Operationalize an environmental equity plan

Government agencies and community-based, nonprofit organizations are increasingly creating and using index maps to determine where to best allocate resources, programs, and funding to improve health and well-being outcomes based on equity-based priorities and directives. Indices are an effective way to combine several factors or indicators an organization and community want to include for prioritizing where an intervention should focus. Many indices have been made available at various levels of municipalities. It is recommended that you use as local a level of data as available and to customize an index for your particular project area's unique experiences and demographics. So how do you operationalize an index and apply it to your specific jurisdiction and community's needs and experiences?

In this tutorial, you are an equity officer for the City of Fresno and have been tasked with coordinating with various city departments and a community-based organization partner to apply for an environmental justice grant. The grant aims to allocate funding based on equity measures and requires applicants to use a state-provided equity index to demonstrate the need in your project area for environmental justice improvements. You want to work with the community to put forward an application that best reflects their needs and is based on lived experiences. As the equity officer, you want to ensure that the areas in your city that have historically been underserved receive the most benefits from this grant. The grant requires you to use an environmental justice index to demonstrate your community's need and propose an equity-based plan.

For this tutorial, you will explore CalEnviroScreen, California's environmental justice mapping tool, how it specifically relates to a city, define a priority area based on the index values and health risk data, and propose a bike path plan that will provide more connectivity for areas that currently experience higher levels of environmental injustice.

This tutorial was last tested on June 16, 2023, using ArcGIS Pro 3.1. If you're using a different version of ArcGIS Pro, you may encounter different functionality and results.

View final result

Requirements

• ArcGIS Pro (see options for software access)
• ArcGIS organizational account with a Publisher, Facilitator, or Administrator role in an ArcGIS organization (see options for software access)

Explore an equity index

When conducting a racial equity and social justice workflow with GIS, it is crucial to take time to listen and integrate the experiences of those who have been affected by inequity. In this scenario, your department hosted a number of community engagement sessions in partnership with a local community-based organization the community trusts. The discussion focused on better understanding what barriers people faced with access to active transportation like walking and biking, health behaviors like physical inactivity that can contribute to adverse health outcomes, and what challenges they faced with environmental injustice such as disproportionate exposure to air pollutants.

One key message that came out of the discussion was the lack of connectivity in biking routes. The city had many biking paths, but in the areas where there were higher proportions of those living in poverty and communities of color, the paths are disjointed and don't connect to places where people can find good jobs, shop, or easily access green space and parks. Physical inactivity was also a concern, which can negatively contribute to other health concerns, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and mental health. Increasing active transportation opportunities not only encourages more activity, but it can prevent and reduce the risk of several chronic diseases.

Out of these conversations, you start to put together a grant application to demonstrate the community's real needs and explain that your proposed plan will meet an important need in areas that have been historically underserved and disproportionately impacted by environmental harms.

Add the index to the map

The grant requires that you use a state-level environmental justice index to demonstrate equity needs in your proposal. You will start by adding this index to your map and exploring the data for your city.

1. Start ArcGIS Pro. If prompted, sign in using your licensed ArcGIS organizational account.

   Note:

   If you don't have access to ArcGIS Pro or an ArcGIS organizational account, see options for software access.

   When you open ArcGIS Pro, you're given the option to create a new project or open an existing one. If you've created a project before, you'll see a list of recent projects.

2. Under New Project, click Map.

   

3. In the Create a New Project window, for Name, type Bike path proposal and click OK.

   

   A blank map template project appears.

   The first layer you will add to your map is an environmental justice index.

4. On the ribbon, click the Map tab. In the Layer group, click Add Data.

   

   The Add Data window appears.

5. In the side menu of the Add Data window, under Portal, click ArcGIS Online.

   

6. In the search bar, type calenviroscreen and press Enter.
7. In the list of results, click CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Results.

   

   A pane with more details about the layer appears. In this pane, you can verify that the layer is owned by an official government agency. You can also click the Path link to view the layer's item page in a browser where it should contain more information about the data owner and sources.

8. Click OK.

   The CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Results layer adds to your map and the map zooms into the state of California.

