City & County Management - NARRATIVE İNFRASTRUCTURE

Beyond the Numbers: Humanizing City Data With Your Narrative İnfrastructure

Build consensus through continuity

Help the public you serve by starting from what they already understand:

Pre-community engagement concept test.
Frame your proposals as extensions of community stories.
Identify areas of need and natural supporters.
Identify areas inappropriate for projects.
Re-frame technical data in presentations to the community in terms they already understand.

Use by Department

Serving With Empathy

Using community narratives to inform every action: Generalized data fails to capture the nuances of local communities, hindering empathetic and effective service delivery. Therefore, we must prioritize granular, locally contextualized data to understand and address the specific needs of individuals within those communities.

Example Nİ at Denver

Clear Communication, Strong Communities

Narratives are our shared language, and the kids can help!

Help us build

How You Can Use Community Stories in Your Department:

Transportation Department

Gather stories about pedestrian safety, accessibility for people with disabilities, and the impact of traffic on neighborhoods. This can inform decisions about sidewalk improvements, traffic calming measures, and public transit routes.

The transportation analyst scrolled through the interactive map, each pin representing a digital story: a child's near-miss at an uncontrolled intersection, a wheelchair user's impassable cracked sidewalk, and a resident's lament about constant truck noise. Analyzing the clustered data, she saw a clear hotspot of overlapping concerns near the old school, indicating a critical need for immediate traffic calming and accessible sidewalk upgrades. Ultimately, she prioritized funding for that area, recognizing that addressing the convergence of these narratives would create the most significant positive community impact.

Help us build

Environmental Services Department

Overlay stories with local pollution sources, environmental hazards, and community efforts to protect the environment. This can inform decisions about waste management, pollution control, and the development of sustainable practices. It can also uncover patterns of long-term, low-level exposure through narratives of illness.

The director layered maps showing childhood asthma rates, correlated with proximity to the old industrial park, over digitized oral histories detailing decades of residents' respiratory ailments. Then, she overlaid volunteer-led river cleanup data, highlighting areas persistently choked with debris, against stories of dwindling fish populations and lost cultural traditions. Finally, armed with this composite picture of both environmental damage and community resilience, she prioritized funding for a targeted air filtration system in the most affected neighborhood and partnered with local groups for a comprehensive river restoration project.

Help us build

Emergency Management Department

Map stories of past disasters, community resilience, and informal support networks. This helps in developing more effective disaster preparedness and response plans, ensuring that aid reaches the most vulnerable populations. Gather community support by telling of them banding together.

The Emergency Management Director, reviewing maps of rising sea levels, overlaid them with community stories of past coastal erosion and local adaptation efforts. Recognizing the pattern of successful, grassroots initiatives in specific neighborhoods, she allocated future funding towards bolstering those existing resilience projects, rather than implementing a uniform, top-down solution. By showcasing the power of these localized stories, she secured buy-in from the entire community, ensuring long-term preparedness against the encroaching tides.

Help us build

Housing Department

Map stories of housing affordability, displacement, and experiences with landlords. This provides a deeper understanding of housing challenges, enabling the development of targeted housing policies and programs.

The Housing Director scrolled through the interactive map, not just seeing data points, but hearing the voices embedded within them: tales of resilience, shared childcare, and communal gardens flourishing despite rising rents. A pattern emerged – a tight-knit network of support, visible in the clustering of oral histories detailing shared resources and mutual aid. Recognizing this "place of resilience," she focused funding on bolstering existing community initiatives, providing legal aid to protect shared spaces and grants to expand their communal support structure, allowing that unique neighborhood to thrive.

Help us build

Libraries and Cultural Affairs Department

Identifying areas with rich cultural traditions, oral histories, and community events. This can inform the development of library programs, cultural festivals, and public art installations that celebrate the city's diversity.

