Mapping Safe and Unsafe Areas in Informal Settlements

In our efforts to determine safe and unsafe areas of Soweto Kayole – as perceived by the residents, we first developed a base map of the area. Around twenty participants from the area mapped several hundred locations depicting amenities related to safety and security or crime. Some of the points collected were: a police station and chief’s camp, security lights, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, chemists, social halls and rehabilitation centres, religious institutions, schools and children’s homes. This base map was further enhanced by the building extraction of the area created by Mathare youth.

To further map out perceptions of safety, we held a series of focus group discussions with fifty-two women and forty-five men. Through a well-structured interview process, they drew on the base map areas that they perceived as safe (green) or areas that were unsafe (red).

The final result is two detailed and neighbourhood specific maps depicting Safe and Unsafe Areas as Perceived by Men and Women in Kayole Soweto (detail below).

This project was done with the support of The World Bank and the Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project (KISIP).