   

   CalEnviroScreen is a mapping tool developed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) that identifies the communities that are most adversely impacted by sources of pollution at the 2010 census tract geography. The OEHHA conducts scientific evaluations that inform, support, and guide policies and regulations related to environmental health hazards and risk in the state of California. One of the strengths of the CalEnviroScreen tool is that it considers the cumulative impacts of exposure risk to environmental hazards, groups of people who might be especially sensitive to exposure of pollution, such as those who are under the age of 5 or over the age of 65, and socioeconomic factors. The latest version of CalEnviroScreen is version 4.0, released in October 2021.

   The default view of the map shows the composite index score as a percentile so different communities can be compared by census tract. An area with a high score is one that experiences a much higher pollution burden than areas with low scores. A census tract in the 75^th percentile means that it is in the top 25 percent of census tracts with the highest pollution scores.

   Before you begin exploring the data within the index, you will focus your map to the city of Fresno. You will add city boundary data to your map.

   Note:

   For this tutorial, the city of Fresno is being used as an example. This analysis and workflow is not meant to be used as an official recommendation or analysis. This tutorial is intended to be an example to demonstrate how users can use GIS to apply an index to a specific intervention.

   Another way you can add data is through the Catalog pane.

9. If necessary, click the View tab. In the Windows group, click Catalog Pane.

   

10. In the Catalog pane, click the Portal tab and click ArcGIS Online.

    

11. In the search bar, type Fresno owner:Learn_ArcGIS and press Enter.
12. In the list of results, right-click the Fresno City Limits layer and click Add To Current Map.

    

    Tip:

    You can also add a layer by dragging it from the Catalog pane on to the map.

    The boundaries for the city of Fresno are added to your map.

13. In the Contents pane, right-click the FresnoCityLimits layer and click Zoom To Layer.

    

    The map zooms to the city of Fresno.

    

    The CalEnviroScreen layer is currently displaying the composite index scores as percentiles for the entire state. Within the city of Fresno, a majority of the census tracts are in the highest percentiles in red and orange colors. You want to understand where the index scores are high just within the city instead of relative to the entire state. You will use the Pairwise Clip tool to clip the CalEnviroScreen data to only the tracts in your city.

14. On the ribbon, click the Analysis tab. In the Geoprocessing group, click Tools.

    

    The Geoprocessing pane appears.

15. In the Geoprocessing pane, in the search bar, type pairwise clip and press Enter. In the list of results, choose the Pairwise Clip tool.

    

16. In the Pairwise Clip tool pane, enter the following:
    • For Input Features, choose CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Results.
    • For Clip Features, choose FresnoCityLimits.
    • For Output Features Class, type FresnoCES.

    

    Note:

    CES is short for CalEnviroScreen.

17. Click Run.
18. In the Contents pane, uncheck the CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Results layer to turn it off.

    The FresnoCES layer symbology now shows the composite index score for the census tracts only within the city of Fresno.

    The original layer showed the tract scores across the entire state. It revealed that majority of the tracts within Fresno were among the highest scores in the entire state. But now with this layer only showing tracts within the city, the symbology color range adjusted and you can see which tracts have especially high scores in a city with many high scoring tracts.

    Compared to the state level layer, you now have a more focused map showing where the highest need areas are within the city.

    

Explore the data

The CalEnviroScreen 4.0 index score is calculated using factors from two groups of indicators:

• Pollution burden—Ozone, particulate matter (PM2.5), diesel emission, drinking water contaminants, children's lead risk from housing, pesticide use, toxic releases from facilities, traffic, cleanup sites, groundwater threats, hazardous waste, impaired waters, and solid waste sites
• Population characteristics—Rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, infants born with low birth weight, education level, housing burden, linguistic isolation, poverty, and unemployment

Note:

To learn more about and explore each of the indicators, see CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Indicator Maps.

The CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Results layer includes fields with data on the number and percent of people by race and ethnicity by census tract. The data is from the 2019 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census and categorized into six groups based on respondents' self-identified ethnicity and race:

• Hispanic (Hispanic or Latino of any race)
• White (non-Hispanic)
• African American
• Native American
• Asian American
• Other Multiple

Note:

To learn more about the CalEnviroScreen methodology and use of race and ethnicity categories, see Analysis of Race/Ethnicity and CalEnviroScreen 4.0 (PDF).

