Category: Urban Technology

Unleash the Power of Storytelling with ArcGIS StoryMaps

January 16, 2024 / odrozd

By Jo Kwon

What are StoryMaps?

ArcGIS StoryMaps is an interactive, collaborative, and accessible storytelling tool that combines narrative, maps, and multimedia to create engaging and informative experiences displayed on a webpage. ArcGIS StoryMaps is effortlessly sharable and viewable across a range of devices, including computers, tablets, and smartphones. It also aligns with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, ensuring accessibility for all users. While ArcGIS StoryMaps offers numerous benefits, it also has some drawbacks, such as limited multimedia capabilities and restricted design options.

StoryMaps in Urban Planning

StoryMaps can be a powerful tool for creating effective planning visualizations. Visualizations play a pivotal role in planning because they have real consequences and often result in tangible action. Plans, with the support of strong visualizations, communicate visions that inspire communities, provide agendas that enable commitment, establish policies that automate decisions, and offer designs that consider outcomes and strategies that take into account interdependent actions (Hopkins 2001; McClendon et al. 2003). Visualizations offer opportunities for improved communication throughout the planning process (Metze 2020; Eppler and Platts 2009).

Here are some examples of how StoryMaps are being used in the urban planning field:

The Vulnerability of Historic Structures in Nantucket, MA (2023) by Elizabeth Mitchell

This StoryMap was made for a Duke University course on Coastal GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Elizabeth analyzed Nantucket’s historic structures to identify those most vulnerable to sea level rise, and conducted a simple analysis to recommend structures that Nantucket may want to prioritize protecting.

StoryMaps use a swipe block to visualize two different layers of data side by side. In this project, the StoryMap visualized hurricanes and sea level rise exposure together. This function allows users to compare the two layers and see how they overlap. To learn more about the swipe block, visit this website.

Mapping Impervious Surfaces (2021) by Lauren Caffe

Lauren mapped impervious surfaces in Camden, Maine, using remote sensing to map the percentage of impervious surface per parcel for a small coastal community that is susceptible to sea level rise and intense rain events. Her suggestions for improving stormwater management and promoting sustainable growth in Camden are presented at the end of the StoryMap.

StoryMaps can be customized like other websites, presenting different text styles and media. The example above also shows how quote blocks can be used. To learn more about customizing StoryMaps, visit this website.

Feel Free (To Be Cost Burdened) (2021) by Deanie Anyangwe, Katie Hillis, Pierce Holloway, Jo Kwon, Eve Lettau, Justin Nolan, Lauren Prunkl, Henry Read, Duncan Richey, & Marielle Saunders

This StoryMap was created for the Zoning for Equity course, offered across six US graduate planning schools and awarded a 2023 curriculum design award from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. It discusses zoning reform in Carrboro, North Carolina, and the policies that Carrboro has implemented to address this issue. However, the StoryMap also suggests that more efforts are needed.

StoryMaps’ express map function enables users to add points and create narratives for specific locations, including extra information. To learn more about the express maps, visit this website.

Assessing Savannah (2020) by Katie Burket, Eve Lettau, & Sam Stites

This StoryMap was created for a project in Urban Spatial Structures, a course offered at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It assesses Savannah, Georgia, discussing its history, demographics, transportation, industries, climate change, and offering policy recommendations.

The sidecar function creates an immersive experience by allowing users to slide horizontally, changing the narrative from vertical. With this tool, different narratives can be told, such as the diverse history of Savannah’s transportation. To learn more about the sidecar function, visit this website.

The Use of GIS for the Adaptive Reuse of Historical Sites: A Study of the Durham Belt Line Trail (2018) by Jo Kwon

This StoryMap was created as a project for a Master’s thesis at Duke University. The project examines the evolution of urban redevelopment, presents relevant studies of adaptive reuse, delves into Durham’s tobacco history, and discusses a digital trail of the Durham Belt Line Trail (now Durham Rail Trail) that reflects a comprehensive narrative of the city’s past, present, and future.

3D models and 3D billboards of 2D photographs can be incorporated into StoryMaps to enhance the storytelling experience. While the digital billboards contain 2D images, their inclusion allows viewers to gain a perspective of the buildings and trails from an actual person’s viewpoint, adding a human-scale element to the visuals. Moreover, comparing digital billboards across different years and examples creates an analogous experience that facilitates understanding and comparison. To learn more about 3D objects in StoryMaps, visit this website.

