Physical characterisation of deprivation in cities: How can remote sensing help to profile poverty (slum dwellers) in the megacity of Delhi/India?)

Abstract

Addressing the question ‘Is the world urbanizing in a context of poverty?’ has been so far based on limited information. There is only poor scientific and operational knowledge of this process. Urban growth & land consumption patterns are poorly understood (i.e. coastal cities are growing faster; they are disproportionately urban and with higher densities). Thus, the available information is inadequate for policy & planning. Due to their microstructure, irregularity and direct adaptation to local conditions and the terrain, a generically applicable mapping of these settlements is difficult. The focus of the proposed paper will be laid on experiences in identifying slums and informal settlements in the Megacity of Delhi/India by means of high resolution remote sensing in order to help spatially profile poverty in very complex (cluttered) and partly hard to control giant and fast growing urbanized regions. An integrated approach using ASTER satellite data and GIS is applied in conjunction with socio-economic data collected from different government offices for assessing such urban issues.