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Opportunities for enhancing communication settlement upgrading
with GIT based support tools
consulted on specific issues or proposals. In such projects the community is seen as the
target of the project and not as a key partner in the development process. The danger is that
lead agencies and professionals dominate the project, tend to adopt technocratic approaches
to infrastructure and services yet fail to establish a local capacity for cost recovery,
operations and maintenance (Werlin 1999).
Community based approaches
The essential difference between conventional and community based upgrading is in the
adoption of a more inclusive, collaborative style of project planning and implementation. This
provides for a high level of community mobilization and involvement in decision making that
is an essential ingredient for successful upgrading (Werlin 1999, pg. 1529). While
participatory appraisal methods have long been popular in rural development (Chambers
1994; Chambers 1994) they have also gained increasing ground in relation to urban planning
issues such as upgrading (see for examples:WHO 1991; Wates 2000). In this approach a
preliminary project stage of mobilisation may here be required for mutual awareness and
sensitisation between the actors in the project. The realization that community participation
may provide a means to address the long term sustainability of project benefits by
encouraging a feeling of ownership and responsibility has further fostered the adoption of
participatory approaches, though it will be some time before such impacts can be evaluated
for, as Werlin (1999) points out, short term success is not an indicator of long term
sustainability.
Basic issues in settlement upgrading
Broadly speaking, major issues in upgrading projects centre around 4 main topics: the nature
of target population and in particular the most disadvantaged groups; the physical nature of
the project site and prevailing land tenure arrangements; the nature and level of site
development and the institutional and financial framework (Davidson and Payne 2000). In
practice upgrading models and checklists should be used only as a guideline as there can be
a great diversity in problems between settlements and local priorities should be used as the
basis for decision making and planning. Engaging communities in setting the agenda for
improvement will improve the relevance of the project but there are also some risks.
Professional knowledge and experience is also required to ensure that related problems are
dealt with in an integrated manner. For example, if roads are to be improved, there will be
implications for storm water drainage that residents may not fully appreciate.
Spatial information requirements and the use of GIS
Recent work in Cape Town, South Africa has shown how spatial information and GIS can be
applied in settlement upgrading (see for example: Abbott and Douglas 1998; Abbott 2001;
Abbott 2001). This experience shows that a GIS based methodology can provide valuable
support in upgrading projects. Three core data sets related to shacks, the occupants of the
shacks and the spatial and physical aspects of the settlement are used to analyse issues and
potential planning responses together forming an information backbone for the project. In the
technical design processes experts can then draw on such databases and the designs
themselves should also be compatible with the core data sets, in so far as scale and
accuracy considerations allow 2 . The core spatial data sets may be derived from aerial
2
Although the spatial data in a GIS can be used to produce outputs at any scale they are not to all
intents and purposes scale-less. The source of the data and data capture methods imply a certain
level of accuracy and precision that will limit the usability of the data. For example, an engineer
preparing designs for drainage systems in relatively flat areas may require precision of 1-2 cm in
levels in order to ensure that water flows correctly. Such precise data can only be obtained via
terrestrial surveys although less precise data from other sources may be usable in preliminary terrain
studies and preparatory work Sliuzas, R. V. and M. Brussel (2000). Usability of large scale
topographic data for urban planning and engineering applications: examples of housing studies and
DEM generation in Tanzania. ISPRS, Amsterdam, ISPRS..
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