Citations

Eppler, Martin J., and Ken W. Platts. 2009. “Visual Strategizing.” Long Range Planning 42 (1): 42–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2008.11.005.

Hopkins, Lewis D. 2001. Urban Development: The Logic Of Making Plans. Washington DC: Island Press.

McClendon, Bruce W, Ernest Erber, Margarita McCoy, and Israel Stollman. 2003. “A Bold Vision and a Brand Identity for the Planning Profession,” 13.

Metze, Tamara. 2020. “Visualization in Environmental Policy and Planning: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda.” Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning 22 (5): 745–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2020.1798751.

Jo (Joungwon) Kwon is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of City and Regional Planning, driven by a deep interest in exploring the applications of visualizations in planning. Since joining CPJ in 2019, she has worked actively as an editor. With a diverse academic background in Statistics and English Literature, she holds an M.A. in Computational Media from Duke University. In her free time, she enjoys watching indie films, attending live performances, pursuing climbing adventures, and drinking a good cup of coffee.

Edited by Kathryn Cunningham

Featured image: ArcGIS StoryMaps. Photo Credit: https://storymaps.arcgis.com

Wrestling with Equity: Dr. Jamaal Green Returns to DCRP

February 7, 2023 / odrozd

By Lance Gloss, Editor-in-Chief

Many research projects in urban planning address status quo conditions in government. Jamaal Green, Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, breathes new life into this format by focusing on the critical questions of who wins, and who loses, when governments choose business-as-usual.

Dr. Green returned to his alma mater of Carolina Planning to deliver a well-attended address, sponsored by CPJ and Angles, DCRP DEI, and DCRP’s Planning in Practice Speaker Series. He engaged the crowd with a tale of two projects he took on while working at the State of Oregon’s Office of Reporting, Research, Analytics and Implementation (ORRAI) in the Department of Human Services (DHS). A vibrant discussion ensued.

DHS’ Family Reunification Decision Support Tool

The first case dealt with a forward-thinking effort to revise DHS’ Family Reunification Decision Support Tool. DHS staff use this tool to make life-altering decisions about whether children enter state-supervised care or return to their families. Dr. Green and his colleagues recognized that the algorithm behind the Decision Support Tool was more likely to misclassify risk for Black and indigenous kids than for their white counterparts.

To address this disparity, ORRAI developed a “fairness correction score” to manage racial bias. This novel approach used a standardized method for error rate balancing. This adjusted the algorithmic result to ensure that misclassification risk was equal across racial groups, thereby eliminating the structural disparity and changing the lives of many children. The adjustment was recently phased out due to concerns over newer, similar adjustments in California and Pennsylvania that received negative attention. However, Dr. Green cites innovation as a serious step toward fairer governance.

Cannabis Dispensaries in Oregon and Washington

In the second case, Dr. Green shared findings on the spatial distribution of legal and gray market cannabis dispensaries in Oregon and Washington. By mapping these dispensaries and testing their prevalence against demographic indicators, Dr. Green showed that higher poverty, higher unemployment, and higher numbers of people of color correlated with cannabis sales locations.

This problem is multi-faceted in ways that suggest to Dr. Green a need to liberalize zoning regulations that pertain to cannabis sales. The confounding variable, he noted, was likely to be zoning. Because wealthier and whiter neighborhoods tend to have less commercial zoning, they end up with fewer dispensaries. This resulted in an unequal distribution of the social costs of cannabis sales.

Dr. Green said that dispensaries should be allowed to locate in more zones and under fewer restrictions to lessen the exposure differential. This would allow dispensaries to locate where their markets are; as there is evidence that marijuana use does not correspond with income or race—unlike the location of dispensaries—liberalizing the regulations should be enough to reduce the disparity. The question is whether the wealthy and the white also bear the social costs of cannabis sales.

The brilliance of Dr. Green’s lecture came in his comparison of the cases. On close examination, these two remedies for racial disparities are structural opposites. In the DHS case, an algorithm functions in a biased manner and must be normalized to reduce this bias. In the cannabis dispensary case, overregulation in the absence of a market failure causes biased outcomes. The remedy in that case was liberalization, not a targeted tightening of rules. In this way, the cases serve as a critical lesson for planners interested in fairness and equity. Similar goals cannot always be achieved with similar tools. Recognizing the details and the mechanisms at hand must precede intervention, lest a misguided move worsens the problem.