You will explore the indicators and where they are most prevalent within your city.

1. In the Contents pane, right-click the FresnoCES layer and click Data Engineering.

   

   In the Data Engineering view, you will explore a number of air pollutant indicators.

2. In the Data Engineering view, in the fields panel, click and drag the pm, diesel, and traffic fields into the statistics panel.

   

3. Click Calculate.

   

4. Right-click the Field Name heading and click Freeze/Unfreeze.

   

   Now the first column that contains the field name will always be visible as you scroll left and right. Next, you will explore the pm field, which stands for particulate matter.

5. For the pm field, scroll to the Third Quartile heading and right-click the Third Quartile cell for the pm field, point to Select, and click Above Quartile.

   

   The census tracts that contain the top quartile of pm values are selected on the map.

   

   It is recommended that you validate indices with additional data and to confirm that it accurately reflects local realities. You will add a layer that shows where the airports in the city are located. The air traffic and car traffic in and out of airports can be a major contributor to particulate matter pollution.

6. On the Map tab, in the Layer group, click Add Data. Search ArcGIS Online by typing Airports owner: Learn_ArcGIS.
7. Add the Airport Locations layer.

   There are three airports in the city. The areas with high PM values are located in between two of the airports. Studies have found that commercial airport activity can contribute to elevated particulate matter (Riley, et al., 2021).

   

8. In the Data Engineering view, in the fields panel, scroll to the Hispanic.pct field and click the Create Chart button.

   

   A chart appears and the census tracts that were selected for being in the highest quartile for pm remain selected within the chart.

   

   The chart shows the number or count of census tracts by the percent of Hispanic population. The tracts that you selected previously in the highest quartile for pm values are still selected in the chart. Many of the same tracts that had the highest risk for pm exposure are tracts with high percentile of the Hispanic population.

   Next, you will explore more pollution fields.

9. On the ribbon, click the Map tab and in the Selection group, click Clear.

   

10. In the Data Engineering view, select census tracts above the third quartile for diesel.

    The tracts in the highest quartile for diesel select on the map.

    

    Many of the selected tracts are along the highway, where heavy car and truck traffic may be the key contributors to diesel pollution (American Lung Association).

11. On the ribbon, on the Map tab, in the Selection group, click Clear.
12. In the Data Engineering view, create a chart for African.American.pct. On the chart, draw a box around the four highest bars to select them.

    

    The chart shows the number of tracts with increasing percentages of African American population. The blue bar in the middle, which is about 6 percent, represents the mean percent of African American population for all the tracts in the city. The four highlighted bars represent the tracts with the highest percentages of African American population, ranging from about 15 to 22 percent of the tract population.

    The corresponding tracts are selected on the map.

    

    The areas with the highest percentages of African American population are also along the highway, the same areas with the highest values for diesel emission exposure risk.

13. Clear the selection.
14. Search ArcGIS Online and add the layer Fresno Traffic Counts owned by Learn_ArcGIS.
15. In the Data Engineering view, select the census tracts above the third quartile for the traffic field.

    The corresponding tracts are highlighted on the map.

    

    The selected tracts are the tracts with the highest values for traffic. The Traffic Counts layer shows traffic counts at key intersections in the city. The areas with more traffic count values appear to be similar areas where the values for traffic are also highest.

16. On your own, continue exploring the data.
17. When you are finished, clear the selection. Close the Data Engineering view and any open charts.
18. In the Contents pane, turn off the Airport Locations and Fresno Traffic Counts layers.
19. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Save button to save the project.

    Tip:

    You can also press Ctrl+S to save a project.

    

Calculate and add additional data

Race and ethnicity indicators are not included in the calculation for the CalEnviroScreen score. In the community workshops, it was identified that it is an important consideration for equity and the community expressed the importance of including these indicators in the process for proposing new bike pathways.

You will create a field and calculate the percent of people of color for each census tract.

1. In Contents pane, right-click the FresnoCES layer, point to Data Design, and choose Fields.

   

   The Fields view appears and the Fields tab appears on the ribbon.

2. On the ribbon, on the Fields tab, in the Changes group, click New Field.

   

   An editable blank field appears at the bottom of the Fields view.

