Opportunity Mapping
Opportunity mapping is a research tool used to understand the dynamics of “opportunity” within metropolitan areas. The purpose of opportunity mapping is to illustrate where opportunity rich communities exist (and assess who has access to these communities) and to understand what needs to be remedied in opportunity poor communities. Opportunity mapping builds upon the rich history of using neighborhood based information and mapping to understand the challenges impacting our neighborhoods.
An extensive body of research has established that neighborhood conditions and proximity to opportunities such as high performing education or sustainable employment have a critical impact on quality of life and self advancement. The central premise of opportunity mapping is that residents of a metropolitan area are situated within an interconnected web of opportunities that shape their quality of life. Opportunity mapping provides an analytical framework to measure opportunity comprehensively in metropolitan regions and determine who has access to opportunity rich areas. Opportunity mapping also provides a framework to assess what factors are limiting opportunity in a community and can assist in identifying what measures are needed to remedy these impediments to opportunity. Mapping opportunity in the region requires selecting variables that are indicative of high (and low) opportunity. In this context, high opportunity indicators would be the availability of sustainable employment, high performing schools, a safe environment, access to high quality health care, adequate transportation, quality child care, safe neighborhoods, and institutions that facilitate civic and political engagement. These multiple indicators of opportunity are assessed in a comprehensive manner at the same geographic scale, thus enabling the production of a comprehensive “opportunity map” for the region.