As Measured Against…

The professor also pointed to another subtext that spans both cases. In researching these topics, he found what many of us in the planning profession encounter: the use of whiteness as what Dr. Green called the “ur-reference.” That is, studies of this kind tend to measure problems for people of color relative to a normative baseline associated with conditions for white people. This results in the recurrent “non-white” category.

In these cases, Dr. Green urged a different view, in which whiteness is seen as the intervention on the landscape. The DHS algorithm may have been structurally biased to promote the safety of white children when the true norm is miscalculated risk. Dispensary zoning may have been crafted (intentionally or not) to protect white neighborhoods when the true norm is market-driven location choices. While by no means a definitive treatise on racial reference points, Dr. Green left the many students and faculty in attendance with a provocative reframing. This degree of innovative thinking certainly explains his rapid rise to prominence since graduating from DCRP. We are grateful to the professor for sharing his time and expertise.

Lance is a second-generation urban planner with a passion for economic development strategies that center natural resource conservation and community uplift. He served as Managing Editor of the Urban Journal at Brown University, Section Editor at the College Hill Independent, and Senior Planner for the City of Grand Junction. Hailing from sunny Colorado, he earned his BA in Urban Studies at Brown and will earn his Master in City and Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2023. Outside of work, he can be found on his bicycle, in the woods, or on the rugby pitch.

Edited by Jo Kwon

Featured Image by Jo Kwon

Reflections of the Center for Urban & Regional Studies (CURS)’s Roundtable on Governance and Smart Cities

October 4, 2022 / odrozd

By Jo Kwon

Last week, the Center for Urban & Regional Studies (CURS) at UNC hosted a roundtable on Governance and Smart Cities. This offered a perfect preview of the topics that will be addressed in Volume 48 of the Carolina Planning Journal, entitled Urban Analytics: Capabilities and Critiques. The roundtable included Prof. Päivi Korpisaari from the University of Helsinki, Prof. Anne Klinefelter from the UNC School of Law, Dr. Arcot Rajasekar from UNC School of Information and Library Science, Kevin Webb from Open Transportation Partnership & SharedStreets, and Prof. Nikhil Kaza from the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning.

Prof. Korpisaari ‘s presentation on “How to govern & process personal data in Smart Cities?” gave an overview of possible solutions and outstanding questions like who takes control of the data, and how citizens participate in data governance. She shared that, in the European Union (EU), this conversation revolves around the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This data protection law, adopted in 2016, gives EU citizens the “Right to be Forgotten” [1]. It also defined ‘pseudonymisation’ as personal data that is not associated with any specific data subject, and that ensures personal data cannot be traced to an identified or identifiable natural person [2]. In this way, the GDPR has created a provisional compromise in this fast-evolving field, shaping European countries’ laws around data. The law regulates corporations and cities but also enables them to use data with pseudonymization. The GDPR’s reach also appears to be expanding, with more tech companies being fined and new countries joining and leaving the EU.

Appropriately, this roundtable on European law hosted at a US university quickly evolved into a conversation about the differences between the US and EU approaches to data privacy. While the EU countries have a unified law, the US has a variety of laws—or, in some realms, no laws—addressing aspects of data protection. By way of example, Prof. Klinefelter mentioned an Illinois court’s April 2022 decision on biometric data. The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that photographs of faces are biometric identifiers and will be regulated [3]. But this decision affects only Illinois, while biometric data laws otherwise differ from state to state. California, Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and North Carolina all regulate biometric data, but even these states have different understandings of the term and its applications [3][4].

All of these regulatory discrepancies among states and countries can create immense challenges for organizations that want to process data for Smart City applications. With no unification of rules, some jurisdictions may be favored by businesses, while others may be isolated. For example, states without or with flexible biometric laws can collect more data with photos, build more accurate records or use the data for research. Stricter states may miss out on advancing technology or research, but may benefit from precaution in other ways. Moreover, in this dynamic field, even a unified rule—nationwide or globally—may not ensure that data will be protected. As planners or future planners, how can we think critically when it comes to data usage, data processing, and newly built Smart Cities? These are some places to start:

Acknowledge the importance of protecting personal information;
Understand the differing definitions of terms such as data, data processing, transparency, and smart cities used by various cities, states, and countries;
Recognize that these new regulations will have to be versatile with the imperfect foresight of the constant changing technology;
Consider the desirability or necessity of a unified regulatory approach such as the GDPR that could be applied globally;
Reflect on how cultures of privacy and of data usage differ among states and countries; and,
Explore the role of city governments in data protection in smart cities.

