Data feminism in action: mapping Urban Belonging in Copenhagen with experimental visualization and participatory GIS

In fields like Cultural Geography, Critical Cartography, and GIS, the post-colonial, post-representational, and feminist turns have been productive in critiquing mapmaking at the theoretical level and calling for methodological innovation of mapping practices that involve more diverse voices, situate maps in lived experience, and incorporate an intersectional approach. The article contributes to this on the level of data visualization, by examining how Data Feminism might help us reconfigure representations of urban experiences and issues within participatory urban planning. Specifically, the article explores how data feminist principles were used in action in the Urban Belonging Project; a participatory GIS initiative that engaged 32 participants from marginalized communities (lgbt+, deaf, physically disabled, mentally vulnerable, ethnic minorities, internationals, and/or homeless) in mapping experiences of belonging in Copenhagen. Presenting speculative visualization experiments from the project, the article puts forward three provocations for how to incorporate data feminism in participatory GIS and trouble established visual conventions: First, it crafts different visualization techniques for representing the concept of intersectionality in maps. Second, it suggests visual strategies for challenging official city boundaries and situating the spatial framing of urban issues in subjective, experiential realities. Third, it turns the empirical eye onto professional planners, demonstrating that participatory mapping can not only diversify understanding about those who inhabit cities but also illuminate blind spots and bias among those who design it. The article serves as a blueprint for rethinking how we visualize urban issues from data feminist principles while critically reflecting on the implications and dilemmas of such strategies.