3. In the new field, for Field Name, type PerPOC. For Alias, type Percent People of Color. For Data type, choose Double.

   

   In the new field row, click the cell for Number Format and click the Determine display formatting for numeric and data field types button.

   

   The Number Format window appears.

4. In the Number Format window, for Category, choose Numeric. Under Rounding, for Decimal places, type 2 and click OK.

   

5. On the ribbon, in the Changes group, click Save.

   

6. Close the Fields view.

   You have created a new blank field. Next, you will calculate the percent of population that represents the population of color.

7. In the Contents pane, right-click the FresnoCES layer and click Attribute Table.
8. In the table, scroll to the field Percent People of Color.

   

9. Right-click the Percent People of Color heading and click Calculate Field.
10. In the Calculate Field window, in the PerPOC =, type 100 -.

    Note:

    The race and ethnicity supplemental data included in the CalEnviroScreen 4.0 layer is derived from the U.S. Census Bureau categories for race and ethnicity. While it is a widely accepted data source for determining where people of different backgrounds reside, it is limited and will not adequately capture the full breadth of identities and cultural experiences. There are other methods to calculate the communities of color using the Census Bureau categories for race and ethnicity. For this tutorial, you will use this method for brevity. But it is important to recognize that this method has limitations, as does any other method of calculating for communities of color when using U.S. Census Bureau-collected data.

11. In the Fields column, double-click White.pct.

    The code for the White (Non-Hispanic) percent field adds to the expression.

12. Click OK.

    The percent of people of color are calculated for the field.

    

13. Close the table.

Next, you will style the map to show the index score and the percent of people of color.

Style the map

You want to be able to visualize both the CalEnviroScreen scores and the percent of people of color on your map. You will adjust the style for each of the layers so both are visible at the same time.

1. In the Contents pane, right-click the FresnoCES layer and click Copy.
2. Right-click Map and click Paste.

   

   A copy of the layer adds to the map. You will rename the copied layer.

3. Click the copied FresnoCES layer name two times so the text is editable. Type Percent People of Color and press Enter.

   

4. Right-click the Percent People of Color layer and choose Symbology.

   You will use a combination of size and color to show the percent of people of color. It is recommended that you use a ramp of colors to indicate percentages. You want the size of the symbols to represent the number of people in each tract, and you will use color to indicate the percent of population of color.

5. In the Symbology pane, for Primary symbology, choose Graduated Symbols. For Field, choose ACS2019TotalPop.

   

6. Click the Vary symbology by attribute tab and expand the Color section.

   

7. For Field, choose PerPOC. For Color scheme, choose Yellow-Green (Continuous).

   Tip:

   To see the name of a color scheme, point to the color scheme.

   

   The Percent People of Color layer style is updated.

   

   The Percent People of Color layer is styled to show varying symbol sizes to represent the population size in each tract and increasing shades of green to represent higher percentages of people of color.

   Next, you will update the style for the FresnoCES layer.

8. In the Contents pane, click the FresnoCES layer.
9. In the Symbology pane, for Color scheme, choose Blue-Purple (continuous).
10. On the Classes tab, click More and choose Reverse symbol order.

    

11. On the ribbon, click the Map tab, in the Layer group, click Basemap and choose Light Gray Canvas.

    

    The map is styled.

    

    The areas of high pollution burden (dark purple) are also areas with higher percentages of people of color (dark green). The areas with lower pollution burden are areas with much lower percentages of people of color.

12. Save the project.

You have explored the environmental equity index and several of its indicators in your city. You compared the index values to traffic and airport location data. You calculated the percent of communities of color in your city and styled it so you could compare that information with the index scores.

It is important to consider that not all indices will be applicable for your use case. For example, you may come across another index that is based on a national scale for general health and social vulnerability outcomes, but the lowest level of data available is at the county level. That will not be very informative for a city-level analysis, where a census tract or even block level of disaggregated data will be more specific and meaningful for decision-making. The use of CalEnviroScreen for an environmental justice intervention is appropriate, but it might not be appropriate for determining which areas need more investment in broadband internet access. While the population characteristic indicators in CalEnviroScreen might be informative for building out a broadband internet access network with equity measures, the pollution characteristics have little to do with internet connectivity. It is recommended that when you use an index for decision making, you tailor it for the specific intervention the decision is being made for and to the extent and scope of the project area's unique characteristics.

