Urban Planners Harness GIS for Neighborhood Revitalization Work

In many cities, there exist economically challenged neighborhoods that have experienced decades of disinvestment. These are often residential areas bordering downtowns that were historically depopulated due to suburban development. And today’s renewed interest in urban city neighborhoods too often leads to new residential and commercial developments that displace long-term residents, creating a housing crisis and disrupting families. APD Urban Planning and Management (APD-U), based in Atlanta, Georgia, has made restoring these neighborhoods—while simultaneously supporting positive development—a core function of their work. APD-U is a minority-owned consulting firm specializing in real estate development, neighborhood and urban planning, urban design, and community development.

“When you start to see development coming online in those neighborhoods, where no one has been paying attention to them for some time, and now all of a sudden it’s a hot area, residents don’t want to be displaced,” said Bridget Wiles, chief operations officer at APD-U. “Those are the neighborhoods we’ve focused on providing neighborhood-level planning and assistance to avoid the negative consequences of redevelopment.”

APD-U provides research and advisory services to developers, municipal and county agencies, nonprofits, and neighborhood groups. Their work focuses on creating neighborhood plans and strategies for the revitalization of communities with a history of disinvestment. Geographic information system (GIS) technology is a critical component of that work. It allows them to collect and analyze information about neighborhood assets and existing community conditions, which leads to a better understanding of the housing market. The data they collect also helps them engage the public.
 

Real estate is inherently a geography-based industry, and APD-U recognizes that more information can help people understand the human impact of the business. APD-U uses GIS to promote equity throughout the life cycle of the projects they are involved with. Using tools like ArcGIS Urban, ArcGIS Survey 123, and ArcGIS Enterprise, the organization helps planners gain better insights by creating interactive maps and analytics to engage residents, city officials, and other stakeholders.

“It’s like regrowing a tree from a stump; we build on what’s already there—the existing conditions and the existing assets,” said Wiles. “We’re not trying to completely start over in a community because preservation is important to the community.” This is why it is essential to have accurate and up-to-date parcel-level data that APD-U can collect and analyze with ArcGIS Field Maps and ArcGIS Pro.

Early in the firm’s existence, APD-U contracted out the mapping and geography analysis work needed to complete thorough neighborhood assessments. However, they soon discovered that the contractors’ GIS tools were ineffective and slowed down the firm’s process. “We recognized very quickly that you can’t go backward, so we decided to invest in having all our geospatial tools in-house,” Wiles said.

Once they brought GIS tools in-house, staff learned they could do more work in less time. With the enterprise GIS system, urban planners combined their industry experience with mapping tools to visualize information rapidly, incorporate resident feedback on assets, research new markets, and gather data on demographics.

For a project in Houston, Texas, APD-U worked with churches and community development groups to provide comprehensive real estate advisory services to the historic Third Ward, a predominantly Black neighborhood located less than one mile southeast of downtown Houston. First, APD-U analyzed and mapped over 5,500 parcels and assessed the development capacity of local developers. Then, they created site plans and funding options for three pilot projects that would preserve the community’s historic character and create affordable housing for low-income residents.  

“It is important for us always to put the residents first to ensure they have a voice,” Wiles said. “We look at things from more than census-tract-level data; we need to understand what’s on the ground, existing conditions, and what challenges residents are facing.” High-crime locations, concentrations of blighted properties, problem intersections, and historic properties have all been mapped with ArcGIS technology.
 

GIS technology and local data allow APD-U’s planners to ask residents better questions throughout the neighborhood revitalization process. Community engagement is included in all aspects of APD-U’s work. They engage communities through a variety of tactics, including focus groups, one-on-one interviews, town-hall-style meetings, and more.

“At the initial stages [of a project] we engage community to get a good understanding of what’s happening on the ground, understanding the context of the city and specific neighborhood,” said Glenda Matute Krouse, senior planning manager at APD-U. “We always go back to the community to vet our findings, and the collection of information at the parcel level, to make sure that it’s accurate.”

The real estate industry has faced issues with housing affordability and investor-owned properties, both challenges that have impacted cities in recent years. APD-U, which is now celebrating its 45th year in the industry, recognizes these obstacles before they begin a project.

In the City of Atlanta, APD-U conducted a displacement risk analysis for 26 opportunity zones throughout the city. Federally designated opportunity zones are usually located in underserved communities and are now prime investment areas. Opportunity zones can be powerful economic growth tools but can also trigger unintended consequences such as the displacement of long-term residents and businesses. APD-U used GIS technology to create a displacement risk analysis and identify displacement risk zone typologies. Cost estimates and implementation strategies were developed for each typology.

Even well-meaning redevelopment projects can often have a negative impact on disenfranchised communities. For developers, it can be difficult to understand the impact of their plans during the development process. By leveraging GIS technology, APD-U can provide developers and residents with maps and analyses that help inform key constituents. Aiming for data-informed collaboration and transparency, APD-U builds consensus for sustainable development projects by communicating their benefits to developers, residents, and community leaders.