On 17th October 2025, Juliette Davret, Helen Shaw and Carla Maria Kayanan hosted a workshop in Dublin entitled Collaborative Urban Planning with Data, organised as part of the Data Stories project (phase 2). Helen Shaw (artist in residence within Data Stories project for 2025) led the workshop, with Eimear McNally (graphic visual reporter) supporting her. 

The purpose of the case study was to investigate how data informed the City Edge strategic framework and implementation. Following a site visit, 16 stakeholder interviews, desk-based research and an analysis of 37 datasets, the City Edge case study team invited past and present stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of City Edge to a workshop where we could share findings, explore how data shapes urban planning and discuss how we can work better together to plan our cities.

What is City Edge?  

City Edge is a strategic planning project for an area between Dublin City Council and South Dublin City Council. Like many urban planning projects, it involves multiple stakeholders: local authorities, consultants and state agencies. Our research team has been studying how data is collected, shared and use throughout this planning process. 

The video below, which was used by Helen to open the workshop, provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities of the site. 

Findings from our research (to date)  

The research revealed four critical challenges around data governance and the use of data for urban planning in Ireland:  

1. Data standardisation: Stakeholders use different formats to collect information. This challenges data sharing and creates delays in the planning process. Without a common approach to data governance, it is difficult to plan an integrated urban project.
2. Data reliability:  Many stakeholders told the researchers that they struggle to access accurate, up-to-date information. Some datasets disappear entirely, while others are difficult to obtain (e.g. additional fee charge). These situations can also hinder the successful roll out of a project, whether it is in the beginning during the fact-finding stage or nearer to the implementation stage.
3. Data gaps: Key datasets are often incomplete or outdated. Information about tree canopy coverage, habitat mapping, hedgerow data and landscape character assessments is missing or poorly maintained. This finding complements another Data Stories case study (with the CSO), which recently lead to a publication on the property and planning data ecosystem in Ireland. This inconsistency in data reveals that environmental and social values, like biodiversity loss or community well-being, are hard to measure and and/or to integrate into planning models.
4. Data culture: The researchers discovered limited data literacy across public bodies. This highlights the need to invest not only in data systems but also in the people who understand and manage them.

Additionally, the relationship between local authorities and consultants reveals how consultants currently work with data and raises important questions about the relationship between consultants and local authorities and how these relationships can become more collaborative and innovative. While consultants bring valuable expertise in analysis and scenario development, there is value in ensuring some of these exist and are maintained within local planning departments.  

The workshop: Mapping, Designing and Planning  

Helen started the workshop by welcoming all participants and asking individuals to introduce themselves. This was followed by drone footage of the City Edge planning area. Juliette presented a brief overview of research findings, keeping the presentation tightly focused on data culture and governance. Then, Helen facilitated the main workshop activity through the use of a systems analysis tool called Value Network Mapping and the Berkana Two Loops model – a framework for understanding systems in transition – to encourage the discussion.

Participants identified key roles, relationships and challenges in the planning process. Together, they explored what barriers and opportunities exist and envisioned new ways of working together. Throughout the morning, participants shared their experiences and feedback on both the research findings and the collaborative process.  

Eimear McNally, a graphic visual reporter, captured the discussions in real-time, creating a visual record of our conversations.

What happens next?  

The workshop was just the beginning of forthcoming outputs. From a creative perspective, Helen is in the process of conducting one-on-one audio conversations with participants to create a public story about the case study, similar to her previous work on This Is Where We Live. From an academic perspective, the research remains ongoing. We hope to publish further results in the next few months. 

The Data Stories team would like to thank all participants who joined us for this collaborative session.