How topology helps bring urbanization in slums?

The movement of citizens from farms to cities over the past years is the largest and fastest urbanization in the history of the world, by far.

Urban planning is crucial to the urbanization process. Many experts believe that in order to make the urbanization process develop smoothly, cities need to plan an efficient, livable and environment-friendly plan in the coming years.

The movement of citizens from farms to cities over the past years is the largest and fastest urbanization in the history of the world, by far. These people live in slums and are left behind this development aspect known as urbanism. The slums in the world not only lack substantial public spaces but also easy traveling roads. 

The importance of public spaces in urban life is a relevant subject from ancient Greece to the present day. The possibilities of meeting and debate in these spaces are able to influence the way in which the inhabitants participate in the development of their cities, counting on larger spaces available to all.

Lack of connectivity with the outside world leads to many problems such as people living in slums can get to their work and reach to hospitals when an emergency arises. But the scientists have now come up with a new urban planning method picked from a mathematical approach known as 'Topology', rather than as simple illustrations of spatial arrangements of roads and intersections.

When planning development of slums, topology involves dividing slums into components like homes and stores and access network that links them that is Nodes and connections. This all-new approach is used in two slums of South Africa's city of Cape Town.

These slums provide water, toilets, electricity, and sanitation-related services where road access exists whereas in the inner parts it consists of schools, temples. In this study, scientists used satellite data and detailed maps handmade by locals to diagrams, all the nodes, and connections of the settlement.

Scientists then used their topological algorithm to figure out which areas of slums were inaccessible by roads and generated the most cost-effective ways to build them and connect them to many services.

In topology, since one block of a building surrounded by roads is considered equivalent, settlements with a wide range of shapes and sizes, from the suburbs of Las Vegas to the slums of Mumbai, can be seen in the same way.

The scientist who designed the program hopes to come up with a user-friendly interface that can be used by communities around the world because involving communities plays a major role as it gives them the power of decision making to prioritize their need from the proposed plan.

Urbanization throughout the cities like cape town is one example where an increasing population is an issue. In order to make the bright side of such mobility a reality, the problems to be solved still vary.