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Reading
Here are some of the key texts for the lecture.
Mayer-Schonberger, V. and Cukier, K. (2013)
Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think.
John Murray
The "Big Data book" is quite famous
and gives a great overview of many of the issues associated with the big
data "revolution" (to quote the authors). It's also very readable.
Anderson, C., 2008. The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete.
WIRED.
Available online
Anderson's article in Wired magazine, in which he suggests that data are now
so abundant that we no longer need theories to understand why things
happen, was controversial and widely criticised. He makes an interesting
argument, even if it is one he has since stepped away from.
Savage, M. and Burrows, R., 2007. The Coming Crisis of Empirical Sociology.
Sociology 41, 885-899.
Savage & Burrows discuss the impact that huge new data sources will have on a
field that has traditionally prided itself on developing statistical methods that
work with small amounts of neat, well structured data.
Birkin, M., Malleson, N., (2013) Investigating the Behaviour of Twitter
Users to Construct an Individual-Level Model of Metropolitan Dynamics.
National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM)
Working Paper 05/13. University of Leeds.
We discuss how messages posted to messages posted to Twitter
can be used enrich our understanding of activity patterns in urban areas.
Batty, M., 2012. Smart cities, big data. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design
39, 191-193.
Link.
A very optimistic view of possibilities offered by big data for understanding cities.
Galdon-Clavell, Gemma (2013). (Not so) smart cities?: The drivers, impact and
risks of surveillance-enabled smart environments. Science and Public PolicyOnline first.
A somewhat less optimistic take on smart cities.
Goodchild M (2007). Citizens as Sensors: the World of Volunteered Geography, GeoJournal, 211-221.
Link.
Discusses the concept of Volunteered Geographical Information
(VGI) - geographical information created by citizens.
Other Resources
Here are some good videos, news reports, etc. that are worth watching.
Kent Larson: Brilliant designs to fit more people in every city.
TED talk.
A talk about designing modern cities. Discusses some interesting
new research aimed at making cities more efficient and user-friendly.
BBC documentary that covers some of the new applications of big data. In particular,
there is a section on how the L.A. Police Department are being directed by algorithms
(developed by Jeff Brantingham's UC MASC Project)
that predict emerging hotspots (often called Predictive Policing).
Caveat
You will see lots of question marks in these slides.
This is because there is still a lot of discussion about the impact that
'big data' and 'smart cities' will have on societies.
The lecture is posing questions, rather than
answers!
What kinds of information about individuals can you think of that are being
captured right now?
Abundance of Data
What kinds of information about individuals can you think of that are being
captured right now?
social media (Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc)
sensed data: air quality, satellite imagery, noise levels ...
movement data: Oyster cards, ANPR, air passengers ...
internet search terms
mobile telephone locations
market research
spatial data (Open Street Map etc.)
transaction data (loyalty cards, shopping habits, etc.)
patient data
schools data
Abundance of Data
What data are being captured about you?
The Abundance of Data
In general, the amount of data being created by, and about, humans is
proliferating.
90% of the world's data has been generated in the last two
years (
Science Daily)
The amount of data is doubling every two years
(EMC).
Total data will hit 8 zetabytes by 2015
(
Silicon Angle).
If this were printed out on double-sided A4 sheets the pile of
paper would stretch to the moon and back 10,000 times! (I've made this up so
probably not one to quote this in an exam, but you get the idea..).
World Information Capacity
Video draws interesting parallels with biological data processing
capabilities.
Lower sampling bias, can accept lower data accuracy
With so much data, accuracy is less important (?)
A Crisis for Social Scientists?
Savage and Burrows (2007)
have commended on a "coming crisis" for empirical sociology.
The field has traditionally prided itself on developing statistical methods
that can identify generalisable rules from small amounts of neat, well
structured data.
These small surveys are potentially being superseded by massive
"crowd-sourced" databases that monitor activity patterns
Is there a crisis?
List one or two 'traditional' surveys that you are familiar with.
Could these be replaced by 'big data' analysis?
(e.g. the National Crime Survey for England and Wales)
... and what do they have to do with geoplanning ...
We have seen how much (new) data are available
This is being used by businesses and by researchers
It could also be put to good use at improving the lives of people in
cities
What are 'Smart Cities'?
... and what do they have to do with geoplanning ...
Some definitions.
Smart city is a term that gets together in an integrated way
those initiatives oriented at improving the quality of life,
sustainability and efficient management of services while innovating
in relation to the materials, resources and models used and using
technology in an intensive manner. (CTECNO 2012)
[A city] that uses information and communications
technologies to make the critical infrastructure components
and services ... more aware, interactive and efficient
(Belissent 2010)
A city [is] 'smart' when investments ... fuel sustainable
economic growth and a high quality of life, with a wise
management of natural resources, through participatory government. (Caragliu et al. 2009)
... the urban center of the future, made safe,
secure, environmentally green, and efficient because all structures ...
are designed, constructed and maintained making use of advanced, integrated
materials, sensors, electronics, and networks which are interfaced with
computerized systems comprised of databases, tracking, and decision-making
algorithms. (Bowerman et al. 2000)
What are common to all of these definitions?
What are 'Smart Cities'?
... and what do they have to do with geoplanning ...
Part of this thanks to intelligent traffic systems designed with
IBM:
To help Stockholm overcome its traffic congestion
problems, IBM helped them develop a road charging system that covers a
24-square-kilometer area of the inner city with 18 barrier-free control points
equipped with cameras and a mix of payment channels. This project resulted in
a 50 percent drop in morning traffic waiting time, an increase of 60,000
passengers per day in public transportation ridership and an overall improved
quality of life for the residents of Stockholm.
Intelligent Traffic Systems
Or you could go one step further...
City Dashboards - London
A way to collect and present data from a variety of different sources
Become an integral part of urban planning and management?
Support a feedback loop; people make decisions based on dynamic, real-time
data.
Empowering citizens with knowledge about where they live?
City Dashboards - Leeds
City Dashboards - Singapore
Or, if you are MIT, the dashboard looks more like this...
E.g. "Surveillance ... has challenged and undermined the
right of all humans to "remain unobserved and unmolested" in their thoughts,
personal environments and communications." (The Guardian, 2013).
Market driven, anti-democratic
This all sounds awesome, but have you spotted the flaw in the
plan? In such a smart city, the control systems would all be programmed,
installed and managed by IBM and CISCO. These private companies would have huge,
billion-dollar contracts to manage the biggest cities in the world. When Ops
Centres around the world are eventually automated, IBM's software will
effectively become your digital mayor - or tyrant.
... IBM would become a de facto member of the government. After all,
politicians might tell IBM how they want a city to be run, but it's IBM's
implementation that ultimately matters. A new law might decree that smart cars
travelling in smart cities must be limited to 30 mph - but what if IBM disagrees,
or says the system doesn't have that capability, or imply takes six months
to implement the change?(Anthony, 2012).