If you’d like to learn more about CURS, check out the CURS website. If you’d like to explore some examples of smart cities and urban analytic posts, check out the previous post on Chapel Hill as the Next Smart Town and Machine Learning and Planning Research: How Each Can Push the Other’s Frontiers.

Citations

[1] European Union. n.d. “General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance Guidelines.” GDPR.Eu. Accessed September 28, 2022. https://gdpr.eu/.

[2] European Union. 2016. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance) 88.

[3] Baker Botts LLP. 2022. “Photographs No Longer Excluded under BIPA, Illinois’ Biometric Law.” Baker Botts. May 31, 2022. https://www.bakerbotts.com/thought-leadership/publications/2022/may/photographs-no-longer-excluded-under-bipa-illinois-biometric-law.

[4] Frost Brown Todd. 2019. “Collecting Biometric Data: What You Need to Know – Frost Brown Todd | Full-Service Law Firm.” Frost Brown Todd. August 9, 2019. https://frostbrowntodd.com/collecting-biometric-data-what-you-need-to-know/.

Jo (Joungwon) Kwon is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of City and Regional Planning. She is interested in using visuals in plans, specifically in environmental planning. She has been a part of CPJ since 2019. With a background in Statistics and English Literature, she received her M.A. in Computational Media at Duke University. In her free time, she enjoys watching indie films, going to live performances, and drinking good coffee.

Edited by Lance Gloss

Featured image: Roundtable Presentation

What are the Urbanists Listening to?

August 30, 2022 / odrozd

By Emma Vinella-Brusher

Looking for some podcasts to listen to while walking to class, doing chores, or avoiding homework? Check out some of our favorite urbanist (or urbanist-adjacent) podcasts and featured episodes below. And if you’re looking for, even more, our September 2020 post includes a few more recommendations.

99% Invisible
323- The House that Came in the Mail Again
Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we’ve just stopped noticing. 99% Invisible is a weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture.

Starting in 1908, the company that offered America everything, Sears, began offering what just might be its most audacious product line ever: houses.

Decoder Ring (Slate Podcasts)
The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall)
Decoder Ring is a show about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode, host Willa Paskin takes a cultural question, object, or habit; examines its history; and tries to figure out what it means and why it matters.

In this episode, author Alexandra Lange explains the atriums, escalators, and food courts of the singular suburban space of the mall.

How to Save a Planet (Gimlet)
Make Biking Cool (Again)!
Join us, journalist Alex Bumberg and a crew of climate nerds, as we bring you smart, inspiring stories about the climate change mess we’re in and how we can get ourselves out of it.

In this episode, the hosts look at how cycling developed its dorky reputation and counter it with some propaganda of their own.

Next City (Straw Hut Media)
The Business That’s Owned by an Idea
Each week Lucas Grindley, executive director at Next City, will sit down with trailblazers to discuss urban issues that get overlooked. At the end of the day, it’s all about focusing the world’s attention on the good ideas that we hope will grow.

This episode discusses Artisan Firebrand Bakery, an Oakland bakery owned by a “perpetual purpose trust” where the majority owner is the business’ mission itself.

Our Body Politic (Diaspora Farms)
How Building & Maintaining Community Makes a Healthier Society for All

Created and hosted by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya, Our Body Politic is unapologetically centered on reporting on not just how women of color experience the major political events of today, but how they’re impacting those very issues.

This episode features author Dr. Marisa Franco, who shares insights on the mental and physical benefits of social interactions and community building and how in times of loneliness, people are prone to inadvertently sabotage these critical bonds.

Outside Podcast
Forces of Good: The Gearhead Librarian Who Revived a Town

Outside’s longstanding literary storytelling tradition comes to life in audio with features that will entertain, inspire, and inform listeners.

This episode presents the story of a very enterprising librarian who came to a struggling town in Maine and took action on a novel idea: What if, in addition to loaning books, we started lending outdoor gear?

Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast (The Overhead Wire)
Episode 345: The Heat is On

Jeff Wood of The Overhead Wire interviews public officials and advocates about transportation and urban planning policy.

This episode features Dr. V Kelly Turner, Director of Urban Environment Research at UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation, and covers how to think about, measure, and regulate urban heat.

