Facilitating community mapping and planning for citywide upgrading: the role of community architects

Abstract

This paper examines the role that community architects and other professionals can play in helping urban poor communities to survey and map their living conditions and draw up comprehensive site plans for upgrading or relocation projects. The mapping process can lead not only to a physical map but also to dialogue and understanding between community residents about the place they call home and how it relates to the wider environment, which will feed into the planning process. In addition, all the communities within a city may join together to carry out citywide mapping of informal settlements, effectively putting themselves on the map and on the local authorities’ agenda. Throughout these stages of mapping, the role of the professional is to facilitate the processes technically, as well as to ask the right questions of the community members so as to encourage them towards a deeper understanding of their socio-political and physical living context, and to take the lead in developing solutions.