Now that you have a baseline of understanding for the index, you will add health data and identify which area in the city would most benefit from increased bike path connectivity.

Propose an equity plan

In this section, you will add information about physical inactivity rates in your city. By adding health behavior data, it will help you better focus on which parts of the city are at higher risk for adverse health outcomes and would most benefit from the intervention you will propose. You will use data from the index, the percent of people of color field you calculated earlier in the tutorial, and data on physical inactivity rates to determine your primary focus area for the proposal.

Add health outcome data

You will access data provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The PLACES dataset includes several health outcome measurements for each census tract level in the United States. The data is derived from modeled survey data conducted by the CDC.

1. On the ribbon, on the Map tab, in the Layer group, click Add Data.
2. In the Add Data window, under Portal, click Living Atlas. In the search bar, type cdc places and press Enter.

   

   Several results appear. The layers are group layers, which mean they contain several layers. You only need the Tracts layer, so you will view the layers within the group layer.

3. Double-click the Places: Local Data for Better Health group layer.

   

   The layers in the Places: Local Data for Better Health group layer appear.

4. Click Tracts and click OK.

   

   The Tracts layer adds to the map. The layer is currently styled to show the rate of no health insurance. You will update it to look at the rate of physical inactivity.

   Next, you will use a spatial join to add the physical inactivity rate field to the FresnoCES layer.

5. In the Geoprocessing tool pane, search and open the Spatial Join tool.
6. In the Spatial Join tool pane, enter the following:
   • Confirm Target Features is set to FresnoCES.
   • For Join Features, choose Tracts.

   

7. Expand the Fields section.

   All the fields that will be included in the new joined layer are listed. It includes the fields from the FresnoCES and the PLACES Tracts layer. Of all the attributes from the PLACES Tracts layer, you only want the attribute related to physical inactivity rates. You will remove the other fields.

8. Scroll down and click the field that starts with ACCESS2.

   

9. Scroll to the end of the list, while pressing Shift, click the last field.

   The fields between the field starting with ACCESS and the end are selected.

10. Scroll to the LPA_CrudePrev field, press Ctrl, and click the LPA_CrudePrev field to unselect it.

    

    Tip:

    LPA stands for low physical activity. You can also point to the field to see the full field name.

11. Right-click any of the selected fields and click Remove.

    

    The only field that will be included from the PLACES Tracts layer is the field with data on physical inactivity rates.

12. Click Run.
13. Open the attribute table for the FresnoCES_SpatialJoin layer.

    You now have a layer with the environmental index data, your calculated field for percent of people of color, and health behavior data. You can remove several layers that contain the same information.

14. In the Contents pane, right-click the CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Results layer and choose Remove.
15. Remove the following layers:
    • Airport Locations
    • Fresno Traffic Counts
    • Tracts
    • FresnoCES
16. In the Contents pane, drag the FresnoCES_SpatialJoin layer below the FresnoCityLimits layer.

    Tip:

    Click the arrow next to the check box to collapse a layer legend in the Contents pane.

    

Now that you have the health behavior data, you will determine your focus area to propose new bike paths.

Determine your focus area

To determine your focus area for the new bike path proposal, you will limit the map to show the census tracts that contain the top quartile of CalEnviroScreen scores, percent of people of color, and physical inactivity rates.

1. In the Contents pane, turn off the Percent People of Color layer.
2. In the Contents pane, right-click FresnoCES_SpatialJoin and choose Data Engineering.
3. In the Data Engineering view, drag the CISscore, Percent People of Color, and Physical inactivity crude prevalence (%) fields into the statistics panel.
4. Click Calculate.
5. Right-click Field Name and choose Freeze/Unfreeze. Scroll to the Third Quartile heading.

   The Data Engineering view shows the values for the third highest quartile of each of the fields.

   

6. In the Contents pane, double-click the FresnoCES_SpatialJoin layer.

   The Layer Properties window appears.

7. Click the Definition Query tab. Click the New definition query button.

   

8. For Query 1, build the expression Where CISscore is greater than or equal to 55.3.

   

9. Click Add Clause and build a second expression And PerPOC is greater than or equal to 85.
10. Click Add Clause and build a third expression And Physical inactivity crude prevalence (%) is greater than 34.1.