The Cultural Affairs Director layered maps showing the dense clusters of recorded elder oral histories with those pinpointing locations of traditional craft workshops and annual neighborhood festivals. A clear pattern emerged, revealing a concentrated area ripe for a new community arts center celebrating generational knowledge. Based on this visual analysis, the Director prioritized sustainment funding for the center, ensuring the preservation and promotion of the neighborhood's unique cultural heritage.

Help us build

Police Department

Map stories of community-police interactions, safety concerns, and areas with high levels of perceived or actual crime. This helps in developing community policing strategies, building trust, and addressing specific safety issues.

The chief cross-referenced maps of reported crime with those displaying community-gathered oral histories, highlighting areas where strong neighborhood networks and traditional conflict resolution practices were documented. Observing that crime rates were lower in these areas despite similar socioeconomic factors, she decided to invest in supporting and amplifying these existing community-led initiatives. This approach shifted the department's focus from solely policing to empowering local social strengths as a primary tool for crime mitigation.

Help us build

Social Services Department

Overlaying data of areas with high concentrations of vulnerable populations (e.g., elderly, homeless, low-income families) and understanding their specific needs through their narratives. This helps in designing effective social programs and outreach initiatives. These stories also humanize those served, giving their stories to stakeholders who might not readily empathize.

Maria, the city's social services planner, overlaid maps showing service utilization with those depicting community narratives of transport barriers and childcare needs. She noticed a pattern: low-income families in a newly developed area, despite high need, weren't accessing existing programs due to inconvenient hours and distant locations, as revealed in their detailed online stories. Based on this, she proposed a mobile services pilot program, bringing resources directly to that neighborhood, ensuring equitable access based on real-time community feedback.

Help us build

Public Health Department

Mapping stories related to access to healthcare, food deserts, and environmental health concerns. This provides a granular view of health disparities, enabling targeted interventions and resource allocation.

The map pulsed with stories: red markers detailing healthcare access gaps, but also vibrant green pins marking community-led carpools to the distant clinic; blue for food deserts, yet bright yellow for burgeoning neighborhood gardens and shared cooking initiatives. Seeing these pockets of resilience, the director shifted focus from solely top-down intervention to funding and scaling the existing community solutions. The decision became clear: empower the residents who already knew how to heal their own neighborhoods, using their own ingenuity.

Help us build

Parks and Recreation Department

Stories help understand how people remember their time in city green space. Identifying community "gathering spots" and understanding how parks are used informally. This can inform decisions about park maintenance, program development, and the creation of new recreational spaces that truly reflect community needs. It allows messaging that is personal, engendering a sense of community stewardship.

The Parks and Recreation director sifted through historical maps, each overlaid with handwritten notes and oral histories collected over decades. One map, detailing a now-overgrown lovers' lane, was juxtaposed with another showing a bustling community garden from a bygone era, revealing the shifting landscape of local affections and social gatherings. Reading transcribed stories of clandestine picnics and communal harvests, she decided to restore a section of the park to reflect both the romantic and collective spirit of the past, creating spaces that honored the diverse narratives of love and community that had shaped the area.

Help us build

How You Can Use Community Stories in Your Department:

Transportation Department

Gather stories about pedestrian safety, accessibility for people with disabilities, and the impact of traffic on neighborhoods. This can inform decisions about sidewalk improvements, traffic calming measures, and public transit routes.

The transportation analyst scrolled through the interactive map, each pin representing a digital story: a child's near-miss at an uncontrolled intersection, a wheelchair user's impassable cracked sidewalk, and a resident's lament about constant truck noise. Analyzing the clustered data, she saw a clear hotspot of overlapping concerns near the old school, indicating a critical need for immediate traffic calming and accessible sidewalk upgrades. Ultimately, she prioritized funding for that area, recognizing that addressing the convergence of these narratives would create the most significant positive community impact.

Help us build

Environmental Services Department

Overlay stories with local pollution sources, environmental hazards, and community efforts to protect the environment. This can inform decisions about waste management, pollution control, and the development of sustainable practices. It can also uncover patterns of long-term, low-level exposure through narratives of illness.

