1001 Smart Cities
🇷🇼 Kigali

Kigali Master Plan Web GIS Portal

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 19 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

19 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

Kigali's zoning map tells you more than what your plot may become: it tells you which window it is due to change in. For 62.7% of the city's more than half a million parcels, that window falls after 2038.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Official
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byCity of Kigali (Construction and Urban Planning One Stop Centre)
Scale🏙️ City-wide

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,229 documented projects · 🏙️ 2 more in Kigali · 🗺️ GIS & cadastre guide · 📡 Data & IoT projects

The City of Kigali publishes its statutory land-use plan as a public web GIS in which more than half a million parcels each carry a zone, an implementation phase and the time window in which that change is due. The city's Construction and Urban Planning One Stop Centre, which issues building permits, is tasked with implementing the plan. After residential areas were reportedly converted into zones for bars, hotels and commercial buildings against the plan, the infrastructure ministry suspended conditional land-use permits in July 2025; by July 2026 a One Stop Centre could issue one only after the Rwanda Housing Authority gave a no-objection. It is a maintained system rather than an archive — the parcel layer was last refreshed on 22 September 2026 — but the app the city links for residents runs on a copy without the Unique Parcel Identifier, and no licence is stated for the data. A peer-reviewed interview study attributes Kigali's expropriation-driven transformation to the master plan, with displaced households reporting compensation too low to afford a similar home elsewhere in the city.

Live 📅 since 2020

📊 Impact

554,517 parcels across all three City of Kigali districts are in the public layer, and all but 277 carry a zone designation, an implementation phase and a time window; 347,779 of them (62.7%) sit in phases dated 2038-2050, and 10,201 are flagged as lying partly in wetland. Phase 1's window, 2018-2024, has already expired and is still shown as 2018-2024. Figures read directly from the portal's own public feature service on 27 September 2026; the parcel data itself was last updated on 22 September 2026.

🎓 Lesson

A zoning map at parcel resolution makes the state's intentions unusually legible, and legibility cuts both ways: the same map that tells an owner what may be built also dates their neighbourhood's rebuilding, and the first phase window has already lapsed without the schedule being redrawn. Where the portal stops being legible is just as instructive — the public app runs on a copy with the parcel identifier removed, and the data carries no licence at all.

📡 Data & IoTGIS & cadastreOpen dataDigital government

Sources

↗ City of Kigali GIS Portal (operator)The city's ArcGIS portal, public. It lists the resident app 'Kigali Web Masterplan 2020 - public app' ('without UPI information'), its web map 'Masterplan 2020 - no UPI' (parcels linked from LAIS, the national land administration system), and master-plan map services updated 18 March and 22 April 2026. No licence is stated on any public item; the map services credit 'Kigali City Council, Republic of Rwanda'.
↗ City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)The public parcel layer behind the resident app. Read on 27 September 2026: 554,517 parcels (Gasabo 308,658, Kicukiro 146,341, Nyarugenge 99,518); Phase-1 'Year 2018-2024' 31,247, Phase-2 71,234, Phase-3 103,980, Phase-4 'Year 2038-2045' 174,232, Phase-5 'Year 2045-2050' 173,547, 277 without a phase; 10,201 with an area in wetland; all records last updated 22 September 2026. The layer has no parcel-identifier field. Counts change with each refresh (557,949 parcels on 7 August 2026).
↗ City of Kigali — 'City of Kigali Launches New Master Plan 2050'Carries the launch date of the current plan, 4 September 2020, and names the two portal addresses residents are pointed to (masterplan2020.kigalicity.gov.rw and masterplan.kigalicity.gov.rw/portal/home/) — the basis for yearStart 2020. Also the source for the zoning simplification: commercial zones cut from nine to three, residential from seven to five, plus overlay zones.
↗ City of Kigali — Construction and Urban Planning One Stop CentreThe city unit that issues building permits; its roles include building-permit issuance and implementing the Kigali Master Plan. The page still points to the viewer of the earlier plan at masterplan2013.kigalicity.gov.rw.
↗ The New Times (Rwanda), 29 July 2026 — conditional land-use permitsCarries the enforcement chain: the Ministry of Infrastructure suspended conditional land-use permits in July 2025 because 'some residential areas were reportedly being converted into zones for bars and liquor stores, hotels, commercial buildings and other developments that deviated from the objectives of the master plan'; the suspension was lifted only once 'Conditional Land Use Permits are issued only after the OSC obtains a No Objection from the Rwanda Housing Authority'. Applications still run through the City of Kigali One Stop Centre.
Show 1 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Baffoe, Manirakiza & Uwayezu, Urban Forum (2024) — peer-reviewedPublished 22 May 2024The counterweight. Qualitative study, 21 in-depth interviews across Gasabo, Nyarugenge and Kicukiro, snowball sample — not a representative survey, and the entry therefore quotes no percentage from it. States: 'Expropriation has been responsible for the current urban transformation in Kigali, through the implementation of the Master Plan crafted in 2013 and revised in 2019.' Interviewees report compensation below replacement value: 'the compensation I received was not sufficient...I was obliged to migrate towards the peri-urban area.'
Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 19 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 19 addressable claims, 6 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 19

