Surveillance cameras, sensors, radar, GPS … These tools are used by all the world’s cities to anticipate various types of circulation, to analyze the patterns of citizens and to predict urban development policy. But they are also expensive and deliver only limited information. CurrentCity however is a project that permits the understanding of the global dynamics at work in urban cities, based on data from networks such as mobile phone operators.
The project builds on a simple reality: almost all urban dwellers have mobile phones. Together, they create a network in perpetual motion. The data obtained from operators can be extracted and made anonymous. We can then obtain a digital map on which the raw data appear as dots of color. The intensity of these illuminated spots may indicate the speed and density of individuals present in different places: it takes the pulse of the city in real time.
The foundation CurrentCity is based on research from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which presented a prototype in 2005 that studied the activity of the city of Rome with a dynamic map created using this method. “The major objective is to provide cities with the keys to managing their territory in the long-term and tailored to their problems”, said Euro Beinat, co-founder of the Foundation and a researcher at the University of Salzburg, Austria.
Today, the application is mature enough to be applied across an entire city. It has already been tested on a large scale in Amsterdam.
Valuable information to organize the city of tomorrow
Applying filters to the raw or overlapping data, the application can open up a world of possibilities to many organizations. Transit authorities could adapt the movement of buses to correctly serve the flow of passengers in real time. Taxi companies could enable better distribution of their fleet. During public gatherings, the authorities could more easily intervene in the case of incident.
The system could also be used in the future to help build more sustainable cities: ideally, traffic would be optimized, congestion reduced to virtually nothing, its inhabitants serene and their environment preserved. City planners could also use this type of tool to adjust local development plans based on the circulation and habits of people. Finally, politicians could find statistical arguments to justify and push through sometimes unpopular development projects.
No invasion of privacy
We already hear the cries of civil liberties defenders and residents worry about possible abuses. While it is sound and logical to consider these questions, Euro Beinat reminds us that we are already surrounded by objects communicating in a global network: “personal data has no place in this project. We are interested rather in the opportunity to learn from masses of information for the harmonious development of cities“.
Some countries will have an easier time convincing society and we already know that cities in the United Kingdom, Austria and Italy have expressed interest. Costs, unfortunately “are impossible to determine in advance,” says Euro Beinat, “they depend on the needs and the size of the city“. And agreements with local telephone operators, who may see this innovation as an attractive source of income.
Activity Rome’s mobile phone network during the FIFA World Cup final.
To know more about the innovation presented in this article, please contact us at the following address: contact@innovcity.com
Translated by Genny Cortinovis
Related content : MIT, network, real time, telecommunication
