Urban planning is becoming a challenge with growing populations and big data is stepping up to solve urban planning challenges. Big data has proven to contribute to improving challenges often affecting urban areas such as carbon emissions, urban mobility, and city maintenance.
Over 280 cities have been converted to smart cities in the past decade and the results have been astounding, especially in Europe and Dubai in the Middle East.
The rise of big data in urban planning
People are increasingly growing dependent on the Internet of Things (IoT) devices leading to a dramatic transformation in the urban planning industry. The development of big data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data visualization is allowing for incredible innovations in urban planning.
Data integration is allowing for the progress of cities at a rapid pace and some of the areas of urban planning. Some of the benefits of urban planning are quite multifaceted. Here are some of the areas in which Big Data can influence Urban Planning:
- Analytical and predictive technology to preempt transportation and traffic patterns
- Improving safety for the general public by streamlining data analytics for public safety such as street cameras with facial recognition
- Big data analytics have the potential to influence how households operate by regulating energy supply and usage
- Creativity can become quite limitless in terms of innovations to improve service delivery and active citizenry
However, the use of big data in urban planning also raises concerns about privacy and ethics. It is important for cities to ensure that the data they collect and analyze is collected and processed in a responsible and ethical manner, with the appropriate safeguards in place to protect the privacy of residents.
In conclusion, big data offers significant potential for improving the quality of life for residents of cities, but it is important to approach its use with caution and ensure that the benefits are balanced with considerations for privacy and ethics.
Reflective Analysis
GIS being a recurrent tool in Urban Planning, the integration of Big Data and GIS can be an interesting topic to look at. As Big Data technology is able to process large quantities of data in the shortest curve, it has emerged as a new frontier for geospatial analysis. For instance, NASA has made inroads into climate research integrating Big Data (past and current global climate data) with geographies. This has enabled a synergized approach to climate modeling, analysis, and resilience building. I believe that the potential for innovation through the utilization of Big Data in this context is immense, but before that, privacy and ethics must be placed at the forefront.
Source
Planning Tank. (2021, January 26). How big data solves the Urban Planning Challenge? Planning Tank. from https://planningtank.com/city-insight/big-data-solves-urban-planning-challenge
