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Urban Informatics to Understand Citizens’

Needs in Transport Planning
Urban AI · Follow
Published in Urban AI
7 min read · Jul 25, 2023

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By Dr. Andrea Gorrini

The explosion of location-based data and data collection tools in recent decades has
brought about a significant shift in urban and mobility planning. This shift has been
driven by the ability to passively gather movement patterns on a large scale and
synthesize them in real time, providing valuable insights into changes in mobility
behavior. The ubiquity of geo-referenced data, made possible by digital
miniaturization, has led to the decentralization of data collection, allowing for the
collection of diverse and detailed movement data. This phenomenon, often referred
to as “data in every pocket” (Choubassi & Abdelfattah, 2020), has had a
transformative impact on how we document, collect, and understand mobility
patterns (Batty, 2010).

The discipline of Urban Informatics has emerged as an evidence-based approach for

urban planners to utilize technology-enabled spatial analysis methods. The
development of advanced ICTs and the increasing availability of digitally
widespread data sources have facilitated the creation of innovative assessment tools
and metrics that provide valuable support to city decision-makers (Shi et al., 2021;
Foth et al., 2011). The unprecedented volume, granularity, and diversity of data have
overcome the limitations of traditional data collection methods, enabling a focus on
specific communities, their behaviors, and their needs (Milne and Watling, 2019;
Batty, 2013).

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Figure 1 Urban Informatics relational chart (adapted from:

https://research.qut.edu.au/designlab/groups/urban-informatics/)

Conceptually speaking, Urban Informatics operates at the intersection of three

domains: People, Places, and Technologies. In this framework, the non-profit research
foundation Transform Transport provides innovative, inclusive, and sustainable
mobility solutions for shaping the future of society and cities worldwide (see Figure
2). It grounds on 30 years of Systematica’s work and explores how disruptive
technologies, increasingly and rapidly influencing urban mobility, can have a
positive impact on cities, neighborhoods, and buildings, collaborating closely with
municipalities and companies, and using Big Data for greater insights. Transform
Transport’s research is based on a multi-disciplinary approach to reimagine urban
sustainable and inclusive mobility as a customized, simplified, and humanized daily
experience (Ryghaug et al., 2023), in line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development (i.e., SDG 11.2-Sustainable Transport for All): “By 2030, provide access to
safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving
road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the

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needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities

and older persons.”

Figure 2 The multi-disciplinary approach proposed by Transform Transport

In that sense, the study “Covid-19 pandemic and activity patterns in Milan. Wi-Fi
sensors and location-based data’’ (Gorrini et al., 2021) focuses on the utilization of
location detection systems to monitor, understand, and predict activity patterns of
city users. The research specifically analyzes a sample of aggregated traffic data that
quantifies the number of mobile devices detected through a network of 55 Wi-Fi
Access Points in Milan. The data collection period spans seven months, from
January to July 2020, enabling an examination of the impact of the Covid-19
pandemic on activity patterns. The analysis incorporates two main approaches: (i)
time series analysis, which explores trends, peak hours, and mobility profiles, and
(ii) GIS-based spatial analysis, which examines landuse data, services availability,

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and public transport information. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of Wi-
Fi location data in monitoring and characterizing long-term trends in activity
patterns within large-scale urban environments. Additionally, the study reveals a
significant correlation between Wi-Fi data and the density distribution of various
urban features, such as residential buildings, service and transportation facilities,
entertainment venues, financial amenities, department stores, and bike-sharing
docking stations. The study proposes a Suitability Analysis Index to enhance further
data collection efforts by identifying areas in Milan that could benefit from
additional Wi-Fi sensors. Future work aims to develop Wi-Fi sensing applications for
real-time monitoring of mobility data.

Figure 3 The aggregated traffic data collected through a network of Wi-Fi sensors

The utilization of Wi-Fi sensors allows for the identification of macro-scale patterns,
defining general profiles of mobility whilst not collecting information on site-
specific behaviors. Another approach, focused on micro-scale data gathering is
demonstrated in the study “Deep Learning Video Analytics for the Assessment of
Street Experiments” (Ceccarelli et al., 2023). The study aimed to monitor pedestrian
and vehicular flows in order to identify patterns of space utilization, with a specific
focus on a public space for children in Bologna, as illustrated in Figure 4. The
monitoring process involved the use of a camera and video analytics techniques to
gather observations. The research generated a series of analyses pertaining to the
observed flows in the area during the pre and post-intervention phases. The
objective was to support an iterative design process based on the principles of
tactical urbanism. By transitioning from a quantitative approach, which relied on
the analysis of collected data, to a synthetic/design approach, the study aimed to

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facilitate data-driven design. The ultimate goal was to maximize the impact of
positive interventions and address any critical issues identified.

