The document discusses how cities are becoming smarter through the use of technology and big data. As more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, urban populations will continue growing dramatically in coming decades. To address challenges like overcrowding and resource scarcity, cities are increasingly relying on sensors, automation and data collection to become more efficient, sustainable and livable. By tapping into the vast data being archived about cities, there is potential to better understand and improve urban environments through approaches like open data and analysis of personal and emotional information.

1. SMARTERCITIES
and BIGDATA
Anne Galang October 2013
Invisible Cities Graduate Symposium and Expo

2. A brief history of
urbanization…

3. INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION
Kent Larson, MIT
TEDxBoston Talk, “Brilliant Designs to Fit More People Into Cities”

4. INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION
Kent Larson, MIT Media Lab
TEDxBoston Talk, “Brilliant Designs to Fit More People Into Cities”

5. Today, more than
50%
of the
world’s population
live in cities

6. …and that’s
only
going to
GROW

7. In China alone
300-400
million people
will move to
cities in the next
15 years

8. In the 21 st century , cities will
account for

9. In the 21 st century , cities will
account for
90%
population
growth
of

10. In the 21 st century , cities will
account for
90%
population
growth
of
80%
of global
CO 2 emissions

11. In the 21 st century , cities will
account for
90%
population
growth
of
80%
of global
CO 2 emissions
75%
energy
use
of

12. With this growth, cities will
face challenges
such as
overcrowded
spaces

13. traffic
congestion

14. and increased
emissions .
carbon

15. Cities will also need to
address

16. Cities will also need to
address
smaller
budgets

17. Cities will also need to
address
smaller
budgets
resource
scarcity

18. Cities will also need to
address
smaller
budgets
resource
scarcity
aging
infrastructure

19. We’re now looking to
TECHNOLOGY

20. We’re now looking to
TECHNOLOGY
to make our cities
SMARTER

21. to increase

22. to increase
efficiency

23. to increase
efficiency
sustainability

24. to increase
efficiency
sustainability
livability

25. “Smart” designs
to make better use of small spaces
City Home
Changing Places Group, MIT Media Lab

26. “Smart” designs
to make better use of small spaces
Persuasive electric vehicle
MIT Media Lab

27. Smart technology
involving sensors and automation
can capture data and increase efficiency

28. smart energy grids

29. intelligent transportation
systems

30. and more.

31. Through this
technology, cities
have become
repositories
of information ,
endlessly collecting
“vast
and
archiving
DATA .”

32. “Social tools can be layered
over the city, giving us realtime access to information
about the things and people
that surround us, helping us to
connect in new ways and
giving rise to a datadriven society.”

33. How can we tap into this data
to better understand our
cities?

34. OPEN DATA
Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web
TED talk, “The year open data went worldwide”

35. PERSONAL DATA
Alex “Sandy” Pentland, MIT
TEDxCambridge talk, “Using personal data to benefit citizenry”

36. We Feel Fine harvests human
feelings from the world,
searching weblogs every few
minutes for the phrases "I feel"
and "I am feeling” and
identifying the "feeling" expressed.

37. The result is a database of
several million human
feelings .
Using a series of playful
interfaces, the feelings can be
searched and sorted .

38. EMOTIONAL DATA
We Feel Fine
wefeelfine.org

39. There are still many questions

41. But also many possibilities…

43. Bibliography
Smart Cities
City Science. MIT Media Lab, 2012. Web. February 2013.
http://cities.media.mit.edu/
Kirby, Terry. “City design: Transforming tomorrow.” The Guardian. N.d. Web.
February 2013.
Larson, Kent. “Brilliant designs to fit more people every city.” TEDxBoston,
Boston, MA. June 2012. Web. Feb 2013.
http://cities.media.mit.edu/projects/examples
Smart Cities. IBM. N.d. Web. Feburary 2013.
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_cities/overview/

44. Bibliography
Sensor network technology
Chong, Chee-Yee. “Sensor Networks: Evolution, Opportunities, and
Challenges.” Proceedings of the EEE, 91.8. August 2003.
OECD. “Smart Sensor Networks: Technologies and Applications for Green
Growth.” December
“50 Sensor Applications for a Smarter World.” Libelium.
Murty, Rohan Naraya et al. “City Sense: An Urban-Scale Wireless Sensor
Network and Testbed.”

45. Bibliography
Big data and open data
“Smart Cities and Big Data post event session summary.” Future Internet
Assembly. 10-11 May 2012, Aalborg, Denmark. Web. Feb 2013.
<http://www.future-internet.eu/home/future-internet-assembly/aalborg-may2012/31-smart-cities-and-big-data.html
“Big data.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_data
Berners-Lee, Tim. “The year open data went worldwide.” TED 2010. Feb 2010.
Web. Feb 2013.
Harris, Jonathan and Sep Kamvar. We Feel Fine. Web. www.wefeelfine.org/
Pentland, Sandy. “Using personal data to benefit citizenry.” TEDxCambridge.
Mar 2012. Cambridge, MA. Web. Feb 2013.
http://cities.media.mit.edu/projects/examples