{"id":2907742,"date":"2025-09-02T16:00:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T23:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2907742"},"modified":"2025-09-24T09:19:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T16:19:51","slug":"policymaps","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/local-government\/policymaps","title":{"rendered":"Cartographic Tips for Policy Maps"},"author":7121,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22841,22941,22871],"tags":[26451,561612,40161,34821],"industry":[],"product":[36581],"class_list":["post-2907742","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-government","category-mapping","category-state-government","tag-cartography","tag-decision-support","tag-living-atlas-of-the-world","tag-policy-maps","product-arcgis-living-atlas"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":7121,"user_firstname":"Diana","user_lastname":"Lavery","nickname":"Diana Lavery","user_nicename":"dianaclavery_global","display_name":"Diana Lavery","user_email":"DLavery@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:19:20","user_description":"(she\/her\/hers) Diana loves working with data. She has over 15 years experience as a practitioner of demography, sociology, economics, policy analysis, and GIS. Diana holds a BA in quantitative economics and an MA in applied demography. She is a senior GIS engineer on ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World's Policy Maps team. Diana enjoys strong coffee and clean datasets, usually simultaneously.","user_avatar":""}],"short_description":"This article will share some cartographic tips for various stages in the policy lifecycle.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

If you have ever made a map for advocacy, for decision support, or for policy evaluation, you are a policy mapper. This article will share some cartographic tips for various stages in the policy lifecycle.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2907752,"id":2907752,"title":"PolicyLifecycle_UC2025","filename":"PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png","filesize":123050,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/local-government\/policymaps\/policylifecycle_uc2025","alt":"A series of overlapping circles, which left-to-right read \"Advocacy map, policy comparison map, policy options map, decision support map, outcomes map, and policy evaluation analysis.\" There is also an arrow at the bottom which says \"Advocates raise awareness, policy analysts weigh options, elected officials implement strategies, data dept. reports outcomes, policy researchers review.\"","author":"7121","description":"","caption":"","name":"policylifecycle_uc2025","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2907742,"date":"2025-07-24 21:50:38","modified":"2025-09-02 21:44:34","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":918,"height":516,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png","large-width":918,"large-height":516,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png","1536x1536-width":918,"1536x1536-height":516,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png","2048x2048-width":918,"2048x2048-height":516,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025-826x465.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png","wide_image-width":918,"wide_image-height":516}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PolicyLifecycle_UC2025.png"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Advocacy maps<\/strong><\/h1>\n

When an issue is relatively new, there tends to be an advocacy phase. People learn of disappointing facts and then try to raise awareness about the problem.<\/p>\n

Cartographic tip:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Effective advocacy maps often use a diverging color ramp, or the Above and Below theme<\/a> in ArcGIS Online, to anchor the values being mapped to a goal or to the nationwide average. Many of the diverging color ramps in ArcGIS Online have one color that is very bright, which advocates can use to illuminate areas of interest. For example, the bright magenta areas in the map below<\/a> show tracts with high levels of poverty.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2935601,"id":2935601,"title":"Poverty_AboveAndBelow","filename":"Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png","filesize":829217,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/local-government\/policymaps\/poverty_aboveandbelow","alt":"Map of Washington, DC at the census tract level. Areas in bright magenta are high levels of poverty (>25% of individuals there have income below poverty level), areas in dark yellow are low levels of poverty (only 3 % of individuals have income below poverty level), and areas in faint magenta or light yellow are in the middle (map's legend changes from yellow to magenta at 14%).","author":"7121","description":"","caption":"","name":"poverty_aboveandbelow","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2907742,"date":"2025-08-21 20:55:49","modified":"2025-09-02 21:46:32","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1032,"height":783,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png","medium-width":344,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":583,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png","large-width":1032,"large-height":783,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png","1536x1536-width":1032,"1536x1536-height":783,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png","2048x2048-width":1032,"2048x2048-height":783,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow-613x465.png","card_image-width":613,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png","wide_image-width":1032,"wide_image-height":783}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poverty_AboveAndBelow.png"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

The Above and below theme helps to map areas with room for improvement as well as successes. Don’t be afraid to advocate for the continuation of successful policies.<\/p>\n

Policy comparison maps<\/strong><\/h1>\n

It can be helpful to see what others are doing. How many other jurisdictions are currently doing something similar to what you’re thinking of proposing?<\/p>\n

Cartographic tip:<\/em> <\/strong>Policies are often categorical in nature. Therefore, maps that compare various policies often use the Types (Unique symbols) style<\/a>. For example, this map shows payday lending laws across states.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2935541,"id":2935541,"title":"PolicyComparison","filename":"PolicyComparison.png","filesize":88957,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/local-government\/policymaps\/policycomparison","alt":"In states in teal, payday lending is legal with limits on finance charges. In states in navy, payday lending is legal with no limits on finance charges. In states in yellow, payday lending is illegal.","author":"7121","description":"","caption":"","name":"policycomparison","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2907742,"date":"2025-08-21 20:39:06","modified":"2025-09-02 21:47:37","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":591,"height":366,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png","medium-width":421,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png","medium_large-width":591,"medium_large-height":366,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png","large-width":591,"large-height":366,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png","1536x1536-width":591,"1536x1536-height":366,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png","2048x2048-width":591,"2048x2048-height":366,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png","card_image-width":591,"card_image-height":366,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png","wide_image-width":591,"wide_image-height":366}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PolicyComparison.png"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Policy options analysis and policy design<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Tinkering with policy levers is somewhat like tuning dials. For example, do we ban<\/em> single-use plastic bags, or tax<\/em> them? How much should we tax them? Does a 10 cent plastic bag tax yield double the outcome of a 5 cent plastic bag tax, or less? At what point does it become too burdensome, and politically unpalatable?<\/p>\n

Calculating forecasts and projections, and running what-if scenarios can be difficult, even when there’s no policy change being introduced. In general, the longer the time horizon, the more uncertainty there will be in the calculations.<\/p>\n

Cartographic tip:<\/em> <\/strong>When the potential benefits (or consequences) are estimated, they are often presented as ranges. An unclassed color ramp is recommended for mapping ranges<\/a> of values, or for mapping data with uncertainty.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Decision support maps<\/strong><\/h1>\n

You can use maps as meeting discussion starters and to get stakeholder buy-in and build trust. Decision support maps are used in a variety of scenarios, including the following:<\/p>\n