Expanding the capacity for just sustainable development and climate resilience across Africa
#IMPACTFUL
"Without accurate data we either do the wrong thing or we do nothing."
Gregory Blamo, Secretary General of the Liberia Red Cross
Cities are centers of population, but also of problem-solving, economic activity, and institutional innovation.
Every city requires a geospatial data infrastructure to function. This is necessary for urban planning, service delivery, climate-resilience, and for just land management.
Our project creates this infrastructure with local communities and governments in Africa, along with the tools to help local stakeholders collaborate to transform their cities.
#EVIDENCE-BASED
Verifiable local data creates the facts and tools for just development
Our work has shown that accurate and complete spatial data can be created in every city.
Open data and technology have revolutionized global humanitarian response, including due to climate change. Slum dwellers showed that mapping and data make them part of development decisions. Infrastructure and services can now be delivered and tracked anywhere with knowledge of every building, street, and amenity.
Our mission is to make every person part of the same map, able to participate and accelerate the transformation of their city.
#FEASIBLE
Global change from the ground up through transparent methods and data
Our approach follows from the successes of openness, collaboration and transparency in delivering radical innovations at scale. We unite slum-dweller networks and NGOs fighting poverty, the open-mapping and open-data movement, and the urban science and practice community.
Thousands of slum communities, hundreds of thousands of digital volunteers, and a global community of research and practice are ready to help create and continue to improve the data and tools for fast and just development.
#DURABLE
Every dollar spent on data systems returns $32 in economic benefits
Geospatial data is becoming very cheap to create and maintain thanks to new knowledge and technologies. It is vital for local government to function and supports diverse stakeholders including public, private and civic sector organizations. Once created and used, it becomes essential and will be institutionalized.
Our open-source model ensures that every innovation helps everyone, making this at once a local and global collaboration with massive creative potential and economies of scale.
#JUST
We start with the knowledge and agency of poor and marginalized communities
Our data and knowledge systems are built by and for urban slum communities and their partners, including local governments.
Success is measured by whether what is built together is effective, accessible, and ethical.
Our Team
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Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team
HOT is an international team dedicated to humanitarian action and community development through open mapping.
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Slum Dwellers International
SDI are a global network of slum dwellers driving a collective, bottom-up change agenda for inclusive and resilient cities.
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The University of Chicago
UChicago is a global university pioneering urban studies and the science and technology of cities towards transformative new solutions.