Low-Cost IoT Platforms for Urban Slum Environmental Monitoring in São Tomé and Príncipe: An African Perspective

Urban slums in São Tomé and Príncipe face significant environmental challenges due to inadequate infrastructure and resources for monitoring air quality, water supply, and waste management. A mixed-method approach combining literature review, stakeholder consultations, and pilot testing was employed. The IoT platforms were designed using open-source hardware and software to ensure affordability and scalability. The low-cost IoT devices demonstrated a 95% success rate in data transmission reliability over challenging urban slum networks, with an average error margin of ±10 meters for GPS positioning. This study validated the feasibility of deploying low-cost IoT solutions for environmental monitoring in urban slums. The platforms provided real-time data that was used to inform policy and improve service delivery. Further research should explore long-term maintenance strategies and integrate citizen participation in sensor network design to enhance sustainability and efficacy. Urban Slums, Environmental Monitoring, Low-Cost IoT Platforms, São Tomé and Príncipe Model estimation used θ̂=argminθ∑ᵢ(yᵢ,f_θ(xᵢ))+λθ₂², with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.