Test of the web platform, validation activities, and summary of results
In January and February 2024, the IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem team held cross-sectoral stakeholder workshops in each of our pilot cities– Lagos, Kano (Nigeria), and Nairobi (Kenya). These built on the relationships fostered in the first year of the project and have helped to co-design different parts of our project. This report summarises the learnings we took forward from 2023, new learnings from the pilot test of the web platform in the 2024 workshops, and next steps.
(Left) IDEAMAPS research team at stakeholder workshops in Nigeria. (Right) IDEAMAPS research team member works with stakeholders in Nairobi on using the web platform for model validation.
Reflection on 2023 Engagements
In 2023, initial engagements with stakeholders were held through project launches in each city and Participatory Action Research group activities (PARs) in partner communities. These were coordinated by the IDEAMAPS teams based at the University of Lagos and at the African Centre of Excellence for Population Health and Policy (Kano) in Nigeria, and at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in Kenya.
These engagements allowed our research team to collaborate with stakeholders to grow partnerships and understand urban challenges unique to each city. We engaged with a range of representatives from academia, community co-researchers, government, NGOs, and private organisations who helped us co-create the project plans for the first year.
During the co-design process in 2023, stakeholders contributed to ranking the importance of various features and characteristics of deprived urban areas, which we call “subdomains of deprivation.” These subdomains of deprivation are used to define priorities for mapping. The ranking activity helped determine the initial models that were supported in the first version of our project’s web platform, which contained interactive deprivation maps focused on three ‘subdomains’ of deprivation: overall deprivation, irregular layouts, and small dense structures.
Overview of the January and February 2024 Engagements
In our recent trips to Nairobi, Lagos, and Kano, we introduced and tested our prototype of the IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem web platform. The platform enables stakeholders to validate the results of our three subdomain models which show specific characteristics of urban deprived areas, presented in gridded citywide maps (“squared urban areas”). The grid shows how our model classified urban areas according to its predictions, which are based on characteristics of the areas. (An example of a model “classification” is a grid cell on the map which shows a small area in the city and labels it as having an irregular layout pattern of buildings. See the subdomain documentations for further detail).
The team from the University of Glasgow led activities to introduce the subdomains of deprivation and also described the process for validating model results through the web platform. After detailed demonstrations, stakeholders were divided into groups based on sector representation to complete the validation activity. Based on their local knowledge and lived experiences, stakeholders selected gridded areas of the city maps and indicated within the platform interface whether they agreed or disagreed with the classifications of urban areas shown on the map. (For example, if an area was labelled by the model as having an irregular layout pattern of buildings, stakeholders could respond saying they agreed or disagreed with that label). These responses were captured directly in the platform so that they can be used to improve the model’s accuracy.