    You now have three clauses for Query 1.

    

11. Click OK.

    The census tracts that meet all three criteria remain visible on the map. These remaining tracts represent the target area where you want to focus resources for active transportation.

    

    Next, you will add existing bike paths to inform where more connectivity would benefit this target area.

12. Close the Data Engineering view.
13. In the Catalog pane, click Portal and click the ArcGIS tab.
14. In the search bar, type bike path owner:Learn_ArcGIS and press Enter.

    

15. In the list of results, locate the Existing Bikepaths (Learn) layer and add it to the map.

    The Existing_bikepaths layer adds to the map.

    

    In your target area, there are few existing bike paths and not as many connections. It is important for bike paths to be connected so people can reliably use them to get to school, work, and shops.

    You will also add more contextual layers to better inform where bike path connectivity would benefit the community. You will add layers to show where the parks and public schools are located.

16. Use what you have learned to add data from ArcGIS Online. Search and add the following layers owned by Learn_ArcGIS:
    • Parks Fresno
    • Public Schools Fresno

    The layers add to the map.

    

17. Save the project.

Propose a bike path

You now have all the information you need to propose connecting bike paths with an equity lens. First, you will adjust the symbology of the map so it is more clear before you start drawing the proposed bike paths.

For your focus area, you will show it as the same color, knowing it already represents a combination of indicators your community wanted to prioritize.

1. In the Contents pane, click the FresnoCES_SpatialJoin layer two times and rename it Project focus area.
2. In the Contents pane, right-click the Project focus area layer and click Symbology.
3. In the Symbology pane, for Primary symbology, choose Single Symbol.
4. Right-click the symbol and choose Light Olivenite.

   Tip:

   To see the name of a color, point to the color.

   

   Next, you will choose a different symbol to show the city boundaries. The city of Fresno has a complex boundary. Using an outline style makes the boundary somewhat difficult to see relative to the other layers on the map. To address, this you will style the area within the city boundaries a single color.

5. In the Contents pane, click FresnoCityLimits layer. In the Symbology pane, click the symbol.
6. On the Gallery tab, choose the light yellow colored symbol named Education.

   

   The style updates on the map.

   

   The light yellow shows the areas within the city. The slightly darker yellow shows your target area. The green areas show the parks and triangles show the public schools. The dark lines are existing bikeways.

   But now it is difficult to see the basemap road networks. You will set the Layer Blend effect for the two layers so that the basemap is more visible.

7. On the ribbon, click the Feature Layer tab. In the Effects group, for Layer Blend, choose Multiply.

   

8. In the Contents pane, click the Project focus area layer. On the Feature Layer tab, set Layer Blend to Multiply.

   The basemap is more visible beneath the two layers.

   

   The map style is updated and is clearer for drawing proposed bike paths.

   Before you draw proposed bike ways, you must make a copy of the bike path layer.

9. Open the Geoprocessing pane. In the Geoprocessing pane, search for and open the Export Features tool.
10. In the Export Features tool pane, for Input Features, choose Existing_bikepaths. For Output Feature Class, type Existing_Bikepaths.
11. Click Run.
12. In the Contents pane, remove the original Existing_bikepaths layer.
13. On the ribbon, click the Edit tab. In the Features group, click Create.

    

    The Create Features pane appears.

14. In the Create Features pane, under Existing_bikepaths, click Existing.

    

    You will first draw one new route and will later update the Type attribute from Existing to Proposed.

    On the map, look for possible connection points to propose new bike paths in your target area.

15. On the map, click the start of the route you want to propose.

    

16. Double-click the point where you want the route to end.

    

    Consider using other basemaps such as Imagery or Streets to show other potential limitations to route suggestions. It is also recommended that you build proposed routes in collaboration with community members as they are likely more familiar with what routes might be the best fit from lived experiences.

17. On the Edit tab, in the Manage Edits group, click Save.

    

18. In the Save Edits window, click Yes.
19. With the new line selected, in the Contents pane, right-click the Existing_Bikepaths layer and click Attribute Table.
20. In the attribute table, click Show Selected Records.

