Using Social Network Data to Improve Planning and Design of Smart Cities

Abstract

The Smart City concept has transformed the meaning of citizen participation. Smart Cities are characterized by being inclusive cities, i.e., cities for all. But the concept of inclusive city refers both to make it easy for citizens to use urban spaces and to involve citizens in the planning, design and management of cities. Citizens leave a trace when using public space and this information can be known, thanks to the last technological advances in the field of Information and Communication Technology It is the citizens themselves who voluntarily make these data available via social networking websites. It is therefore a new form of public participation. Knowing the real citizens' use of public space is essential for the planning and design of Smart Cities. However, information in general is not and does not produce knowledge itself. Knowledge does not simply come from having access to large amounts of information. It is necessary to understand the databases and structure the information to ensure proper use of it. This research delves into problem solving on how to collect and how to process this information. Specifically, this paper focuses on obtaining data from social networking websites relating to the sports field. The main goal of this research is to introduce a citizen-centric urban planning approach by analysing the possibilities offered by the citizen-generated data retrieved from social networks for sport. As a result, the graphic representation of aggregated geospatial information in an urban context is proposed in order to improve the decision-making process for its planning and design.

Analysis of Social Networking Service Data for Smart Urban Planning

“…This work extends a preliminary approach presented at Urban Growth '18 conference [17]. In that work, the feasibility of the approach was presented through a simple analysis but no suggestions for policy-makers were proposed.…”

Addressing new challenges in smart urban planning using Information and Communication Technologies

“…In the specific case of social networks for sport, some recent research has started to study the possibilities offered by geolocated data shared by citizens using these networks (Cook et al, 2016; Merchant, 2017; Laguia Martinez, 2018; Mora et al, 2018; Pérez‐delHoyo et al, 2018; Hochmair et al, 2019; Lin & Fan, 2020; Pérez‐delHoyo et al, 2020).…”

“…Running and technology have become an inseparable binomial. Within this context, the methodology that is proposed and developed in this work is based on taking advantage of the possibilities offered by ICT that have made it possible to have access to a large amount of information (Ferrari & Mamei, 2013; Uran et al, 2016; Balaban & Tunçer, 2017; Barnfield, 2018; Mora et al, 2018; Pérez‐delHoyo et al, 2018).…”

Sustainable energy for smart city

“…ELECTRIFICATION A 'smart city' needs to address the problem of building its infrastructure on the basis of new technologies that are capable of the rational use of energy sources and a minimum impact on the environment [13,14]. This calls for new solutions in the fields of power engineering, heat and water supply, energy accounting, waste disposal, as well as the creation of a more efficient transportation system and construction of 'smart buildings'.…”