The War on Cars
The Pedestrian

The War on Cars brings you news and commentary on the latest developments in the worldwide fight to under a century’s worth of damage wrought by the automobile and to make cities better.

In this episode, the hosts take a look back at author Ray Bradbury’s dystopian vision in his short story “Pedestrian” and talk about how walking contributes to our essential humanity, and what we lose when we build environments that make it impossible for people to walk.

Technopolis
Battery City

Technopolis is a podcast from CityLab about how cities are changing with new technology.

In this episode, the hosts have a discussion with John Zahurancik from Fluence Energy and Rushad Nanavatty of Rocky Mountain Institute on renewable energy for future cities.

What else should we be listening to? Share your recommendations in the comments below!

Emma Vinella-Brusher is a third-year dual degree Master’s student in City and Regional Planning and Public Health interested in equity, mobility, and food security. Born and raised in Oakland, CA, she received her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from Carleton College before spending four years at the U.S. Department of Transportation in Cambridge, MA. In her free time, Emma enjoys running, bike rides, live music, and laughing at her own jokes.

Featured image: a collage of podcasts

UNC’s Community Workshop Series (CWS)

August 9, 2022 / odrozd

By Rachael Brittain

Managing our day to day lives is becoming increasingly difficult without the use of modern technology. However, approximately 32 million people in the United States do not have the skills to confidently navigate and utilize computers [1]. Computer skills are increasingly fundamental in K-12 schools, with much of a child’s educational experience built around technology and internet use. Adults who did not have the benefit of learning these skills while they were young are experiencing an increasing digital divide between themselves and the younger generation. That said, this issue is not limited to one demographic. As technology continues to evolve everyone requires continual education and assistance to remain digitally literate. The Community Workshop Series (CWS) works to close the digital divide and provide assistance to those in our community who are learning computer fundamentals for the first time and those looking to expand their current knowledge.

Learning to use technology and building essential skills can be difficult without the proper resources. Investing in digital literacy benefits not only the individual but the community. Being able to access computers and the internet increases a community’s civic engagement and people use technology to search for information about their local government; public transportation options; information about voting and upcoming elections; new economic opportunities; and most companies require an online application from prospective employees. The internet reduces the amount of time spent searching for a job and makes it easier to see what positions are available. A basic level of computer literacy is a common job expectation, and an online presence increases visibility for small businesses. Healthcare providers are increasing their use of online forms for patients and online portals are used to create appointments and connect doctors with their patients [2]. Local and global news resources are widely available online, making finding and evaluating this information more critical than ever. These resources and opportunities are cut off for those lacking computer skills.

The Community Workshop Series works with local libraries to host classes to increase digital literacy in the community. University students volunteer to teach classes that provide basic tech skills and computer fundamentals; internet searching, how to use programs, online job searching, evaluating online sources, email basics, smartphones, Google applications, and more based on community needs. Through direct interaction with the community, CWS continuously adjust classes to ensure they are valuable to participants and responsive to their needs. Recently, CWS has been able to begin offering computer basics courses in Spanish to better serve the surrounding community in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Durham. CWS serves the community through digital literacy and improving information access and provides local university students with an opportunity for service learning. Students teach classes, help develop and update curriculum, and work directly with communities to help close the digital divide.

To learn more about the Community Workshop Series or volunteer opportunities, please visit our website https://cws.web.unc.edu/ or contact us directly at silscommunityworkshopseries@gmail.com or rbritta@ad.unc.edu.

Citations

[1] Kendall Latham, “Empower Communities to Strengthen Their Digital Literacy Skills,” Dell Technologies Social Impact Blog, June 27, 2022. https://www.dell.com/en-us/blog/empower-communities-to-strengthen-their-digital-literacy-skills/

[2] Colorado State Library, “Benefits of a Digitally Literate Community,” (infographic), 2013. https://www.maine.gov/msl/libs/tech/diglit/benefits.pdf

Rachael Brittain is the Coordinator of CWS and a second year Library Science student with a concentration in Archives and Records Management at UNC’s School of Library and Information Science. She has an interest in material preservation and community engagement. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Any spare moments are spent reading, listening to music, and hiking.