    

21. For the selected line, for Type, double-click the existing text to make it editable. Type Proposed and press Enter.

    

22. On the Edit tab, in the Selection group, click the Clear button.
23. n the Contents pane, right-click the Existing_bikepaths layer and click Symbology.
24. In the Symbology pane, for Primary symbology, choose Unique values.
25. Click Add all values.

    

26. Click the symbol for Proposed. On the Gallery tab, choose the 4.0 Point style.

    

    The style updates on the map.

Propose connective bike path routes

Now that you have a Proposed bike path type set up, you can begin to draw the complete proposed route plan. First, you must make a copy of the existing Existing_bikepaths layer to draw more routes with the new Proposed type you created.

1. On the Edit tab, in the Features group, click Create.
2. In the Create Features pane, in the Existing_bikepaths section, click Proposed.

   The Proposed type BikePath is selected with the line tool is activated.

   

3. On the map, add more proposed bike way routes. Consider routes that will add connectivity to the focus area and nearby schools and parks.

   Tip:

   To pan the map with the edit tool activated, press the C key and pan the map. Release the C key to return to using the edit tool.

   There may be many other factors that will be important to consider, such as road width, traffic loads, or areas and routes that might pose safety issues for cyclists. Such considerations are important to implement when proposing routes and should be done in collaboration with community input and other local government agencies that may have specific restrictions and standards for developing bikeways. For this tutorial, you will propose routes assuming these aspects have been accounted for.

4. When you are finished, on the ribbon, click Save. In the Save Edits window that appears, click Yes.
5. If necessary, clear any selections.

   You now have a map that shows your proposed bike path proposal in the context of the other important factors that helped you come to this decision.

   

   At this stage, it is important to create a way for the community and partnering organizations to review and provide feedback on this proposal. It is not uncommon to propose several options and versions of a proposal to help facilitate the discussion on what options will be possible.

In this section, you have added health outcome data, determined the focus area for your project, and drafted a proposed bike path plan to increase active transportation connectivity in areas that the community wants to prioritize based on equity measures. In the next section, you will publish your map into an online web app so you can share the plan with community members and partners.

Publish a policy web app

The most important step when applying racial equity and social justice workflows to GIS is to engage and include the community. You could print the map you've created so far and use that to share with the community. But you can also create an online, interactive digital version of the map that allows viewers to interact with the data, turn layers on and off, and potentially share more widely than with a hard copy map.

Prepare the map and pop-ups

Before you publish the map, you will make some small refinements to your map data so it will be clear and make sense to a wide range of audiences. First, you'll update the layer names.

1. In the Contents pane, click FresnoCityLimits two times. Type Fresno City Limits and press Enter.
2. Use what you have learned for the Existing_Bikepaths layer and rename it Bike Paths.

   Next, you will configure pop-ups.

3. On the map, click a school symbol.

   

   A pop-up appears. It currently contains all the fields for the layer. A lot of this information is not necessary to understand why the bike paths were proposed. The only field you want to show is the school name.

4. In the Contents pane, right-click Public Schools and click Configure Pop-ups.

   The Configure Pop-ups pane appears.

5. Point to the Fields element and click the Remove pop-up element button.

   

6. On the map, click the public school symbol.

   The pop-up now only shows the name of the school in the pop-up title.

7. For the Parks layer, use what you have learned to configure the pop-up so only the name of the park is in the title.

   Several of the layers don't need a pop-up, so you will disable them.

8. In the Contents pane, right-click FresnoCityLimits and click Disable Pop-ups.

   

9. Disable the pop-ups for the Existing_Bikepaths and Percent People of Color layers.
10. In the Contents pane, click Project focus area.
11. In the Configure Pop-ups pane, double-click the Fields element.

    You want to show the fields that determined the focus area.

12. Check Display and uncheck it again to uncheck all the fields.

    

13. In the list of fields, check the CIscore, PerPOC, and Physical inactivity crude prevalence (%) fields.
14. Click the back arrow.
15. Double-click the Title field.

    

16. Delete the existing text and type Tract {tract}.

    The layer names and pop-ups are configured.

The map is now more user-friendly and ready to publish online.

Publish the map online

Next, you will publish the map as web map. Before you share the map, you must set the map properties that enable unique numeric IDs assignments. This is required for sharing maps online.

