Strategic Cartography: How Map-Making Can Enable or Obstruct Social Inclusion

• In Event: Policing and the State in Latin America

Abstract

How does the state use map-making as a political tool? And what determines a change in cartographic policy? We present a theory of the role of map-making in inclusive policy-making, arguing that excluding territories from a formal map allows governments to delay the widespread extension of property rights and social services. We further argue that changes in cartographic policies are timed in order to politically capitalize on the goodwill of recently incorporated voters. This paper examines these questions in the case of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the city’s 1,000 informal settlements (favelas) were omitted from official city maps until the 1980s, despite housing nearly a quarter of the city’s population. We match micro-level data on the date favelas appeared on official maps, the incorporation of favela neighborhood organizations, and the extension of social services with voter participation to measure the political consequences of formally recognizing informal settlements on the map. Our findings suggest that incorporation on the map expands downstream access to a broad range of social services and infrastructure, and that political parties that couple this reform with the extension of property rights benefit the most.

Authors

• Jessie Trudeau, Harvard University

• Ana Paula Pellegrino, Georgetown University