City Knowledge @ City Lab

The lab focuses first and foremost on the collection, archival, manipulation and analysis of city knowledge including the raw data used for urban maintenance, to the organized information that guides urban management, to the deeper knowledge that inspires urban planning.  Principles of City Knowledge are applied from the middle-out in emergent fashion throughout the sphere of operation of City Lab.

City Knowledge Assessments

The lab will help municipalities conduct a thorough assessment of their city knowledge needs, using the six foundations described in Dr. Carrera’ dissertation:

 

Ø       the “Middle-out approach”

Ø       Distinct informational jurisdictions

Ø       Distributed, atomic data acquisition and organization

Ø       Sustainable update mechanisms

Ø       Institutional and/or voluntary sharing of information

Ø       Interagency coordination

 

Opportunities for efficiency improvements in the farming of City Knowledge are explored using our patented City Knowledge Data Farming Matrix.

Definition of Informational Jurisdictions

The lab will help municipalities define clear and non-overlapping informational jurisdictions as a basis for the city knowledge infrastructure.

Spatial Infrastructure

The lab will help municipalities collect, organize, use and update all of the necessary cartographic support on GIS, including:

±      Boundaries

±      Contours

±      Water

±      Parcels

±      Zoning

±      Blocks

±      Roads

±      Buildings

±      Etc.

Asset Inventories

The lab will carry out or arrange for the collection of fundamental datasets about city assets in order to catch up with the backlog, including:

±      Green Amenities: Trees, Parks and Grounds, etc.

±      Parking: Meters, Lots, Garages and Curb Regulations, etc.

±      Traffic: turning movements, volumes, lights, etc.

±      GASB-34: water and sewers infrastructure, road infrastructure, street lights, fire prevention (hydrants), etc.

±      Facilities:  public buildings, schools, fire stations, police stations, etc.

±      Street Furniture:  benches, waste baskets, bus stops, street lights, etc.

±      Etc.

Municipal Policy Design

The lab will assist municipalities in the development of policies to improve the efficiency and efficacy of municipal services.

Sustainable Update Mechanisms

The lab will assist municipalities in the development of virtuous mechanisms that will guarantee the semi-automatic and low-cost updating of the knowledgebase in perpetuity.

 

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