Development of a geospatial information system specification for informal settlements

Abstract

In South Africa there are many informal settlements and due to the nature of such settlements, they are prone to various risks. The settlements are inherently poorly developed and lacking basic services and infrastructure for safeguarding against natural elements. In addition, these informal communities give rise to socio-economic issues. Municipalities face various challenges in managing informal settlements, including planning the development of housing and responding to emergencies. These challenges may be attributed to a lack of data regarding the informal settlement landscape and population. The aim of this research was to determine the data that are valuable to the municipality and to specify a tool that collects such data and allows for the manipulation of the data in a manner that would assist municipalities in improving their service delivery to informal settlements. The research contained within this dissertation discusses the background to the research, which includes several case studies of incidents within informal settlements. It is followed by a study of literature around disaster management, development of informal settlements, the South African government's role in the development of informal settlements, and the use of technology in disaster management. The basic theory on systems engineering is discussed, as a systems engineering approach was followed in the experimental design. In the experimental design the design of the system specification is discussed, which includes the development of input documents, identification of stakeholders and the structure of the system specification. The specification was developed as a separate document to the dissertation and is included as Appendix A to this dissertation, as it is meant to be used as a separate document. The analysis of the specification is, however, included as part of the dissertation and the contents and results of the specification and the research are also discussed. The development of a system according to the system specification will be of great benefit to municipalities, provided that they are involved in the development process and include their additional requirements; the specification is seen as a baseline with the minimum requirements. There may be several challenges in developing such a system, for example, the use of 3Dimaging hardware and software and the integration with other systems. Gaining the residents' approval and getting them to provide the required information may also prove to be a challenge for the successful implementation of such a system.