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-e9c871a60df34145 descriptive
The City of Kigali publishes its statutory land-use plan as a public web GIS
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The portal describes itself as the 'City of Kigali GIS Portal' with public access; the city's launch notice points residents to it for the Master Plan 2050.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali GIS Portal (operator)
  2. City of Kigali — 'City of Kigali Launches New Master Plan 2050'
Claim 2 clm-d9c907c359a051cc quantitative
more than half a million parcels each carry a zone, an implementation phase and the time window in which that change is due
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The public parcel layer holds 554,517 parcels with the fields main_zoning, phase and implementation_year (e.g. 'Year 2024-2031'); 277 records have no zone or phase. Counted by querying the layer's public REST endpoint (returnCountOnly / group-by statistics) on 27 September 2026; the figure is a query result, not text printed on the page, so no verbatim locator exists.
Caveat
A small number of parcels (277 on 27 September 2026) carry no zone or phase.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 3 clm-4a144c36240fd72a descriptive
The city's Construction and Urban Planning One Stop Centre, which issues building permits, is tasked with implementing the plan
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The city's One Stop Centre page lists quick building-permit issuance among its roles and says it is tasked with implementing the Kigali Master Plan.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — Construction and Urban Planning One Stop Centre
Claim 4 clm-82d8cd4a85e1c986 quantitative
After residential areas were reportedly converted into zones for bars, hotels and commercial buildings against the plan, the infrastructure ministry suspended conditional land-use permits in July 2025
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The New Times, 29 July 2026: the Ministry of Infrastructure temporarily suspended conditional land-use permits in July 2025 because some residential areas were reportedly being converted into zones for bars, hotels and commercial buildings that deviated from the master plan.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. The New Times (Rwanda), 29 July 2026 — conditional land-use permits
Claim 5 clm-2434910e35e9cf4d quantitative
by July 2026 a One Stop Centre could issue one only after the Rwanda Housing Authority gave a no-objection
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The same report quotes the ministry: applications still run through the District and City of Kigali One Stop Centres, but conditional land-use permits are issued only after the centre obtains a no-objection from the Rwanda Housing Authority.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. The New Times (Rwanda), 29 July 2026 — conditional land-use permits
Claim 6 clm-ea09476b4ca3a1cc quantitative
the parcel layer was last refreshed on 22 September 2026
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Every record in the public layer carries last_updated_on = 22 September 2026 (read 27 September 2026); the layer is refreshed repeatedly, earlier dates were 16 July 2026. Counted by querying the layer's public REST endpoint (returnCountOnly / group-by statistics) on 27 September 2026; the figure is a query result, not text printed on the page, so no verbatim locator exists.
Caveat
The date moves with each refresh.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 7 clm-8b7069aca6c94932 descriptive
the app the city links for residents runs on a copy without the Unique Parcel Identifier
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The city's launch notice links masterplan2020.kigalicity.gov.rw, which redirects to the portal item 'Kigali Web Masterplan 2020 - public app', described as 'Web application for the Kigali City Master Plan 2020 without UPI information'; its web map is titled 'Masterplan 2020 - no UPI', and the public parcel layer has no upi field.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali GIS Portal (operator)
  2. City of Kigali — 'City of Kigali Launches New Master Plan 2050'
  3. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 8 clm-b1eabc912f47bf0d descriptive
no licence is stated for the data
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The portal's public items for the app, web map and parcel layers leave the licence field empty; the map services name 'Kigali City Council, Republic of Rwanda' only as credit. The licence field is an empty metadata value, which cannot be highlighted as text.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali GIS Portal (operator)
Claim 9 clm-5cf2254f84748582 descriptive
A peer-reviewed interview study attributes Kigali's expropriation-driven transformation to the master plan
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Baffoe, Manirakiza & Uwayezu (Urban Forum, 2024): expropriation 'has been responsible for the current urban transformation in Kigali, through the implementation of the Master Plan crafted in 2013 and revised in 2019'. Based on 21 in-depth interviews, not a representative survey.
Caveat
The study refers to the plan of 2013 as revised in 2019 and rests on 21 interviews.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Baffoe, Manirakiza & Uwayezu, Urban Forum (2024) — peer-reviewed
Claim 10 clm-90edce6aaf05c2f9 descriptive
with displaced households reporting compensation too low to afford a similar home elsewhere in the city
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Interviewees report compensation below market value; one Gasabo respondent could not afford a similar house in any other urban neighbourhood and moved to the peri-urban area.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Baffoe, Manirakiza & Uwayezu, Urban Forum (2024) — peer-reviewed
Claim 11 clm-ddaf8dafbec0f233 quantitative
554,517 parcels across all three City of Kigali districts are in the public layer
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Count 554,517; by district Gasabo 308,658, Kicukiro 146,341, Nyarugenge 99,518, which sum exactly — the layer covers the City of Kigali and nothing else. Counted by querying the layer's public REST endpoint (returnCountOnly / group-by statistics) on 27 September 2026; the figure is a query result, not text printed on the page, so no verbatim locator exists.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 12 clm-2df6a3d89fe971ca quantitative
all but 277 carry a zone designation, an implementation phase and a time window
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
273 records have null zoning and phase, 4 are marked 'Phase-None' with no window. Counted by querying the layer's public REST endpoint (returnCountOnly / group-by statistics) on 27 September 2026; the figure is a query result, not text printed on the page, so no verbatim locator exists.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 13 clm-7543d36e9d26a07f quantitative
347,779 of them (62.7%) sit in phases dated 2038-2050
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Phase-4 (Year 2038-2045) 174,232 plus Phase-5 (Year 2045-2050) 173,547 = 347,779 of 554,517. Counted by querying the layer's public REST endpoint (returnCountOnly / group-by statistics) on 27 September 2026; the figure is a query result, not text printed on the page, so no verbatim locator exists.
Caveat
The percentage is our division of two counts from the layer.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 14 clm-a6357fff98f7aa74 quantitative
10,201 are flagged as lying partly in wetland
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
10,201 records have a non-null area_in_wetland value (18,252 when read on 7 August 2026 — the flag changes with refreshes). Counted by querying the layer's public REST endpoint (returnCountOnly / group-by statistics) on 27 September 2026; the figure is a query result, not text printed on the page, so no verbatim locator exists.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 15 clm-505da5462b1a760a quantitative
Phase 1's window, 2018-2024, has already expired and is still shown as 2018-2024
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
31,247 parcels remain in Phase-1 with implementation_year 'Year 2018-2024' in the layer refreshed on 22 September 2026.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 16 clm-7af17f4ec681417f quantitative
the parcel data itself was last updated on 22 September 2026
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Every record carries last_updated_on = 22 September 2026. Counted by querying the layer's public REST endpoint (returnCountOnly / group-by statistics) on 27 September 2026; the figure is a query result, not text printed on the page, so no verbatim locator exists.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 17 clm-0c8824260fe3e491 descriptive
the first phase window has already lapsed without the schedule being redrawn
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Phase-1 is still labelled 'Year 2018-2024' after the September 2026 refresh.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data)
Claim 18 clm-04d3e96642071a33 descriptive
the public app runs on a copy with the parcel identifier removed
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The public app is described in the portal as the master-plan application 'without UPI information'; its web map is 'Masterplan 2020 - no UPI'.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali GIS Portal (operator)
Claim 19 clm-239bfd259c0f2c32 descriptive
the data carries no licence at all
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The licence field of the public portal items is empty. The licence field is an empty metadata value, which cannot be highlighted as text.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Kigali GIS Portal (operator)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-09-27-baseline-popular effective 2026-09-27 · created 2026-09-27

