Mapping Favelas
Several sources today pointed to this article about a group that is using GPS to map the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in detail. The group, Rede Jovem, is doing the project to put information about locations and services in Brazil's slum cities into Wikimap. It's goal, in it's own words, is "to work towards promoting social inclusion using virtual and mobile production by the new collaborative logics inherent in social relations, taking virtual and interactive maps as main resource, since available mapping services have never offered information related to these areas, until now."
This is a great example of bottom-up cataloging on local information in areas that might otherwise continue to be at best detailed in statistical reports on poverty or public health, and at worst be digitally invisible. Through this mapping effort, to paraphrase Jan Chipchase, the area now gains a digital identity of its own.
Thanks to @mobileactive and @janchip for the initial link.
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