Tinder for Cities

Urban planning and the property sector are beginning to experience the digital transformation. The City of Santa Monica (CA) attempted to gain public feedback for their new urban plan, on every aspect from benches to lighting and public art. They’re using a smartphone app (CitySwipe) which borrows from Tinder’s swipe-to-choose functionality. Engaging public to gather this data is a difficult task. However, the planning process will better represent the preferences of the target audience, resulting in better urban experiences, and greater local support.

Better site selection using data-driven analysis can also help the private sector. Choosing the right location for a project and understanding the constraints of that site are essential to any development. Applications like CitySwipe and other new analytics approaches improve the process.

There is an immense wealth in property data. Asian portal iProperty.com has used data to offer real estate professionals a dedicated site selection and intelligence tool. Local governments can also help by involving stakeholders in the decision-making process early on, and ultimately reducing project’s risk.

The community, developers and planners need digital tools to achieve improved operational performance, a better end user experience and consequently higher long term value.

References:

Arup (2017) Reimagining property in a digital world. Retrieved from https://www.arup.com/-/media/arup/files/publications/r/reimagining-property-in-a-digital-world-090317.pdf