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In May 2005, the government of Zimbabwe began a campaign it called Operation
Murambatsvina (translated alternately as Operation Restore Order or Drive Out
Trash). Government forces had been demolishing homes and businesses in what
it claims to be illegal settlements and black market areas, many of which have
been in place for decades. Opposition forces and human rights organizations
say that President Robert Mugabe and the ruling Zanu-PF party's real aim is
to retaliate against residents of urban areas, which have been voting for the
opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in recent elections.
According to U.N. estimates, the homes of around 700,000 people were demolished,
and further, the demolitions have affected at least 2.4 million people across
Zimbabwe through deprivation of housing, work, food, water, or education.
Amnesty International requested assistance from the AAAS to document incidents in
four communities - Porta Farm, Hatcliffe, Chitungwiza, and Killarney - affected by the campaign. Porta Farm,
Hatcliffe, and Chitungwiza are located in close proximity to the capital, Harare, while Killarney
is located in the southwestern portion of the country (see Figure 1). AAAS analyzed satellite
images of these communities, covering approximately 256 square kilometers, and found
that more than 5,000 structures were removed.
Figure 1: Zimbabwe Case Study Locations
AAAS obtained images of the areas taken by the QuickBird satellite
operated by Digital Globe.
Specifically, AAAS acquired 'before' (2004) and 'after' (after May 2005) images of
Hatcliffe, Chitzungwiza, and Killarney from the
Digital Globe archives via the MapMart company. In the case of
Porta Farm, AAAS acquired one 2002 image from the Digital Globe archives, but no suitable archive
image of Porta Farm was available for the period following Operation Murambatsvina.
In March, 2006, AAAS ordered a current image from MapMart of the area. QuickBird captured a
useable image of Porta Farm for this study in May 2006. The Hatcliffe images were $433 each (($866),
the Chitungwiza images were $350 each ($700), the Killarney images were $325 each ($650) and the Porta
Farms images were $325 for the archival image and $1792 for the special ordered image. Overall cost
for acquiring images was $4,358 (US).
The QuickBird satellite carries a multispectral sensor measuring reflected electromagnetic radiation
in the red, green, blue, and near-infrared wavelengths. Its spatial resolution is about 0.65 meters
for the panchromatic product, making it suitable for assessing individual structures as small as a
few meters on a side. It has a nominal overpass frequency of three days, though in practice about
one image every two weeks seems to be the most that can be expected. As with any spectral sensor it cannot
penetrate clouds, somewhat degrading its availability.
The QuickBird images were obtained in GeoTIFF format and imported into
ERDAS Imagine for viewing. Following importation into ERDAS,
subsets showing just the four study areas were extracted. Project staff visually analyzed
the 'before' images to determine the approximate number of structures removed from each community. The
'before' images were loaded in the GIS software ArcView
and individual visible structures were counted. Dimensions of the settlements and their structures
were also measured.
All the satellite imagery used by AAAS to analyze Zimbabwe is available online using the free software
Google Earth that allows for layering of
information (requiresGoogle Earth Release 4 or later version). Project staff produced these
visualization layers using the regionator code
made available through Google.
Zimbabwe Google Earth Layers:
http://www.aaas.org/international/geotech/ge/zimbabwe.kml
One of the biggest challenges project staff faced was to find the precise geographic coordinates of locations in question.
A large city such as Chitungwiza is not difficult to find, but smaller settlements may not appear on any
known map or may be named the same as another formal settlement that does appear on a map of the area.
Project staff overcame this by making custom maps, overlaid with grids, and emailed these to
Zimbabweans who then provided specific locations based on the maps. In the case of Porta Farm,
locals provided driving directions which staff translated into map coordinates. Much of this information
gathering work was performed before project staff had satellite imagery to work with as the coordinates
were necessary in order to obtain commercial satellite images.
In addition, there are several challenges inherit in using commercial satellite imagery for an analysis such as
this one. Imagery may not exist in archives, thus a new image will need to be ordered, as in the Porta Farm
case, which is more costly. Obtaining a useable new image may also take time due to weather
in the targeted area. QuickBird captured a Porta Farm image on April 6, 2006, but cloud cover obscured
the geographic features. The satellite captured a clearer image for AAAS on May 12, 2006. Also,
acquired imagery may not cover an entire area that you might wish to study. In the case of Killarney,
the images obtained may not cover the entire southern portion of the informal settlement there. Further,
the small size of some of the structures, particularly small backyard homes measuring
four meters on a side, can make counting of structures a labor intensive process.
AAAS analyzed eight satellite images, covering approximately 256 square kilometers,
and found that more than 5,000 structures were removed from Porta Farm, Hatcliffe,
Chitungwiza and Killarney. Specific images and results for the four communities are as follows. The
characteristics for each image, such as specific coordinates, time of acquisition, size of area,
catalogue identification number used by the satellite vendor, and cost, are provided in
Appendix A.
Porta Farm, Zimbabwe lay to the west of Harare, between Lake McIlwane and Lake
Chivero and off the main Harare-Bulawayo road. Before its destruction in late June 2005, the settlement
was about 1000 meters long and 250 meters wide and comprised of about 850 structures,
three main roads, and numerous side streets. The 2002 image of Porta Farm was loaded in ArcView GIS
and project staff counted 870 individual visible structures. The size of structures varied quite
widely, with small structures measuring 4 meters on a side and larger structures measuring up to
40 square meters and more. Figure 2 shows the destruction of the Porta Farm settlement. This
image set was published on 31 May, 2006, as central evidence in a report,
"Shattered Lives: The Case of Porta Farm."
