WHITE PAPER

Mapping and Classifying Settlement Locations

Discusses GRID3’s work on collecting and analysing settlements data. GRID3’s settlements work has two areas of focus: creating a comprehensive settlement layer that enables a real-world picture of communities, and using building footprints, geospatial data layers, and machine learning algorithms to classify structures and local areas within settlements. The paper also discusses the applications of GRID3’s methods in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.

Authors Center for International Earth Science Information Network; Flowminder Foundation; United Nations Population Fund; WorldPop, University of Southampton
Full publication

More publications

Reaching Never- and Incompletely-Vaccinated Children with Routine Immunization: A Proof-of-Concept Activity Using Geo-Referenced Microplans in Two Health Zones in Maniema Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

GRID3’s geospatial mapping work in Kindu and Kibombo, Maniema Province, DRC, was central to a collaborative proof-of-concept with the DRC’s EPI Programme, CDC, and AFENET: participatory mapping and house-to-house enumeration located under-vaccinated children by locality, and GRID3’s maps then guided […]

GRID3 Impact Report 2025

In Equateur Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers had been told that communities along the Lokoro River were uninhabited — too prone to flooding, too hard to reach. GRID3 settlement data said otherwise, and in 2025, […]

GRID3 Impact Report 2023-2024

Explore how GRID3’s core spatial data – including population estimates, settlements, health facilities, and administrative boundaries – are making a difference in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This report details our achievements between 2023 and 2024, highlighting our […]