Interactive MN Mpls Map
Introduction
There are many ways in which people access and interpret information. Honoring this, BALL is working to create an Interactive Asset Mapping, for our targeted area in North Minneapolis, through Google Map application. We hope to utilize Visual Map as a community-building tool to start a conversation about the Bicultural Healthy Living, in order to reduce chronic disease.
About Asset Mapping
Asset Mapping is the practice of identifying and mapping the distribution of a community’s assets in order to gain a visual and spatial representation of strengths throughout the community. Thanks to the University of Minnesota – Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) and Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), they have been instrumental in leading the Asset Mapping at North side, and have shared data with BALL. CURA students have assisted BALL with data sets and developed a new interactive mapping system based on Google Map application, so it can be used by individuals, community groups, nonprofits, businesses, and others in order to better understand the neighborhoods, provide better program design to fill the gaps, and to improve the overall health.
BALL hopes to develop such interactive tool that could be used to build community capacity and reduce violence and chronic diseases in North Minneapolis. We interviewed community members to gain input on the project and to discover what the community considers as a bicultural healthy living, and helped us to define following Assets, in order to improve the area well being:
- Striving Business – Local Business Map
- Good Public Services with Culturally and Linguistic Sensitive Support System – Area Nonprofit/City/County Services Map
- Holistic Healthcare System – Health Clinics Map
- Recreation System – Parks and Exercise Facilities Map
- Good Transportation – Transportation Map
- Comprehensive Youth Opportunities – Daycare Center, School, and Afterschool Program Map
- Healthy Food/Nutrition System – Community Garden/Farmer Market Map
How to use such Interactive Map to decrease Chronic Disease Rate.
Often the residents’ health have closely linked to the area well being, with more activities for youth, fresh food availability, more pedestrians/cyclists, we can better prevent chronic diseases. BALL plans to link the area policies with these documented gaps from the maps, in order to design suitable programs. The Interactive Asset Mapping can create open access for everyone, and implement a 360-degree of communication, in order to have an effective place-based approach to the chronic disease reduction effort. Additionally, North side neighbors now have a resource to be able to identify the gap visually, and can better support their own chronic disease reduction effort around their blocks. BALL foresees such interactive asset mapping can be replicated easily around all neighborhoods, to create a truly grass-root leadership, to “put the public back into the public policy