Madagascar - Settlement Patterns

This dataset was developed by KTH-dESA and describes settlement patterns relating to electrification in Madagascar. Using the Open Source Spatial Electrification Tool three attributes have been assigned to the settlements retrieved from the Madagascar High Resolution Settlement Layer developed by Facebook Connectivity Lab and CIESIN [1]. The three attributes are as follows:

  • Urban or rural status. The urban cutoff level, i.e. the minimum population density per square kilometer, has been calculated so that the urban population matches the official statistics of 35 % in 2015 [2]. The urban cutoff level was calculated to be 683 people/km2, meaning that all settlements above this value are considered urban.

  • The number of households in the settlements by 2030. Based on the urban or rural status the future population for the settlements have been estimated by applying a population growth rate to match future population projections according to [3] and [4]. The number of households 2030 have then been calculated using the epected urban and rural household sizes by 2030 of 3.7 and 4.4 people per household respectively [5].

  • Modeled household electrification status in 2015 (1 if the household in the cell are considered electrified by the national grid, 2 if electrified by mini-grids and 0 if non-electrified). The algorithm in OnSSET determines which household are likely to be electrified in 2015 to match the current electrification rate of 15% [6], based on meeting certain conditions for night-time light (NTL), population density and distance to the grid and roads. For Madagascar the settlements were calculated to be electrified by the national grid (RI Antananarico, RI Toamasina and RI Fianarantsoa) if they a) where within 5 km from the grid and had a minimum population density of 2287 people/km2 or minimum NTL of 60 or b) within 10 km from the grid and had a minimum population density of 10000 people/km2 or by mini-grids if they c) had a population density above 3882 people/km2 and minimum NTL of 5 or maximum 20 kilometers to major roads.

[1] Facebook Connectivity Lab and Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University (2016). High Resolution Settlement Layer (HRSL). Source imagery for HRSL © 2016 DigitalGlobe https://energydata.info/dataset/madagascar-high-resolution-settlement-layer-2015

[2] United Nations - Economic Commission for Africa. The Demographic Profile of African Countries. (2016).

[3] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision. (2014).

[4] Unicef - division of data, research and policy. Generation 2030 | Africa. (2014).

[5] Mentis, D. et al. Lighting the World: the first application of an open source, spatial electrification tool (OnSSET) on Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental Research Letters. Vol. 12, nr 8. (2017).

[6] USAID. Power Africa in Madagascar | Power Africa | U.S. Agency for International Development. Available at: https://www.usaid.gov/powerafrica/madagascar. (2017).

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Source https://ciesin.columbia.edu/data/hrsl/
Last Updated March 23, 2018, 15:55 (UTC)
Created December 13, 2017, 13:15 (UTC)
Topic Demographics; Energy access
Country Madagascar
Region Africa
Coordinate Reference System Tananarive_1925_Paris_Laborde_Grid
Published year 2015