Spatial data for Gaza's recovery, built with the people who live there.
Gaza Places is an independent, research-driven community mapping initiative. We combine rigorous spatial data and analysis with the knowledge and stories of Gaza's residents, so recovery can be planned from evidence and meaning together: what was there, what remains, what people need, and what they want to rebuild.
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Why numbers and stories belong together
These numbers measure loss. We also map life.
These figures are essential, but they are mostly produced from satellite imagery and rarely return to the communities they describe.
Stories alone are dismissed as anecdote. Data alone erases people. We join the two: evidence that can be checked, read through the lives of those who know the place.
Grounded in critical geography
Mapping has never been neutral: who maps a place, and for whom, shapes what that place can become. Gaza Places reclaims mapping as a tool for memory, evidence and self-determination.
Geography is not only physical. It is also about ideas and forms, about “images and imaginings”.
The right to the city: people have the right not only to live in their city, but to shape it.
Three layers, one place
Our methodology reads Gaza in three layers, all aligned to the same place. Each pairs quantitative data with qualitative knowledge, and together they tell the full story. Select a layer to explore it.
Physical layer
What was here, and what remains?
Data and analysis
- 317,613 buildings in 193 neighbourhoods (OpenStreetMap contributors, 2026)
- About 600 municipal landmarks (Municipality of Gaza, n.d.)
- Building-use annotations from satellite imagery (Gaza Places, 2026b)
- Damage and functionality data (UNOSAT, 2025; UN-Habitat, 2026)
Stories and knowledge
- Heritage records: 268 historic buildings and 86 archaeological sites in the UNESCO-supported inventory (UN-Habitat, 2026)
- More than 120 Old City places documented with their histories
Social layer
What did places mean, and how do people live now?
Data and analysis
- Geotagged stories linked to buildings and neighbourhoods
- Displacement journeys traced across space and time
Stories and knowledge
- More than 265 stories in the Story Hub, in Arabic and English (Gaza Places, 2026a)
- Residents verify place names and uses that satellites cannot see
Visionary layer In development
What should be rebuilt, and how?
Data and analysis
- Neighbourhood evidence to inform priorities
- Recovery needs read against functionality and loss of urban function
Stories and knowledge
- Participatory reconstruction planning led by residents
- Local priorities, not external imposition
What we produce
By combining spatial data with residents’ knowledge, we create four kinds of outputs.
Neighbourhood profiles
Pre-war building uses, post-war functionality and residents' accounts, together in one place.
Loss of urban function
Which markets, schools, clinics and heritage sites each neighbourhood has lost, and what that means for daily life.
Heritage at risk
Inventory records, damage evidence and memories combined to support documentation and protection.
Community story maps
Residents’ stories and memories, geotagged to the places they describe and read alongside the data for each neighbourhood.
Our principles
Evidence with provenance
Every dataset and figure carries its source, date and method.
Responsible data
Data minimisation, anonymisation and informed consent. Sensitive stories are never pinned to identifiable homes.
Community verification
Residents can correct the record, and their contributions are credited.
Independent and locally run
Run by Palestinian professionals, with no affiliation to any political party, government or religious organisation.
Meaningful work for local graduates
Paid micro-work for new graduates in Gaza: financial support through meaningful work that builds skills and careers.
Arabic and English
Both languages, equal in every part of the platform.
References
- Gaza Places. (2026a). Story Hub [Community testimonies, geotagged].
- Gaza Places. (2026b). Gaza building annotations: Gaza City Centre and Old City [Unpublished dataset].
- Lefebvre, H. (1968). Le droit à la ville [The right to the city]. Anthropos.
- Municipality of Gaza. (n.d.). Landmarks and points of interest, Gaza City [Unpublished dataset].
- OpenStreetMap contributors. (2026). OpenStreetMap [Geospatial data, Open Database License]. Retrieved [extraction date].
- Said, E. W. (1993). Culture and imperialism. Alfred A. Knopf.
- UN-Habitat. (2026). Gaza urban profile 2026 (HS/001/26E). UN-Habitat Palestine Office.
- UNOSAT. (2025). [Damage assessment overview map of the Gaza Strip, imagery analysis of 11 October 2025] [Map]. United Nations Satellite Centre.
Map Gaza's life with us
Share data, stories or expertise. Every contribution is credited with its source and date.