University of Glasgow leads on new digital mapping tool for better city planning
Published: 5 November 2024
A new digital mapping tool aimed at using citizen science and participatory urban analytics to support improvements in deprived areas in cities in Low-and Middle-Income countries has been launched by the IDEAMAPS Network.
A new digital mapping tool aimed at using citizen science and participatory urban analytics to support improvements in deprived areas in cities in Low-and Middle-Income countries has been launched by the IDEAMAPS Network.
The IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem platform (beta version) enables citizens to directly improve the mapping of their own communities. It aims to foster positive exchanges of data between urban scientists, communities and policy makers, helping to overcome barriers in city planning, neighbourhood improvement and ‘slum’ upgrading.
The platform is led by the University of Glasgow’s Professor João Porto de Albuquerque, Chair in Urban Analytics. It was launched at the World Urban Forum in Cairo on 5 November.
Professor João Porto de Albuquerque said: “The IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem project is building a participatory data ecosystem to produce deprived urban area maps routinely, accurately and at scale that can enable transformative change.
“Grounded in methods of citizen science, our platform puts people at the centre of the digital technologies we develop. Whilst exploring the data we've generated, users can validate it by double clicking on grid cells. This means that they can change the data they see so that they more accurately reflect local realities.
“We use the validation of users to generate new and improved versions of our urban analytics models and thus improve the evidence base for decision making. Co-designed with our stakeholders, our platform seeks user participation at each step in its development - aiming towards a definition of technologies that offers improved and appropriate information to support city planning and participatory ‘slum’ upgrading.
"The IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem platform (beta version) is publicly available for people to explore and validate our datasets about urban deprivation and assets."
With people at the heart of the IDEAMAPS Network’s mission, it is hoped that the platform will enable community Leaders, Mobilisers & Activists to gather better data that increases visibility about the challenges and opportunities within their neighbourhood, and city Managers & Policymakers to better understand ways to meet the needs of communities in their cities.
It will also support researchers in Urban Science and Planning to use their data to advance public knowledge about methods of upgrading urban communities in LMICs.
Launched in 2020 with funding from a UK Research and Innovation grant, the Network grew out of workshops hosted by the African Population and Health Research Center, Slum Dwellers International - Kenya, and UN-Habitat in Nairobi in 2019.
Projects in the IDEAMAPS network engage and link stakeholders, develop datasets of urban deprivation and foster capacity among stakeholders to use data for decision making.
First published: 5 November 2024