Open data and data sharing in cities regarding various urban systems from
transportation to communication make various multi-dimensional and interrelated
urban level assessments possible. Relying on this background, supported with the
enhanced analytical assessment capabilities decision makers can be served with
complex interdependent analyses such as LCA, social and economic analyses.
This data centric trend in urban analysis makes the generation of data central to
further studies. Big data capabilities bring forth an opportunity as they can now
integrate detailed forecasts such as dynamic assessment into assessment procedures
and details down to building level can be considered for urban analyses. This paper
will proceed to explore some of these opportunities.
3.3 Dynamic Social Assessment
As pointed earlier, the significance of cities comes mainly from the fact that they
accommodate most of the world’s population, and even more, provide a sharing and
meeting ground for their activities. Social wellbeing is thus a major goal of urban
space. As citizens and related actors which can be studied as agents are continuously adapting their behaviours, it is crucial for the decision maker to understand
the interaction of citizens with the studied urban system.
UM provides a detailed view on the physical space of the city, even incorporating inter-boundary relations as flows and allowing temporal results. Yet the
social layer is different than any other flow: its agents, individual people, are more
complex. The question is whether it is possible to include them in a model of UM.
A research held by UCL classifies debates on UM and reflects on the social
implications of urban metabolism by pointing that even though urban space is
modelled in units of spaces, materials and physical systems, social consequences
occur and this layer is also a part of the metabolism [24]. Studies in terms of class
and inequalities in relation to infrastructure networks define the term “social
metabolism” proposed by Martinez-Alier as “a manner in which human societies
organize their growing exchanges of energy and materials with the environment”
[24, 25]. These studies point at UM as a driver for major social movements and
changes descriptively. However, an approach such as ABM that quantifies changes
in behaviour over time and in relation to flows and trends of the UM is needed to
complement the dynamic assessment approach this paper discusses.
ABM is a computational tool that is capable of examining social systems with
the perspective of a complex adaptive system. It studies how macro effects emerge
from micro scale behavioural patterns among heterogeneous social agents, which
are evolving, autonomous and interacting [26].
Dynamic Assessment of Nature …
299
transportation to communication make various multi-dimensional and interrelated
urban level assessments possible. Relying on this background, supported with the
enhanced analytical assessment capabilities decision makers can be served with
complex interdependent analyses such as LCA, social and economic analyses.
This data centric trend in urban analysis makes the generation of data central to
further studies. Big data capabilities bring forth an opportunity as they can now
integrate detailed forecasts such as dynamic assessment into assessment procedures
and details down to building level can be considered for urban analyses. This paper
will proceed to explore some of these opportunities.
3.3 Dynamic Social Assessment
As pointed earlier, the significance of cities comes mainly from the fact that they
accommodate most of the world’s population, and even more, provide a sharing and
meeting ground for their activities. Social wellbeing is thus a major goal of urban
space. As citizens and related actors which can be studied as agents are continuously adapting their behaviours, it is crucial for the decision maker to understand
the interaction of citizens with the studied urban system.
UM provides a detailed view on the physical space of the city, even incorporating inter-boundary relations as flows and allowing temporal results. Yet the
social layer is different than any other flow: its agents, individual people, are more
complex. The question is whether it is possible to include them in a model of UM.
A research held by UCL classifies debates on UM and reflects on the social
implications of urban metabolism by pointing that even though urban space is
modelled in units of spaces, materials and physical systems, social consequences
occur and this layer is also a part of the metabolism [24]. Studies in terms of class
and inequalities in relation to infrastructure networks define the term “social
metabolism” proposed by Martinez-Alier as “a manner in which human societies
organize their growing exchanges of energy and materials with the environment”
[24, 25]. These studies point at UM as a driver for major social movements and
changes descriptively. However, an approach such as ABM that quantifies changes
in behaviour over time and in relation to flows and trends of the UM is needed to
complement the dynamic assessment approach this paper discusses.
ABM is a computational tool that is capable of examining social systems with
the perspective of a complex adaptive system. It studies how macro effects emerge
from micro scale behavioural patterns among heterogeneous social agents, which
are evolving, autonomous and interacting [26].
Dynamic Assessment of Nature …
299