In 2021, the UK national mapping agency Ordnance Survey (OS) supported the creation of an automated, digital base map of Lusaka in Zambia to optimise urban planning and avoid problems caused by unplanned urbanisation. The base map was created from aerial imagery, using machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to look for and label features such as roofed structures, natural surfaces, roads, trees and water.
“Applying these digital maps enables the Zambian government to better plan their investment in critical public infrastructure and services such as sanitation and health facilities,” explains OS in a statement. Now, the AI-capable base map has been in use for a year and has “unlocked new capabilities in geospatial analysis to support policy planning and decisions”. It is also “informing both the urban housing policy and climate change adaptation issues”, writes OS.
According to OS, developing this scalable and adaptable base map could support other countries in their growth and development. “Our creation of a scalable, replicable, digital base map (…) provides crucial information on aspects such as population and density, the number of built structures, the location of infrastructure including water and energy supplies. To better target investment. To improve the application and development of services. And to help improve people’s lives,” it writes.
