Data Driven Cities: Three Dynamic Apps for Planning Resilient Cities

A primary theme of the event is that the use of geospatial data and technology can greatly facilitate the design and management of more resilient and sustainable urban areas. Urban planners and managers need to visualize data. Developing integrated maps from a range of data sets allows both practitioners and other stakeholders to visualize the characteristics of the city more easily. The creation of a dynamic map illustrates how various urban characteristics interact with each other and what the consequences of these interactions might be – now and in the future. This will result in better urban spatial planning and design alternatives.
A secondary, and related, theme is that enhanced collaboration between urban stakeholders (particularly at the neighborhood level) and urban professionals increases the sustainability of projects by creating local ownership of a project. Urban planners and managers need to communicate designs and plans, especially to citizens. Maps provide a common language for this collaboration between urban practitioners, government institutions and civil society. Being able to communicate more fully about an issue facilitates the likelihood that any solution/approach that is developed will be implemented successfully. The existence of a common visual language also allows participation by a broader group of stakeholders who can provide current on-the-ground information to practitioners. By linking increased technical capacity with existing local knowledge of an area urban resources can be maximized.
These themes will be illustrated with geospatial mapping applications for slum upgrading, citizen engagement, and urban (geo) design and presented in a long-term web GIS application.