EQUITY ANALYSIS OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANS USING GIS - DES-MOINES URBANIZED AREA

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Environmental Policy Act, t he Fair Housing Act, Affirmative Action programs, and more recently, t he Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act and Executive Orde r 12898 have all attempted to combat discrimination. However, planning decisions continue to directly and indirectly discriminate against ce rtain groups of citizens in urban areas throughout the United States. An example of such discriminatory practices can be seen in the pattern s of urban services delivery and capital investment in our communities . A spatial analysis of capital improvement plans using geographic inf ormation system technology for the Des Moines, Iowa, urbanized area is presented as a feasible method by which urban analysts can address eq uity issues.