Hello Kayode,

maybe HOTOSM (Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team) can provide such data.

Populated places: https://data.humdata.org/dataset/hotosm_zaf_populated_places

Buildings: https://data.humdata.org/dataset/hotosm_zaf_buildings

HTH,

Ákos

You could also try the DIVA GIS administrative files (see the link below)

http://www.diva-gis.org/gdata

in addition, Google Maps (or OpenStreet Map) would help you to geolocate some of the informal settlements..

I could perhaps give a better answer if one knew what your particular definition of 'informal settlement' meant in the particular context. But here are some I have found useful. And it is well worth poking around via those sites to more region specific projects.

GHSL - Global Human Settlement Layer: https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/datasets.php

Urban-TEP: https://urban-tep.eu/#!pages/dataservices

GADM https://gadm.org/data.html ( any given area of the world may have lineage / quality issues )

NGIA GeoNames ( your mileage may vary ): https://geonames.nga.mil/namesgaz/

You also need to read carefully the terms and conditions of services like Google Maps and even OSM, especially if you are publishing your research.

I have explored the links provided by @ Ákos Bede-Fazekas @Samuel Akande Michael John Patrick. They contain rich repositories of urban and populated places data but not informal settlement data in South Africa in particular. All the same, I quite appreciate all who have responded to my question, while I still look forward to getting suggestions on where to find informal settlement data in South Africa.

If you would define 'informal settlements' in your specific context, we may be of more help.

Globally, they can be refugee camps, favelas, migrant worker encampments, artisanal mining camps, seasonal hunting and fishing gathering spots, or pretty much any area or place where normal governmental administrative recognition does not exist, or that doesn't coincide with normal census statistical areas and processes. Once you have a any sort of definition, one can then use these datasets to delineate the areas. You would also find it useful to rigorously delve into the documentation, because these global datasets were created to address the sorts of settlements I mentioned above because, although they fall through the cracks ( or are 'inconvenient' for national censuses, the have a huge impact of environmental, economic, health, and population addressing issues relating to, for example, climate change.

Perhaps give some examples ( with lat / long extents ) of what you would regard as an 'informal settlement', and what characteristics make it different than a 'formal settlement'. And who is saying what is formal or informal?

How these are handled vary considerably country by country - the US Census ( arguably the best in the world ) has 'formalized' informal settlements with the category 'census designated place', such as colonias ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_(United_States) ).

NGOs sometimes have their own definitions to facilitate health programs and gather statistics aligned with their programs. Consider the phrase ' informal settlement data' - if there is data, then it had to be collected by someone, divided into boundaries, according to some protocol and criteria and according to some sort of schema.

"Data is the representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by humans or by automatic means, and is concerned with the encoding of information for repeatability, meaning, and proceduralized use." ( from https://dodcio.defense.gov/Library/DoD-Architecture-Framework/dodaf20_info_data/ ).

*Another common meeting for 'informal places' is neighborhoods and districts which residents self-identify with extremely porous boundaries.

Just as a note, last year, I did a QA on the smallest 'No Named' populated places, a random sample, several hundred sprinkled across all continents, and like this one is South Africa, were only a sprinkle of holdings, one was a couple of buildings on an abandoned Soviet arctic airfield, another a couple of canoes on a beach. One had no discernible structures - but examination of night time satellite imagery showed hundreds of trucks and caravans, their combined headlights triggering the sensors - place on a route where washouts and bridge failures were common, and abckedup traffic accumulated for days.

@Michael John Patrick Thank you for your interest in finding an answer to my question. Generally, informal settlements are unserviced or poorly serviced, housing areas, having houses built with sub-standard materials, usually part of a bigger urban centre, that are often illegally built on municipal land. In South Africa, these settlements are otherwise called 'shacks'; are found in a variety of areas and are home to a large percentage of the country's impoverished population. Elsewhere, What I need is spatial data showing the locations of these dwellings. I hope my explanation sheds more light on the meaning of informal settlement. I look forward to getting feedback from you.