Figure 4 Analysis of successes and critical issues related to pedestrian use of the intervention, the heatmap
represent the cumulative density of the detections

Finally, another approach to the dissection of mobility patterns through the lens of
Urban Informatics consists in the collection and analysis of IoT data, specifically
vehicles. In this framework, the study “Free-flow Carsharing Systems in a Spatio-
Temporal Urban Ecosystem” (Messa, 2021) focuses on the application of urban AI
for predictive demand modeling, as depicted in Figure 5. In recent years, shared
mobility has emerged as a prominent mode of transportation. However, the
planning of shared mobility is often entrusted to private operators and is not
considered a significant component of urban mobility. The objective of this research
was to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between carsharing
vehicle utilization and urban spatio-temporal patterns. The study specifically
examined four weeks of free-flow carsharing data in Milan. Both temporal and
spatial factors were taken into account, including time-invariant factors such as
resident population density and time-variant factors such as public transport
availability. These factors were analyzed in relation to the starting and ending points
of car rentals, as well as the characteristics of origin-destination (OD) pairs.
Statistical analyses were performed using average values for each hour of the day,
separately for weekdays and weekends. The findings revealed daily utilization

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patterns that shed light on the connection between site-specific characteristics and
carsharing demand.

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Figure 5 Visualization of rentals (the rentals lasting more than 24 hours are highlighted in red)

About the Author

Dr. Andrea Gorrini is an environmental psychologist specializing in the study of
human behavior in transport systems, crowd dynamics, and walkability. With a ten-
year research background , his work is grounded in the Urban Informatics
approach, which aims to promote inclusive and sustainable urban mobility. Dr.
Gorrini is the Head of Research at Transform Transport, a non-profit research
foundation established by Systematica in March 2022. In this role, he oversees
research and development activities focused on innovation in mobility and
transport planning. Additionally, since 2022, he has been appointed as an
Ambassador of the Network for Diversity in Transport (European Commission,
Directorate General for Mobility and Transport).
References
Batty, M. (2010). The Pulse of the City. Environment and Planning B, 37 (4), 575–577.
https://doi.org/10.1068/b3704ed

Batty, M. (2013). Big data, smart cities and city planning. Dialogues in human
geography, 3(3), 274–279. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820613513390

Ceccarelli, G., Messa, F., Gorrini, A., Presicce, D., Choubassi, R. (2023, submitted).
Deep Learning Video Analytics for the Assessment of Street Experiments: The Case
of Bologna. Journal of Urban Mobility. Pre-print available at:
https://transformtransport.org/research/urban-mobility-metrics/video-analytics-for-
the-assessment-of-street-experiments-the-case-of-bologna/

Choubassi, R. and Abdelfattah, L. (2020). How Big Data is Transforming the Way We
Plan Our Cities. FEEM Policy Brief, 20, 1–16. Available at:
https://ssrn.com/abstract=3757431

Foth, M., Choi, J.H.j., Satchell, C. (2011). Urban informatics. In: Proceedings of the
ACM 2011 conference on Computer supported cooperative work, pp. 1–8.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1958824.1958826

Gorrini, A., Messa, F., Ceccarelli, G., Choubassi, R. (2021). Covid-19 pandemic and
activity patterns in Milan. Wi-Fi sensors and location-based data. TeMA — Journal of
Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 14(2), 211–226. https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-
9870/7886

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10/4/24, 10:07 Urban Informatics to Understand Citizens’ Needs in Transport Planning | by Urban AI | Urban AI | Medium

Messa, F. (2021). Free-flow Carsharing Systems in a Spatio-temporal Urban

Ecosystem: An Urban Informatics Approach. In: Proceedings of the 49th European
Transport Conference 2021 (ETC 2021), 13–15 September 2021 — Online.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6493824

Milne, D., & Watling, D. (2019). Big data and understanding change in the context of
planning transport systems. Journal of Transport Geography, 76, 235–244.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2017.11.004

Ryghaug, M., Subotički, I., Smeds, E., von Wirth, T., Scherrer, A., Foulds, C.,
Robison, R., Bertolini, L., Beyazit İnce, E., Brand, R. and Cohen-Blankshtain, G.
(2023). A Social Sciences and Humanities research agenda for transport and mobility
in Europe: key themes and 100 research questions. Transport Reviews, 43(4), pp.755–
779.https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2023.2167887

Shi, W., Goodchild, M. F., Batty, M., Kwan, M. P., & Zhang, A. (Eds.). (2021). Urban
Informatics. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8983-6

United Nations (2016). Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. UN Publishing, New York. Available from:
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld/publication

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