This document discusses using user-generated content to map how different groups use public spaces in cities. It proposes collecting data like geo-located social media posts, photos and blogs to identify concentrations of different ethnic or language groups and how they interact across a city. The goal is to build maps showing spatial and temporal patterns to help cities better understand citizens' needs and evaluate policies from multiple perspectives based on research analyzing this real-time, crowdsourced urban data.

1. Maps of Babel
Urban Sensing hrough User Generated Content

2. CIVIL SOCIETY
RECLAIMS PUBLIC SPACE.
HUMAN
CROSS PERSPECTIVES CITIES
BASED ON RESEARCH. SYMPOSIUM
15–16 March 2012
Brussels (BE)
Giorgia Lupi, Paolo Patelli, Luca Simeone, Salvatore Iaconesi
MAPS OF BABEL urban sensing through user generated content

3. co-founder at Accurat !
PHD@Politecnico di Milano !
(www.accurat.it)!
Density Design !
(www.densitydesign.org)!

4. [2009] Plan of Services
Municipality of Milan public markets!
health!
...!
...!
...!
social services!
libraries!
schools!
museum! kindergardens!
...! ...!

5. [2009] Plan of Services
public services planned in advance?

6. [2009] Plan of Services
# a process Vs a product
# information system
# realtime

7. [2009] Plan of Services
listening of the city
# public meetings

8. [2009] Plan of Services
listening of the city
# public meetings
# mass media monitoring

9. [2009] Plan of Services
listening of the city
# public meetings
# mass media monitoring
# office of complaints

10. [2009] Plan of Services
# crossing informations
# qualitative indicators

11. [2012?]

12. [User Generated Content]
blogs
social media

13. [User Generated Content]
sharing while moving,
sharing without being asked to do it

14. [User Generated Content]
a new generation of
methods and images
for depicting the city

15. [User Generated Content]
places:
(1) geo-localization

16. [User Generated Content]
places:
(1) mentions

17. [User Generated Content]
Spatial patterns / temporal patterns / topic inquire

18. Maps of Babel
how different ethnic groups live the city and the public spaces?
please,
see
VIDEO
FILEs
HERe:
h3p://giorgialupi.net/Maps_of_babel.html

19. Maps of Babel
how different ethnic groups live the city and the public spaces?
please,
see
VIDEO
FILEs
HERe:
h3p://giorgialupi.net/Maps_of_babel.html

20. all
contributions

21. corso como
fashion district
central
station
via marghera
duomo
shopping area
commercial
area
Concentrations?

22. city parks

23. residential West zone
empty areas

24. residential West zone
stock exchange
empty areas

25. University Campus!
peripheric clusters?

26. languages

27. indonesian

28. san siro stadium

29. italians at the
central station?

30. city ring

31. relating data

34. (ongoing experiments)
commuters

35. (ongoing experiments)
citizens’ reactions

36. (ongoing experiments)
citizens’ perception

37. (ongoing experiments)
identity and boundaries

38. inquirable platforms
citizens, planners, decision makers

39. evaluation of policies
or identification
of new ones.

40. discovery of emergent
needs

41. livability and
attractivity of
specific places

42. CIVIL SOCIETY
RECLAIMS PUBLIC SPACE.
HUMAN
CROSS PERSPECTIVES CITIES
BASED ON RESEARCH. SYMPOSIUM
15–16 March 2012
Brussels (BE)
giorgia@giorgialupi.net
www.giorgialupi.net