The director layered maps showing childhood asthma rates, correlated with proximity to the old industrial park, over digitized oral histories detailing decades of residents' respiratory ailments. Then, she overlaid volunteer-led river cleanup data, highlighting areas persistently choked with debris, against stories of dwindling fish populations and lost cultural traditions. Finally, armed with this composite picture of both environmental damage and community resilience, she prioritized funding for a targeted air filtration system in the most affected neighborhood and partnered with local groups for a comprehensive river restoration project.

Help us build

Emergency Management Department

Map stories of past disasters, community resilience, and informal support networks. This helps in developing more effective disaster preparedness and response plans, ensuring that aid reaches the most vulnerable populations. Gather community support by telling of them banding together.

The Emergency Management Director, reviewing maps of rising sea levels, overlaid them with community stories of past coastal erosion and local adaptation efforts. Recognizing the pattern of successful, grassroots initiatives in specific neighborhoods, she allocated future funding towards bolstering those existing resilience projects, rather than implementing a uniform, top-down solution. By showcasing the power of these localized stories, she secured buy-in from the entire community, ensuring long-term preparedness against the encroaching tides.

Help us build

Housing Department

Map stories of housing affordability, displacement, and experiences with landlords. This provides a deeper understanding of housing challenges, enabling the development of targeted housing policies and programs.

The Housing Director scrolled through the interactive map, not just seeing data points, but hearing the voices embedded within them: tales of resilience, shared childcare, and communal gardens flourishing despite rising rents. A pattern emerged – a tight-knit network of support, visible in the clustering of oral histories detailing shared resources and mutual aid. Recognizing this "place of resilience," she focused funding on bolstering existing community initiatives, providing legal aid to protect shared spaces and grants to expand their communal support structure, allowing that unique neighborhood to thrive.

Help us build

Libraries and Cultural Affairs Department

Identifying areas with rich cultural traditions, oral histories, and community events. This can inform the development of library programs, cultural festivals, and public art installations that celebrate the city's diversity.

The Cultural Affairs Director layered maps showing the dense clusters of recorded elder oral histories with those pinpointing locations of traditional craft workshops and annual neighborhood festivals. A clear pattern emerged, revealing a concentrated area ripe for a new community arts center celebrating generational knowledge. Based on this visual analysis, the Director prioritized sustainment funding for the center, ensuring the preservation and promotion of the neighborhood's unique cultural heritage.

Help us build

Police Department

Map stories of community-police interactions, safety concerns, and areas with high levels of perceived or actual crime. This helps in developing community policing strategies, building trust, and addressing specific safety issues.

The chief cross-referenced maps of reported crime with those displaying community-gathered oral histories, highlighting areas where strong neighborhood networks and traditional conflict resolution practices were documented. Observing that crime rates were lower in these areas despite similar socioeconomic factors, she decided to invest in supporting and amplifying these existing community-led initiatives. This approach shifted the department's focus from solely policing to empowering local social strengths as a primary tool for crime mitigation.

Help us build

Social Services Department

Overlaying data of areas with high concentrations of vulnerable populations (e.g., elderly, homeless, low-income families) and understanding their specific needs through their narratives. This helps in designing effective social programs and outreach initiatives. These stories also humanize those served, giving their stories to stakeholders who might not readily empathize.

Maria, the city's social services planner, overlaid maps showing service utilization with those depicting community narratives of transport barriers and childcare needs. She noticed a pattern: low-income families in a newly developed area, despite high need, weren't accessing existing programs due to inconvenient hours and distant locations, as revealed in their detailed online stories. Based on this, she proposed a mobile services pilot program, bringing resources directly to that neighborhood, ensuring equitable access based on real-time community feedback.

Help us build

Public Health Department

Mapping stories related to access to healthcare, food deserts, and environmental health concerns. This provides a granular view of health disparities, enabling targeted interventions and resource allocation.