Figure 3 provides detail of the structure count.
Figure 2: Porta Farm Before and After Operation Murambatsvina
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
Detail of Porta Farm, Zimbabwe, a settlement of more than 850 buildings and
as many as 10,000 people when the satellite photo (left) was taken on 22 June 2002.
The second image (right), taken 6 April 2006, shows the settlement has been
leveled. The significant difference in color between the images is due to seasonality.
Figure 3: Porta Farm Structure Count
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
The Porta Farm settlement on 6 April 2006 with center points of 870 destroyed structures in red.
Hatcliffe was and is an informal settlement to the north of Harare, lying
west of a formal town with the same name. According to Amnesty International,
Hatcliffe was destroyed in June 2005 as part of Operation Murambatsvina. Prior to June 2005, the
settlement was about 1637 meters long and 1036 meters wide and comprised of
about 700 structures and numerous streets. The satellite imagery in Figure 4 clearly shows
the settlement in 2004 while the 2005 image shows most homes removed. AAAS
analysis found that approximately 764 structures were apparently removed. Fuller before and after
images of Hatcliffe are shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6.
In addition, an undetermined number of so called 'backyard' structures were also possibly
removed from throughout the formal town of Hatcliffe. [For an illustration of the removal of backyard
structures, see the imagery from Chitungwiza, below.]
Figure 4: Hatcliffe Before and After Operation Murambatsvina
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© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
A subset of the high-resolution satellite imagery of the Hatcliffe settlement
in Zimbabwe. The left hand image is from 14 May 2004 and the right hand image is
from 2 September 2005.
Figure 5: Hatcliffe, 14 May 2004.
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 6: Hatcliffe, 2 September 2005.
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
In addition to the structures destroyed in Hatcliffe, 875 homes were destroyed
in North Hatcliffe, a suburb two kilometers north of the main area of Hatcliffe.
Before the destruction, North Hatcliffe was about 1110 meters long and 350 meters
wide, containing about 900 structures. Figure 7 illustrates the structure count in
North Hatcliffe.
Figure 7: North Hatcliffe Structure Count
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
Image of North Hatcliffe settlement on 2 September 2005 with center points of 875 destroyed structures.
Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe is south of Harare, and covers an area approximately
3 km long by 2 km wide. In June 2005, as part of Operation Murambatsvina, the
city witnessed widespread demolition of homes. Figure 8 compares an image from August 25, 2004
with one from June 22, 2005. In total, analysis of the satellite imagery indicates that 2470 structures
were removed during Operation Murambatsvina. Figure 9 and Figure 10 are larger scale
before and after images. Unlike in the cases of Hatcliffe and Porta Farm,
the majority of destroyed structures were 'backyard' homes, homes built on small patches
of land leased to renters by owners of larger, permitted structures. While the overwhelming majority
of removed structures were backyard homes, at least a dozen larger structures were removed from marketplaces
as well. Figure 11 illustrates the structure count.
Figure 8: Chitungwiza Before and After Operation Murambatsvina.
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© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
A subset of the high-resolution satellite imagery of the Chitungwiza settlement
in Zimbabwe. Backyard homes are visible in the left-hand image from 25 August 2004 and
are the smaller structures found on the periphery and in the alleys of larger
structures, which are absent from the right-hand image taken 22 June 2005.
The possible marketplace seen in the before image is absent from the after image.
Figure 9: Chitungwiza, 25 August 2004.
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 10: Chitungwiza, 22 June 2005.
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 11: Chitungwiza Structure Count
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
Chitungwiza on 22 June 2005 with center points of the 2470 removed structures.
According to Amnesty International the informal settlement at Killarney, a
suburb East of Bulawayo, laying also to the east of a formal town with the same
name, was destroyed in June 2005. Prior to June 2005, the settlement was about
3000 meters north to south and 1600 meters east to west. It was comprised of
about 486 structures, numerous streets, and agricultural plots. Figure 12 depicts the settlement
in August 2004 and in September 2005, clearly showing most homes removed. Based on analysis approximately
all 486 homes were apparently removed. Figure 13 illustrates the structure count.
Figure 12: Killarney Before and After Operation Murambatsvina
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
A subset of the high resolution satellite imagery of Killarney settlement. The left hand image
was taken 22 August 2004, the right hand image taken 7 September 2005. 486 structures were removed.
Figure 13: Killarney Structure Count
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved.
After image of Killarney on 7 September 2005 with center points of 486 removed structures.
Amnesty uses the images and analysis from this study for reporting purposes and as supporting documentation
for lawsuits being filed by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), based in Harare. The imagery
was submitted by ZLHR to the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights. Also, some researchers in
Zimbabwe have begun using satellite imagery to study agricultural productivity.
Please see Appendix A: Zimbabwe Imagery
Characteristics for specifics on images used in this case study.
For more on ground imagery in Zimbabwe, see the Amnesty International/Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights report, Shattered
Lives: The Case of Porta Farm (March 2006), and the attending Amnesty
press release.
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(page updated 09/25/2007)
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