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:8d537efb99cac262139bebcb684fa847e28fa2731cae435a438e8a5b5bbb842a
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
19
of 19 claims mapped
6
source dossiers
2
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
City of Kigali (Construction and Urban Planning One Stop Centre)
Actor types
city-government
Funding model
public
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

6 source dossiers

City of Kigali GIS Portal (operator) masterplan.kigalicity.gov.rw · 5 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-36844db68d779f42
Publisher
Name not classified · masterplan.kigalicity.gov.rw
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The city's ArcGIS portal, public. It lists the resident app 'Kigali Web Masterplan 2020 - public app' ('without UPI information'), its web map 'Masterplan 2020 - no UPI' (parcels linked from LAIS, the national land administration system), and master-plan map services updated 18 March and 22 April 2026. No licence is stated on any public item; the map services credit 'Kigali City Council, Republic of Rwanda'.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
City of Kigali — public parcel/zoning feature service (operator data) masterplan.kigalicity.gov.rw · 10 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-dfe55512e0c97f97
Publisher
Name not classified · masterplan.kigalicity.gov.rw
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The public parcel layer behind the resident app. Read on 27 September 2026: 554,517 parcels (Gasabo 308,658, Kicukiro 146,341, Nyarugenge 99,518); Phase-1 'Year 2018-2024' 31,247, Phase-2 71,234, Phase-3 103,980, Phase-4 'Year 2038-2045' 174,232, Phase-5 'Year 2045-2050' 173,547, 277 without a phase; 10,201 with an area in wetland; all records last updated 22 September 2026. The layer has no parcel-identifier field. Counts change with each refresh (557,949 parcels on 7 August 2026).