The map pulsed with stories: red markers detailing healthcare access gaps, but also vibrant green pins marking community-led carpools to the distant clinic; blue for food deserts, yet bright yellow for burgeoning neighborhood gardens and shared cooking initiatives. Seeing these pockets of resilience, the director shifted focus from solely top-down intervention to funding and scaling the existing community solutions. The decision became clear: empower the residents who already knew how to heal their own neighborhoods, using their own ingenuity.

Help us build

Parks and Recreation Department

Stories help understand how people remember their time in city green space. Identifying community "gathering spots" and understanding how parks are used informally. This can inform decisions about park maintenance, program development, and the creation of new recreational spaces that truly reflect community needs. It allows messaging that is personal, engendering a sense of community stewardship.

The Parks and Recreation director sifted through historical maps, each overlaid with handwritten notes and oral histories collected over decades. One map, detailing a now-overgrown lovers' lane, was juxtaposed with another showing a bustling community garden from a bygone era, revealing the shifting landscape of local affections and social gatherings. Reading transcribed stories of clandestine picnics and communal harvests, she decided to restore a section of the park to reflect both the romantic and collective spirit of the past, creating spaces that honored the diverse narratives of love and community that had shaped the area.

Help us build

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Narrative İnfrastructure at Denver, Colorado:

How a 13-Year-Old started Narrative İnfrastructure:

Unveiling a Living History: Interactive Archives for Learning

We are thrilled to unveil a pioneering project that transforms historical archives into a dynamic, interactive learning experience. Our team at Narrative İnfrastructure revitalized the Barry Matchett University Park Oral History Collection, a remarkable archive collected by then 13-year-old Barry in 1986.

Audio Archive at D.U.

From Scout Project to Digital Map: Revitalizing Local Narratives

We’ve transformed 15 hours of compelling interviews into a “narrative infrastructure,” mapping 383 unique stories that span six decades of Denver’s history in University Park.

Urban Study Using Stories

Empowering Students, Transforming Communities:

Imagine empowering the children of your community to explore the evolution of their community through the firsthand accounts of its residents, locating each narrative on a digital map. This project not only preserves invaluable historical data but also provides a powerful tool for urban management.

Get the Kids Involved!

Barry Matchett & Annita Andrick: click here to visit the Penrose Archives
Plat map of University Park
Oldest surviving home
Observatory of Denver University
Number 8 Train and "White" General Store
Click here to see a video of Berry's stories informing research
Click to launch Denver Narrative Infrastructure

Partner with Narrative İnfrastructure

Build Your Community’s Long-term Voice

Collaboration

Building Narrative İnfrastructure is not complicated, but we need local advocates to motivate educators to make the CHAT MAP workshop a part of their regular semester.

CHAT-MAPs is our school workshop program to build narrative infrastructure. The students collect the stories and we combine them:

1. Students collect and do basic mapping using their own devices and off the shelf software.
2. Narrative İnfrastructure compiles and creates the final, comprehensive neighborhood map (gratis for a limited number of classes per semester, apply early.)
3. Narrative İnfrastructure helps teachers involve planners, NGOs, local leaders, and neighborhood associations with the workshop to make the stories the students collect impactful now and into the future.

Nİ Benefits to Urban Management

Get the GIS-ready data for helping your community: story data you can overlay with your usual management layers, or stories to ground a presentation or pitch. With robust Narrative İnfrastructure, you can:

- Pre-community engagement concept test.
- Frame your proposals as extensions of community stories.
- Identify areas of need and natural supporters.
- Identify areas inappropriate for projects.
- Re-frame technical data in presentations to the community in terms they already understand.

Flow of Story-Power

Services We Offer

- Training
- Mapping
- Project coordination
- Free continuing education
- Community Engagement Add-on service
- Outreach effort support (planning and marketing materials)

Please fill out the Interest Form: