META-FLÂNEUR URBANISM
Strategy for planning healthier cities using Locative Media, Neurotechnology and AI
ABSTRACT
Meta-Flaneur is about designing a data-informed Urban Strategy for planning healthier cities using Locative Media, Neurotechnology and AI.
Through the use of Locative Media we can understand how people move through the city and by using Neurotechnology applications we can link this movement to the emotions of the people. Finally, using Machine Learning tools we can see how our design decisions will affect the movement of the people, leading us to make more informed decisions.
Cities grow, evolve and transform on their selves from traces of the past and the present. These traces, which can be interpreted as laySers are a mixture of social, economic, functional and aesthetic elements that create the city of today. However, in the digital era of today, a new layer is added to the city, the one of the digital data which are restructuring the flows and the experience of the modern city.
It is a common strategy of urban planning to analyze data such as roads, fills and voids, buildings, green spaces etc. Although these data are always useful for planning the urban tissue, the personal experience is not always being considered as a crucial factor of urban planning. But how would the city be if during the process of urban planning we take in account the emotions that the users have during their days and nights in the city?
The digital tools that we use every day through our phone can be really useful for mapping an urban experience. We experience the transition from an analog map to a “smart” map. The use of locative media and personal maps can be used as a type of modern psychogeography. New technologies give the possibility to “customize” the old analog map. Every user has the opportunity to have his own, subjective interpretation of the city, which is based in his personal experiences.
What is more, neurotechnology applications and AI technology are evolving rapidly giving the possibilities for their use to urban planning in order to take more data-informed decisions that reflect better how people feel in urban spaces.
meta-Flaneur Urbanism strategy can be implemented in three phases:
i Data from Locative media
The first phase is about using data from GPS-located apps to determine the most and the least favorite places of interest, routes and urban spaces that people are saving and enjoying in the big cities; in this case, Barcelona.
ii Data from Neurotechnology applications
During the second phase there will be used neurotechnology applications such as mobile EEG machines that track down the brain activity during a walk in the city. In this way we can map the places that people have more good and more bad emotions, such as joy, calmness, nostalgia, bliss, gratitude, enthusiasm, stress, fear, anger etc.
iii Data from Artificial Intelligence agents
Using Artificial Intelligence agents for the third phase, we can simulate and predict how people’s emotions are affected with specific design solutions. User experience and emotions have a crucial part in the process of urban planning, thus, data-driven solutions will be a powerfull tool for future change-makers.
Taking in account data from neurotechnology devices and locative media such as emotions, behaviors, movements and flows of the citizens of Barcelona, while overlapping them with the existing urban tissue of the city, we will have a clear view of the places that people are attracted to as well as the parts of the city that they avoid. Thus, we will have a first plan for short-term urban interventions as well as looking at a bigger scale, a strategy for a better experienced city.
At the same time, asking from citizens to help with this process, either through their digital or physical traces, makes the process of planning the city more participatory and experiential.
On the other hand, by using Artificial Intelligence we can predict and simulate how people will react to short-term and even more, to long-term urban interventions. In this way, urban planning and design will become more accurate in terms of citizens’ needs, emotions, behaviors and experience.
You can explore the booklet of the project here: meta-Flâneur urbanism
Through the use of Locative Media we can understand how people move through the city and by using Neurotechnology applications we can link this movement to the emotions of the people. Finally, using Machine Learning tools we can see how our design decisions will affect the movement of the people, leading us to make more informed decisions.
This project has been awarded in the IAAC Scholarship Competition 2020 with the 2nd prize
keywords: #StrategyPlanning, #LocativeMedia, #AI, #Neurotechnology, #GPSdata
Cities grow, evolve and transform on their selves from traces of the past and the present. These traces, which can be interpreted as laySers are a mixture of social, economic, functional and aesthetic elements that create the city of today. However, in the digital era of today, a new layer is added to the city, the one of the digital data which are restructuring the flows and the experience of the modern city.
It is a common strategy of urban planning to analyze data such as roads, fills and voids, buildings, green spaces etc. Although these data are always useful for planning the urban tissue, the personal experience is not always being considered as a crucial factor of urban planning. But how would the city be if during the process of urban planning we take in account the emotions that the users have during their days and nights in the city?
The digital tools that we use every day through our phone can be really useful for mapping an urban experience. We experience the transition from an analog map to a “smart” map. The use of locative media and personal maps can be used as a type of modern psychogeography. New technologies give the possibility to “customize” the old analog map. Every user has the opportunity to have his own, subjective interpretation of the city, which is based in his personal experiences.
What is more, neurotechnology applications and AI technology are evolving rapidly giving the possibilities for their use to urban planning in order to take more data-informed decisions that reflect better how people feel in urban spaces.
meta-Flaneur Urbanism strategy can be implemented in three phases:
i Data from Locative media
The first phase is about using data from GPS-located apps to determine the most and the least favorite places of interest, routes and urban spaces that people are saving and enjoying in the big cities; in this case, Barcelona.
ii Data from Neurotechnology applications
During the second phase there will be used neurotechnology applications such as mobile EEG machines that track down the brain activity during a walk in the city. In this way we can map the places that people have more good and more bad emotions, such as joy, calmness, nostalgia, bliss, gratitude, enthusiasm, stress, fear, anger etc.
iii Data from Artificial Intelligence agents
Using Artificial Intelligence agents for the third phase, we can simulate and predict how people’s emotions are affected with specific design solutions. User experience and emotions have a crucial part in the process of urban planning, thus, data-driven solutions will be a powerfull tool for future change-makers.
Taking in account data from neurotechnology devices and locative media such as emotions, behaviors, movements and flows of the citizens of Barcelona, while overlapping them with the existing urban tissue of the city, we will have a clear view of the places that people are attracted to as well as the parts of the city that they avoid. Thus, we will have a first plan for short-term urban interventions as well as looking at a bigger scale, a strategy for a better experienced city.
At the same time, asking from citizens to help with this process, either through their digital or physical traces, makes the process of planning the city more participatory and experiential.
On the other hand, by using Artificial Intelligence we can predict and simulate how people will react to short-term and even more, to long-term urban interventions. In this way, urban planning and design will become more accurate in terms of citizens’ needs, emotions, behaviors and experience.
You can explore the booklet of the project here: meta-Flâneur urbanism
Stefania-Maria Kousoula
year: 2020
year: 2020