Slum Identification and Validation

With increasing urbanization at the global level, slums too are going to grow. Hence, a solution is urgently required. When we look at slum development, we should begin by putting them on the map. Mapping their spatial extent and locating them in the cityscape will help planners prepare for their betterment. Mapping with outdated technologies will provide us with the needed information in the required format to aid in the planning process. Therefore, it becomes necessary to go for geospatial technologies such as earth observation data and GIS. Identifying slums from satellite data needs domain expertise and training. In the present chapter, slums were identified from high-resolution satellite data with the help of cognitive-based technology such as ontology. The slum ontology was built with the help of domain experts, planners, local administrators, and slum dwellers. The ontology building process has been explained in different phases. Through the participatory GIS approach, using slum ontology, the slums of Kalaburagi city were mapped and the city’s first slum map was prepared. The Urban Frame Survey (UFS) maps were used for validating the slum map. Thus, the slums of Kalaburagi city were mapped using a slum ontology built exclusively for that city. It can also be extended to mapping slums of any Indian city since the slum ontology is based on the Indian scenario. The same has been explained with sample images of the top 10 cities of India.