Juliette Davret, postdoctoral researcher within Data Stories project, took part in the AMS Scientific Conference from 23 to 25 April 2024. In the second edition of “Reinventing the City”, the overarching theme was “Blueprints for messy cities? Navigating the interplay of order and messiness”. In three captivating days, they explored ‘The good, the bad, and the ugly’, ‘Amazing discoveries’ and ‘We are the city’.
DAY 1: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The first day of the AMS Scientific Conference primarily focused on messiness: the various aspects of urban development and innovation. “The good” refers to success stories and positive developments in cities. “The bad” relates to challenges and issues that cities face, and “the ugly” pertains to less attractive aspects of urban development. This theme explored how cities, both in terms of space and users, are evolving in positive and negative ways.
On this first day, Juliette presented a paper entitled “Counting matters, but how we count matters too: considering the spatial and data politics of homelessness”. Building upon the insightful work of Cobham (2020), which underscores the significance of what we count, this paper argues that the methods employed in counting are just as crucial. As demonstrated by Cobham (2020), policies and decisions are underpinned by evidential data; thus, being excluded from these datasets equates to being overlooked. This paper delves into the analysis of homelessness counts and considerations in Ireland, aiming to illustrate how counting methodologies lead to significant underestimations of the homeless population. Utilizing a critical data approached combined with interviews of state and NGO stakeholders, this paper seeks to document and reconsider the political, social and spatial implications of homelessness data flows and their implications for homelessness and housing policies. In the context of digitization, it highlights the data politics of administering homeless services, inaccessibility of census services, the lack of coordination among data-collection organizations and financial and resource constraints that contribute to fragmented efforts and the underrepresentation of the most marginalized populations. The paper contends that achieving a more comprehensive understanding of homelessness is essential for informing effective policies and interventions to address this humanitarian crisis. By exploring the intricacies of counting methodologies and their impact, it aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on the importance of robust data collection in shaping policies that truly reflect the realities of homelessness.
This paper was presented during a session on ‘Data for Inclusivity’ in which participants discussed the lack of certain datasets to support city governance.
DAY 2: AMAZING DISCOVERIES
The second day of the conference concentrated on pioneering research and innovations, both technical and social in the field of urban renewal and sustainability. Participants presented and discussed news and exciting discoveries that have a positive impact on urban areas. The focus was on areas such as mobility, food, circularity, energy, climate resilience, and smart city.
DAY 3: WE ARE THE CITY
This theme emphasised that the people living and working in cities play an essential role in urban renewal and development. This can involve community engagement, citizen participation, public-private partnerships, and the importance of involving all stakeholders in the city.
On the final day, Juliette presented a paper entitled “The role of citizens in the urban planning process: power and inequality through the analysis of data flows”. This presentation discussed how the digitalization of the planning process can potentially improve stakeholders’ involvement. Indeed, digital tools potentially improve interaction between planners and citizens, reduce barriers to participation, encouraging creativity and expression. However, this can only be an improvement if citizens are able to participate effectively. As Rosener (2008) has shown, it is not enough to evaluate the success of participation based on more citizens taking part, but rather its impact, to achieve better public policy. This study examines the challenges faced by citizens in actively participating in the planning process in the digital age through an ethnographic approach of a citizens’ association in Dublin. Specifically, this paper investigates how citizens strive to gather and mobilize data and integrate themselves into the planning system to voice their opinions, particularly during the planning appeals stage. In the context of the increasing digitization of the planning process, this paper scrutinizes the data flow within the system and its implications for citizen interaction within the planning and building control process. Additionally, this research examines how citizens leverage data to pursue collective or personal goals, probing the extent of their influence on the planning process. By demonstrating the significance of citizen engagement, this makes it possible to assess its impact on transparency and accountability, shedding light on biases in participation. The paper discusses power inequalities within the planning process, underscoring that only a minority of citizens familiar with the process are actively involved. This analysis encourages reflection on open data and transparency on the generation, flow, and analysis of planning data, and how citizen participation can be enhanced and equitably distributed in the age of digitized urban planning.
This paper was presented during a session on ‘Digital Tools for Cities (Digitalization)’ in which participants presented different tools to improve the digitalization of urban planning or to reflect on the challenges of digitalization.
Conference website: https://reinventingthecity24.dryfta.com/
References:
Cobham, A., 2020. The uncounted. Polity press, Cambridge Medford, Mass.
Rosener, J. B. (2008). Citizen Participation: Can We Measure Its Effectiveness? In The Age of Direct Citizen Participation. Routledge.