Marginal populations are those populations that are often overlooked by government, dependent upon non-governmental aid, and lack access to basic resources such as water, food, shelter, and security. However, these groups are increasingly included in partnerships to map their resources (or lack thereof), develop basic applications in geospatial data collection, and devise innovative approaches to participatory mapping using geospatial technologies to address local and regional problems. Rapid technological changes and increased access to mobile geospatial tools enhance data creation efforts to map marginal populations and identify their needs. However, such mapping activities reveal fundamental inequities in collecting, disseminating, and visualizing spatial data. This chapter defines marginal populations and provides an overview of data needs, geospatial tools, and ethical obligations necessary for these partnerships.
Humanitarian mapping has become a growing field since its initial success during the Haiti Earthquake in 2010. The emergence of Web 2.0 and the geospatial Web allowed nonprofessionals to contribute to platforms like OpenStreetMap to assist in disaster relief and present first responders, humanitarian aid, and governments with the data needed to make informed decisions. Preemptive efforts have also been made to map the missing places of the world to increase the visibility of communities that have little to no base map available and are overlooked by governments and humanitarian aid. This has stemmed from ethical questions regarding the underrepresentation of the global South due to most humanitarian aid contributors residing in the global North on platforms such as OpenStreetMap. The recent integration of big data and artificial intelligence has shown great potential in the ability to process larger amounts of data at a faster rate. However, there are still ethical concerns and implications regarding the algorithms and modeling. This chapter covers the origins of humanitarian mapping, its progression over the last decade, the organizations at the forefront of innovation in the field, and the ethical implications that must be considered when shaping the directives of humanitarian mapping.