Edited by Jo Kwon

Featured Image: CWS Logo. Photo Credit: Jess Epsten

Volume 48 Call for Papers

June 29, 2022 / odrozd

By Carolina Planning Journal

URBAN ANALYTICS: CAPABILITIES AND CRITIQUES

“In a world where we all will be living in some form of city by the end of this century, a new city science and a new urban analytics is of increasing relevance.”
—Michael Batty
“Will we be able to invent different modes of measuring that might open up the possibility of a different aesthetics, a different politics of inhabiting the Earth, of repairing and sharing the planet?”
—Achille Mbembe

Our cities are now wired together by technologies that produce vast troves of data. The reach of the internet and the ubiquity of digital devices have been matched by the growth of a computational toolset for analyzing these newly-available data. This presents a compelling opportunity for planners, who have always applied data to decision-making. Planners now apply robust analytical methods to address community problems with greater precision and reach.

These new tools permit a clearer picture of the urban world. They may enable new efﬁciencies in the delivery of urban services. Like all technologies, however, these tools present risks. Bias enters analytics in ways that are difﬁcult to trace. Concerns arise over privacy and surveillance. Widespread reliance on these technologies has already demonstrated threats to democratic processes.

In Volume 48 of the Carolina Planning Journal, we pause to assess the moment. What should we make of this wealth of data? Perhaps it will lead us into a new era of technocratic decision-making and revive conﬂicts over the right to the city. Or perhaps democratized access to these tools will help communities resolve longstanding conﬂicts over urban governance.

What longed-for outcomes will be made possible? How will the perils be managed?

Students, professionals, and researchers from a range of disciplines are invited to submit abstracts that explore the application of data analytics to urban governance and the design of cities. Suggested topics include (but are not restricted to):

ENERGY, such as the real-time monitoring of energy grids and power consumption.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, such as the use of data visualization in community processes.
TRANSPORTATION, such as the live tracking of public transit use.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, such as the expansion of decentralized digital currencies.
HOUSING, such as the automated review of public housing applications.
ENVIRONMENT, such as the pursuit of sustainable value chains.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
By August 12, 2022, interested authors should submit a two-page proposal. Proposals should include a title, description of the proposed topic and its signiﬁcance, a brief summary of the literature or landscape, and a preliminary list of references (not counted toward the two-page limit). Final papers typically do not exceed 3,000 words. Submit proposals and questions to CarolinaPlanningJournal@gmail.com.

By September 16, 2022, Carolina Planning Journal will notify authors regarding their proposals. Drafts of full papers will be due by December and editors will work with authors on drafts of their papers over the course of the winter. The print version of the Journal will be published in the Spring of 2023. Carolina Planning Journal reserves the right to edit articles accepted for publication, subject to the author’s approval, for length, style, and content considerations.

Please submit proposals and questions to CarolinaPlanningJournal@gmail.com

Chapel Hill: the Next Smart Town?

July 22, 2021 / odrozd

By Jo Kwon

With the introduction of new technologies and the pandemic forcing many people to work from home, the media has increasingly used the term “smart cities.” There will be more smart cities worldwide in the coming years, from Toyota’s Woven City to Copenhagen Connecting. However, some have also been scrapped, like Google’s Sidewalk Toronto project, due to the economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19.[i] So what are smart cities? The term is a buzzword, but most people are not sure what it means. Does it simply mean that smart cities are more intelligent than previous cities? What does it mean to be smart? Is Chapel Hill a smart city?

Many institutions have come up with different definitions. Urban planning news site Planetizen states, “A smart city uses information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance its livability, workability, and sustainability.”[ii] Moreover, smart cities bring technology, economy, mobility, environment, people, and government together.[iii] This technology includes apps for real time data, such as leaf collection or free public Wi-Fi. The concept of smart cities encompasses the use of technologies in cities to increase connectivity in various sectors.

Cities have been eager to implement new technologies due to the benefits of efficiently connecting different city sectors,[iv] reducing environmental footprints,[v] improving public transportation,[vi] and increasing economic development,[vii] digital equity,[viii] and more. However, there are also concerns related to smart cities. Some significant issues are surveillance,[ix] security,[x] data bias,[xi] and the digital divide impacting smart city residents.[xii] Cities also have difficulty creating and connecting infrastructures, consistently updating new technologies, and collaborating with the private sector.[xiii]^{, [xiv]}

The Town of Chapel Hill is also envisioning itself as a smart town, and has embedded parts of the smart cities initiatives into projects such as the technology solution business plan and the West Rosemary Street Development.[xv] The Town has also participated in AT&T’s Spotlight City project to develop a smart cities framework, and encouraged North Carolina Science Festival participants to use the iNaturalist app to identify plants and animals in Pritchard Park and share knowledge on insects in Chapel Hill. Additionally, Chapel Hill uses sensors to offer real-time, mobile-friendly data on adverse weather activity, leaf collection, and street maintenance. The Town continues to further smart city initiatives by providing internet access for residents and businesses, adding electric vehicle charging stations, implementing parking deck sensors, increasing cyber asset security, and more.

