摘要:Relocating people in informal settlements and upgrading the lives of those people require
consistent commitment, good strategies, and supporting systems. In South Africa, in order to
allocate subsidized housing to beneficiaries of an informal settlement, beneficiary administration
needs to determine the number of people who qualify for subsidized houses. Without
geo-spatial data-based technical verification, conventional methods of occupancy audits are
often cumbersome, are unreliable, and do not promote smart and evidence-based decision
making. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to propose and develop an Oracle-based mobile
GIS tool to conduct an occupancy audit for Ulana, an informal settlement in Ekurhuleni
Municipality in South Africa. Android-based tablets were used to collect the geographic
and socio-economic attributes of the informal dwelling units (DU). Spatial analysis (in
ArcGIS software and geo-spatial modeling environment) and statistical analysis were conducted
to produce the occupancy audit. The results indicated that the use of mobile GIS
provides up-to-date, accurate, comprehensive, and real-time data so as to facilitate the
development of smart and integrated human settlements. The results of this audit also
indicated that only 57% of the households residing in Ulana could potentially benefit from
receiving a subsidized house. Accordingly, the occupancy audit enables planners to plan
appropriate upgrading and housing development strategies for informal settlement. This
study demonstrates that successful planning of housing delivery for post independent
integrated neighborhoods is not a mere political rhetoric but is viable when it is based on
reasonable geo-spatial techniques and information. The use of mobile GIS therefore needs to
be extended to other informal settlement upgrading projects in South Africa as well as other
cities in the global south. However, proper professional training is required to ensure the
successful usage of smart mobile GIS tools.