This paper describes how the NGO Shelter Associates and an organization of women
and men slum dwellers worked together to collect information on each household
in slum settlements in Pune and Sangli and to map this, along with
infrastructure and service provision and each slum’s position within
the city. This permitted data on slums to be superimposed on these
cities’ development plans using a geographical information system.
This provides an important information base for improving infrastructure and
services within slums and for integrating slums into city-wide planning. The
paper also discusses the contrasting experiences in the use made by the two
different city governments of this information (little interest in Pune, great
interest in Sangli) and how communities, governments and NGOs can work most
effectively together to ensure the inclusion of slums within city plans.
