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In the Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, which was developed out of the United Nations Rio Conference on the Environment in 1992, community-based mapping is identified as a best practice for locally-based sustainability planning. According to UN-Habitat (2012), the proportion of urban populations living in slums is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (61.7%); meanwhile, De Soto (2003) estimates the amount of “dead” capital at $9.3 trillion. This capital is based mainly in slums. The paper presents two community mapping projects in urban areas of Nairobi and describes the advantages and disadvantages of the different methodologies used. Second, it explores the options for slum dwellers to map the areas where they live and the benefits of such mapping. Lastly, the paper shares the authors’ visions for participatory mapping and participatory GIS, and their ideas on how to select the optimal mapping method. The authors would like to open the discussion about possible effects of community mapping on local development and unlocking the hidden potential in urban-slum areas. Can the unlocking be achieved by acquiring spatial information about urban slums so that the inhabitants can make full use of their property? The paper discusses possible future development in the area of community mapping and invites researchers as well as practitioners to discuss whether community mapping is the key towards the sustainable development.
