More than one billion people currently live in slums, which are growing at unprecedented rates leading to the rise of vulnerable communities. Slums are usually viewed as areas of extreme poverty and neglect and further, their development as an impediment to progress. Although slums exist in all areas of the world, their presence is most noticeable in the less developed countries of the global south. These countries are among the poorest worldwide as suggested by the Human Development Index and the substantial disbursement of and dependence on international aid. With the added burden of having to absorb the majority of projected population growth, further challenges can be expected at these locations if the situation of slum dwellers does not improve.

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Black Holes No More: The
Emergence of Volunteer Geographic
Information
Author: Ron Mahabir
Affiliation: Department of Geography and Geoinformation
Science, George Mason University
Source: GIS Lounge - http://www.gislounge.com/black-holes-no-
more-the-emergence-of-volunteer-geographic-information/
More than one billion people currently live in slums, which are
growing at unprecedented rates leading to the rise of vulnerable
communities. Slums are usually viewed as areas of extreme
poverty and neglect and further, their development as an
impediment to progress. Although slums exist in all areas of the
world, their presence is most noticeable in the less developed
countries of the global south. These countries are among the
poorest worldwide as suggested by the Human Development Index
and the substantial disbursement of and dependence on
international aid. With the added burden of having to absorb the
majority of projected population growth, further challenges can be
expected at these locations if the situation of slum dwellers does
not improve.
Recently, there has been growing awareness of the poor living
conditions and daily hardships experienced by slum dwellers. This
is in part due to the way in which social media and the World Wide
Web have transformed the sharing of information. Users of social
media like Facebook and Twitter generate content about
themselves and their selective interests within and among peers.

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Most of this information is provided voluntarily by untrained
private citizens and compared to the traditional top down approach
of collecting geospatial information, represents a new form of
geographic information altogether. In locations where slums are
most pronounced, reliable information on these communities is
often lacking, making this Volunteered Geographic
Information (VGI) an important resource for slum information.
The most well known example of VGI aiding slum dwellers is the
Map Kibera project started by Mikel Maron and Erica Hagen in
2009, with the help of local partners in Kenya. Prior to 2009,
Kibera, a slum with an estimated 250,000 residents, did not exist
on any official maps of Kenya. It was no more than a black hole to
the outside world. In this project, local residents are empowered
into mapping their own community with the resulting digital data
collected and placed onto an online map. Uploaded information is
freely available on a wide rage of themes, including,
transportation, health services, safe paths and the location of water
and sanitation facilities, providing actionable knowledge for local
residents in supporting their daily workflows. Local slum
businesses have also benefited, using information from Map
Kibera to expand their customer base. Map Kibera therefore
provides Kiberans with an informational basis for better
coordination and planning within their community.

3. KIBERA GEOGRAPHIC DATA COLLECTION VIA OPENSTREETMAP.

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Projects such as Map Kibera are also important for improving
government involvement in slums. During the 2013 Kenyan
election, the Map Kibera project provided information on access
routes and the location of polling stations. This information was
used to ensure overall safety during this event. Non-government
and community-based organizations also use VGI to identify and
fill water and sanitation needs in slums. These organizations
further use this information for advocating with government, on
behalf of slum dwellers, for improved conditions within slums.
Such representation is important for improving the situation of
slum dwellers since they are often overlooked in the planning
decisions of the state.
VGI projects also provide empowerment through the development
of new skills and increased involvement on the part of slum
dwellers. Locals use geospatial technology to create maps of their
community. Newly acquired skills can also contributed towards
finding better jobs for improving the situation of slum dwellers.
These projects also encourage innovation among local slum
residents. As an example, local slum residents trained by Map
Kibera in using film media went on to found the Kibera News
Network. Since its inception, Map Kibera continues to be a catalyst
for many similar projects, allowing for a sustainable source of
information on slum communities.
A common attribute in slums is a lack of digital information and
communications technology typically known as the digital divide.
VGI projects that assist in reducing this divide are more likely to
succeed because they do not require any professional expertise and
are more inclusive of local residents. Non-government
organizations including UN Habitat and Slum Dwellers
International are working to make these technologies more
accessible in slums. As an additional benefit, these types of VGI
play a key role in connecting locals as they move through their
communities, developing relationships with residents and forming

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lasting networks. Slum residents are also able to connect with
people outside of slums, both locally and internationally, providing
an outlet for voicing their concerns to local government and global
communities.
It is clear that VGI represents an important resource for
information on slums. This is especially the case since many
official sources of information on slums are often limited or are of
a low quality. Given that it may not be at all possible to remove the
existence of slums altogether, there is a need for improving
conditions within existing slums. This is important to ensure that
everyone, both slum dwellers and non-slum dwellers alike, have
the opportunity to live a quality life and not be marginalized, as is
the case of many slum dwellers today.