Contact: Prof. Hye-Sung Han <hshan@ku.edu>
To get ready for bouncing back, we need to know what local solutions communities are capable of given the assets they have. Community asset mapping is a strength-based approach to community development. The goal of asset mapping is to identify and document a community’s existing resources, incorporating these strengths into community development work. The following are a number of types of community assets/resources:
- Individual capacities and assets (skills, abilities, ideas, and interests of the individuals living in the community, usually oriented around solving a particular problem, and individuals with connections or capacities including elected officials, school principals, pastors etc.)
- Physical resources (the land and everything on it and beneath it. Buildings, roads, parks, sidewalks, bus stops, trails, benches, soccer fields, lakes etc.)
- Community associations (neighborhood associations, community centers, housing boards, youth groups, commerce of chambers etc.)
- Local institutions (schools, hospitals, government agencies, churches, libraries, police and fire stations, post offices etc.)
- Neighborhood businesses (businesses, employers)
Objective:
Once information about all the assets in a neighborhood is gathered, the next step is to display them on the map which is accessible to everyone. While an asset map takes many forms (options include a comprehensive list of community assets, a physical map of community resources, a database containing community assets and online maps), for this task I want you to develop a mobile application that 1) displays assets based on my specific searches on the map and 2) allows individuals to update information on any asset (please see healthycity.org as an example).
The application should be able to answer questions such as:
- How can I locate a local youth who can mow my lawn?
- Who is available to babysit my kid?
- Where will I find potential employees with specific skillsets?
- Where can I locate underutilized open space/lots where I can start a community garden?
Use Kansas City, Missouri for the location.