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
City of Kigali — 'City of Kigali Launches New Master Plan 2050' kigalicity.gov.rw · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-c5b307dc0be63c3d
Publisher
Name not classified · kigalicity.gov.rw
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Carries the launch date of the current plan, 4 September 2020, and names the two portal addresses residents are pointed to (masterplan2020.kigalicity.gov.rw and masterplan.kigalicity.gov.rw/portal/home/) — the basis for yearStart 2020. Also the source for the zoning simplification: commercial zones cut from nine to three, residential from seven to five, plus overlay zones.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
City of Kigali — Construction and Urban Planning One Stop Centre kigalicity.gov.rw · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-5f678d44ed7922c6
Publisher
Name not classified · kigalicity.gov.rw
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The city unit that issues building permits; its roles include building-permit issuance and implementing the Kigali Master Plan. The page still points to the viewer of the earlier plan at masterplan2013.kigalicity.gov.rw.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
The New Times (Rwanda), 29 July 2026 — conditional land-use permits newtimes.co.rw · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-25ec63c242775713
Publisher
Name not classified · newtimes.co.rw
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-07-29
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Carries the enforcement chain: the Ministry of Infrastructure suspended conditional land-use permits in July 2025 because 'some residential areas were reportedly being converted into zones for bars and liquor stores, hotels, commercial buildings and other developments that deviated from the objectives of the master plan'; the suspension was lifted only once 'Conditional Land Use Permits are issued only after the OSC obtains a No Objection from the Rwanda Housing Authority'. Applications still run through the City of Kigali One Stop Centre.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Baffoe, Manirakiza & Uwayezu, Urban Forum (2024) — peer-reviewed pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-186170e0aaac0bf5
Publisher
Name not classified · pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-05-22
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The counterweight. Qualitative study, 21 in-depth interviews across Gasabo, Nyarugenge and Kicukiro, snowball sample — not a representative survey, and the entry therefore quotes no percentage from it. States: 'Expropriation has been responsible for the current urban transformation in Kigali, through the implementation of the Master Plan crafted in 2013 and revised in 2019.' Interviewees report compensation below replacement value: 'the compensation I received was not sufficient...I was obliged to migrate towards the peri-urban area.'

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇮🇳 GEPTIS: Bengaluru's Geospatial Property Tax Map · Bengaluru Both put every parcel on a public map. Bengaluru mapped plots to widen the tax base; Kigali maps when each may be rebuilt. 🇰🇪 Map Kibera — Residents Surveying an Informal Settlement into OpenStreetMap · Nairobi Two ways a settlement gets mapped: Kibera's residents surveyed themselves onto the map; Kigali's plan gives each plot a zone and a decade. 🇧🇷 SABREN: Rio's Municipal Register of Favelas · Rio de Janeiro Rio's register documents informal settlements as they are; Kigali's parcel map records instead what each plot is scheduled to become.

The same parcel map, four different jobs

A city-scale property layer looks like a technical artefact and behaves like a political one. These four were built to do quite different things to the people inside the polygons.

ProjectSinceStatusOutcomeEvidenceRun byCostWhat the map does to you
Mapa de Manaus: Resurveying a Property Register Frozen Since 2010Manaus, 🇧🇷 2019 Completed Succeeded Official City government not public Remeasures you. Residents told the press their bills had doubled, tripled or quadrupled — the rate had not risen, only the recorded area.
GEPTIS: Bengaluru's Geospatial Property Tax MapBengaluru, 🇮🇳 2016 Live Ongoing Media City government not public Colour-codes you by payment status. Mapping alone did not widen the tax net; enforcement came later, with door-to-door surveys and drones.
Kigali Master Plan Web GIS PortalKigali, 🇷🇼 2020 Live Ongoing Official City government not public Dates you. Every parcel carries the seven-year window in which its neighbourhood is due to be rebuilt.
SABREN: Rio's Municipal Register of FavelasRio de Janeiro, 🇧🇷 1990 Live Ongoing Official City government not public Recognises you, and can be used against you: the same polygon that guides service planning also carries the risk-area reports used to justify demolitions.

Explore the wider context

🏙️ Urban digital twins compared📖 Open data📖 Urban data platform (UDP)📖 Building performance standard (BPS)
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Kigali Master Plan Web GIS Portal” — Kigali, Rwanda. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/kigali-master-plan-portal/ (last verified 2026-09-27). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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