1. In the Contents pane, double-click Map.

   The Map Properties window appears.

2. In the Map Properties window, on the General tab, check Allow assignment of unique numeric IDs for sharing web layers.

   

3. Click OK.
4. On the ribbon, click the Share tab. In the Share As group, click Web Map.

   

5. In the Sharing pane, enter the following:
   • For Name, type Bike_path_proposal.
   • For Summary, type Map of proposed bike paths.
   • For Tags, type bike paths, active transportation, equity, proposal, pressing Enter after each word
6. Check the box for Everyone.

   The Share As Web Map pane is configured.

   

7. Click Analyze.

   An error is detected.

8. Expand the error messages and double-click each of them to resolve them.

   

9. Click Analyze and confirm there are no more remaining errors.
10. Click Share.
11. Click the Manage the web map link.

    

    The item page for your web map appears in a browser.

12. Sign in to your ArcGIS organizational account.

    Note:

    If you don't have an organizational account, see options for software access.

13. Click Create Web App and choose Instant Apps.

    

Create and configure a web app

You will choose an Instant Apps template and configure it so your viewers can see and interact with the proposed bike path plan.

1. On the Interactive Legend template, click Choose.

   

2. In the Create app - Interactive Legend window, for the title, type Bike Path Proposal Viewer.

   

3. Click Create app.
4. In the Express pane, click Step 3. Interactive Legend.

   

5. In the Interactive Legend pane, for Legend style, click Side panel.

   

   The legend moves to the side panel.

   

6. Click Next twice.

   In this pane, you can choose a theme that fits your project. Your proposal is about increasing active transportation, reducing carbon emissions, and making green space more accessible for areas that have historically experienced environmental injustice. You will choose a theme that uses the color green.

7. In the Theme & Layout pane, for Select a preset theme, choose Forest.

   

8. Click Publish.
9. In the Publish window, click Confirm.

   Next, you will set the share settings to anyone will be able to view the web app.

10. In the Share window, click Change share settings.

    

11. In the Share window, click Everyone and click Save.

    The app can now be accessed by anyone who has the link. You will view your app.

12. Click Share.

    

13. In the Share window, click Launch.

    The web app opens in a new window or tab.

    In this section, you have prepared your map for publishing to ArcGIS Online and configured it so that it only contains the most important information your viewers will need to comment and provide feedback on the proposed bike path plan. You published the map to ArcGIS Online and created an Instant Apps app, enabling viewers to turn layers on and off and to explore the bike path proposal.

Every application of racial equity and social justice will require several rounds of community engagement and revised versions of a proposed plan. You can use what you have learned in this tutorial to adjust your proposal and publish new versions of the plan online to demonstrate your responsiveness to the received feedback and operationalize a plan that will truly meet the needs and experiences of the communities they are intended for.

In this tutorial, you operationalized an environmental justice index by exploring the data and how it related to your local context. You added health outcome data and other supporting data such as schools, parks, and existing bike paths to inform the best place to propose connective new bike paths with an equity lens. You published the proposal to ArcGIS Online and created an Instant Apps app so you could share the first draft of your plans with the community.

You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment for providing subject-matter expert review in the development of this tutorial.
• CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Results layer is provided by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
• Fresno City Limits data from the City of Fresno GIS data hub. Accessed May 10, 2023.
• PLACES: Local Data for Better Health data from the Centers for Disease Control. Accessed May 10, 2023.
• Airport Locations data from the City of Fresno GIS data hub. Accessed May 10, 2023.
• Existing Bikepaths (Learn) data from the City of Fresno GIS data hub. Accessed May 10, 2023.
• Public Schools Fresno data from Public School Locations - National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed May 10, 2023.
• Parks Fresno data from USA Parks. Accessed May 10, 2023.
• Fresno Traffic Counts data from USA Traffic Counts. Accessed May 10, 2023.
• Riley K, Cook R, Carr E, Manning B. (2021) A Systematic Review of The Impact of Commercial Aircraft Activity on Air Quality Near Airports. City Environ Interact.
• American Lung Association (2023), Living Near Highways and Air Pollution.
• Light Gray Canvas sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
• Card image from Pexels.