From 2017 - 2019 I explored, with Drew Mackie and Barbara Brayshay, the use of geographic and network maps to help residents and others find out more about what's happening in the area, share ideas and information, and collaborate on improvements.
That work was partly through the Networked City initiative, and partly through two local projects, one in Clerkenwell, and one in Thames Ward, Barking.
The idea of developing maps for EC1 started with some work in 2018 for the Clerkenwell Peel Institute, where Drew Mackie and I explored the use of both network and geographic maps to support what later became the Connecting Clerkenwell initiative. I also met up with Mike Franks, who I had helped, back in 1977, to secure funding for a heritage trail. More here, in the EC1 Echo, together with the idea of Clerkenwell Commons.
In 2020 I worked with Create Streets in Thames Ward and EC1 to set up versions of their mapping system which enabled people, very simply, to highlight problems or opportunities for improvement(Thames Ward) or favourite places(EC1).
Further north in Islington, in 2020 Drew Mackie and I worked with Octopus Communities, a network of community centres, to develop maps and stories about their Urban Wild Places and We Can Grow projects to support community gardens. The aim was to show, for an evaluation report, how work on the projects had yielded both environmental benefits and new networks of social connections.
Geographic and network mapping 2017-2020