historic neighborhoods that are undergoing an unprecedented social, physical and economic transformation.  Southwest Detroit is one of those communities.  The Southwest Detroit Development Collaborative (SDDC) has partnered with a group of urbanists to design and launch a unique Community Mapping Project that will help redevelop vibrant, sustainable neighborhoods for the future. 

Thanks to a grant by Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the SDDC’s Community Mapping Project will allow CDCs and nonprofits in Southwest Detroit to have access to a valuable high-tech GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping tool.  While the Community Mapping Project is a pilot program, the SDDC hopes that it can be the framework for a comprehensive database with a website and online interface that will one day be accessible to all CDCs, businesses, residents, civic leaders and other community organizations.

The Evolution of The Project

Like most great urban planning projects, this one started on the proverbial "drawing board" at Michigan’s Lawrence Technological University (Lawrence Tech).  Led by Lawrence Tech’s Constance C. Bodurow, a team of researchers developed a cutting-edge digital interface and three-dimensional GIS model and database of the Southwest Detroit community.   According to Bodurow, who is an accomplished professor at the university’s College of Architecture and Design, Southwest Detroit was the most promising neighborhood for the pilot program using her Value Densification Community Mapping technology.

According to Bodurow, density is not just about the physical attributes of an area, it is also about the social and cultural attributes. The methodology behind the project utilizes a multivariable densification modeling tool that identifies and measures physical density, as well as the human element and population; the concentration of social, cultural and historic assets; and the city’s natural and man-made eco-system.

While the use of GIS technology is not a new phenomenon, Bodurow and her team have inspired an innovative new approach.  What’s unique is that they have merged three different technology platforms and made them accessible and user-friendly to the community organizations.

The result is a "free-ware" GIS technology that incorporates and merges components of Google Earth, Sketch Up and ArcGIS to model physical, social and infrastructure density – all displayed in three dimensions.  One of the ground-breaking aspects of the Community Mapping Project is that it models "social exchanges" and human interaction in 3-D, allowing the user to literally see where people are choosing to live, play, worship, attend school and dine.   The user can overlay the social and infrastructure layers with physical density.  This interactive and user-friendly 3-D layering process will one day be used for policy decision-making, as well as for strategic planning, urban design and community development. 

"My hope is that the tool can be used to support a collective civic dialogue to drive the design of Detroit’s future urban form," said Bodurow.

Currently, the Lawrence Tech team has compiled 135 diverse layers of data in the SDDC’s community mapping area, including historical assets, census data, economic indicators, employment, vacant land, retail, churches, zoning, schools, green infrastructure, roads, the updated Ann Arbor-Detroit Rail Link, waterways and parks.

The SDDC has been the driving force in moving this pilot program forward.  The organization has provided invaluable input that continues to shape the scope and direction of the Community Mapping Project.  The program and its technology are now accessible to local CDCs and other community organizations because of the SDDC’s leadership and vision. 

3-D Layering Graphic


Hands-on Training

Another key component to the Detroit LISC-funded project is hands-on training for the CDCs.  To familiarize the organizations with the Google Earth platform, the Lawrence Tech team conducted onsite training sessions with five Detroit CDCs: Southwest Housing Solutions, People's Community Services, Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision, Southwest Detroit Business Association and Urban Neighborhood Initiatives. These organizations also received training on how to access the interim website, and how to apply the interface to their specific missions, goals and projects. 


                              COMMUNITY MAPPING 
                  "Taking The Technology to the Streets"

Southwest Housing Solutions is actively focused on asset-based planning, grassroots revitalization and community empowerment. Their goal is to redevelop and "rebirth" the community.   Founded in 1979, Southwest Housing Solutions has invested more than $100 million in renovating 24 multistory, historic commercial and residential properties, including the redevelopment of the Hubbard Richard and Hubbard Farms neighborhoods. 

Southwest Housing Solutions employs a holistic approach to its redevelopment – melding human development with community development.
  
Daniel Loacano, program manager for Southwest Housing Solutions, sees great potential in this useful community mapping tool and database.  It will be an important asset as the organization endeavors to re-create historic density in the neighborhoods of Southwest Detroit.

Currently, Southwest Housing Solutions is completing a successful real estate development called Hubbard Communities, which will offer 44 units of rental housing.  Now as the organization looks to the future, it will target other underdeveloped communities in Southwest Detroit.  The Westside Neighborhood Preservation Plan is currently being implemented for the neighborhoods just west of the I-75 freeway.

"The GIS project that Detroit LISC is funding with Lawrence Tech can expedite and streamline our research, particularly with the process of housing quality analysis, as well as help us formulate future neighborhood preservation plans," said Loacano. 

Patrick Carroll, project coordinator for Southwest Housing Solutions, sees other applications for the GIS tool.  He explains that the Community Mapping Project can also evolve into an excellent tool for marketing and promoting the area.

In addition, Carroll says, "It is a compelling visual tool for presentation purposes.  We can take a laptop into a meeting and present a project which is normally on paper — and bring it to life in a dramatic 3-D form."

The True Measure of Success

The community litmus test for success of the project will not be measured just by the brick and mortar work that is completed, or in a study.  According to Loacano, "The true measure of success is about building a safe, sustainable Southwest Detroit."  He added that it can be summed up in one question, "Do you want to live here?"

With the support of Detroit LISC and the SDDC’s Community Mapping Project, the answer will be a resounding "yes!"