Spatial Equity NYC at AAG
On March 26th, Daniela Coray, Research Associate for the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU), presented “Spatial Equity NYC: Using open data to reveal socio-spatial injustices in New York City” at the American Association of Geographer’s Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, as part of the panel Future Directions for Urban Analytics and City Science I. The panel included Nady Nasser of CY Cergy Paris Université, Anirudh Govind of KU Leuven, Daniel Arribas-Bel of University of Liverpool/Alan Turing Institute, and Joshua Pepper of Michigan State University.
This presentation introduced Spatial Equity NYC as a new web-based equity-mapping tool created through a collaboration between the LCAU and Transportation Alternatives (a nonprofit transit advocacy organization in NYC). Following the launch of the tool in October 2022, the team at the LCAU and Transportation Alternatives have evidenced its adoption by city councilors and discussed its future capacity as a resource in policy making and advocacy.
In speaking directly with City Councilors and politicians such as Jumaane Williams, candidate for governor of NYC, and advocates such as Families for Safe Streets, and the New York League of Conservation Voters, the team has gained valuable feedback on the use and applicability of Spatial Equity NYC. Moving forward, based on the feedback the team has gained by interfacing with City Councilors, public space advocates, civic tech industry professionals, and city planners, Spatial Equity NYC will be further developed with the addition of new data metrics (including climate change data), tracking changes in data over time and correlating these changes with policy directives that may have impacted them. We also hope to improve functionality and site features for continued ease of the use of the tool, automation of data updates so that the data changes in real time with new versions of existing data sets, translation of site materials to multiple languages to enhance accessibility, and continued outreach to potential users in our aim to connect stakeholders with evidence on the issues that matter most to them.
Stay tuned for more!