Chapel Hill’s Mobile-Friendly Street Maintenance

As cities and towns become “smart,” resident participation is vital in order for any plans to incorporate their concerns and ensure an equitable approach. Several cities are committed to developing smart city plans with equity goals, such as Portland’s Smart City PDX.[xvi] As the future of Chapel Hill moves towards a smart city model, it will be necessary to start talking about digital equity in order for Chapel Hill to become the next smart equitable town.

If you would like to know more about smart cities and Chapel Hill’s smart cities initiatives, or want to offer input, please visit Smart Town.

[i] Cecco, Leyland. 2020. “Google Affiliate Sidewalk Labs Abruptly Abandons Toronto Smart City Project.” The Guardian. Technology.

[ii] Planetizen Courses. 2020. What Is a Smart City?

[iii] Ahvenniemi, Hannele, Aapo Huovila, Isabel Pinto-Seppä, and Miimu Airaksinen. 2017. “What Are the Differences between Sustainable and Smart Cities?” Cities 60 (February): 234–45.

[iv] Remes, Homi Kharas and Jaana. 2018. “Can Smart Cities Be Equitable?” Brookings.

[v] Johnson, Katie. 2018. “Environmental Benefits of Smart City Solutions – Foresight.”

[vi] “Secure, Sustainable Smart Cities and the IoT.” 2020. Thales Group.

[vii] “Can Smart City Technology Supercharge Economic Development in Urban Areas?” 2018. IntechnologySmartCities.

[viii] Horrigan, John B. 2019. “Smart Cities and Digital Equity.” National Digital Inclusion Alliance.

[ix] Zoonen, Liesbet van. 2016. “Privacy Concerns in Smart Cities.” Government Information Quarterly, Open and Smart Governments: Strategies, Tools, and Experiences, 33 (3): 472–80.

[x] Elmaghraby, Adel S., and Michael M. Losavio. 2014. “Cyber Security Challenges in Smart Cities: Safety, Security and Privacy.” Journal of Advanced Research, Cyber Security, 5 (4): 491–97.

[xi] Hao, Karen. 2019. “A US Government Study Confirms Most Face Recognition Systems Are Racist.” MIT Technology Review, December 20, 2019.

[xii] Shenglin, Ben, Felice Simonelli, Zhang Ruidong, Romain Bosc, and Li Wenwei. 2017. “Digital Infrastructure: Overcoming the Digital Divide in Emerging Economies.” G20 Insights.

[xiii] Stone, Sydney. 2018. “Key Challenges of Smart Cities & How to Overcome Them.” Ubidots Blog.

[xiv] McKinsey. 2019. “Public-Private Partnership: Smart City.”

[xv] “Town of Chapel Hill, NC.” n.d. Town of Chapel Hill. Accessed June 15, 2021.

[xvi] City of Portland. n.d. “Guiding Principles Smart City PDX.” Smart City PDX. Accessed June 15, 2021.

Jo (Joungwon) Kwon is a Ph.D. student in the Department of City and Regional Planning. She hopes to interweave various data sets and narratives of housing and communities together with new digital technologies. With a background in Statistics and English Literature, she received her M.A. in Computational Media at Duke University. In her free time, she enjoys watching indie movies, going to live performances, and drinking good coffee.

Edited by Emma Vinella-Brusher, Managing Editor

All images courtesy of author

Category: Urban Technology

Unleash the Power of Storytelling with ArcGIS StoryMaps

Wrestling with Equity: Dr. Jamaal Green Returns to DCRP

Reflections of the Center for Urban & Regional Studies (CURS)’s Roundtable on Governance and Smart Cities

By Jo Kwon

What are the Urbanists Listening to?

By Emma Vinella-Brusher

UNC’s Community Workshop Series (CWS)

Volume 48 Call for Papers

By Carolina Planning Journal

Chapel Hill: the Next Smart Town?

By Jo Kwon

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