Papers by Ariel Noyman
EPB: Urban Analytics and City Science, 2019
A fundamental aspect of well performing cities is successful public spaces. For centuries, unders... more A fundamental aspect of well performing cities is successful public spaces. For centuries, understanding these places has been limited to sporadic observations and laborious data collection. This study proposes a novel methodology to analyze citywide, discrete urban spaces using highly accurate anonymized telecom data and machine learning algorithms. Through superposition of human dynamics and urban features, this work aims to expose clear correlations between the design of the city and the behavioral patterns of its users. Geolocated telecom data, obtained for the state of Andorra, were initially analyzed to identify "stay-points"-events in which cellular devices remain within a certain roaming distance for a given length of time. These stay-points were then further analyzed to find clusters of activity characterized in terms of their size, persistence , and diversity. Multivariate linear regression models were used to identify associations between the formation of these clusters and various urban features such as urban morphology or land-use within a 25-50 meters resolution. Some of the urban features that were found to be highly related to the creation of large, diverse and long-lasting clusters were the presence of service and entertainment amenities, natural water features, and the betweenness centrality of the road network; others, such as educational and park amenities were shown to have a negative impact. Ultimately, this study suggests a "reversed urbanism" methodology: an evidence-based approach to urban design, planning, and decision making, in which human behavioral patterns are instilled as a foundational design tool for inferring the success rates of highly performative urban places.
Vibrant public spaces which consistently attract dense and diverse populations while hosting cont... more Vibrant public spaces which consistently attract dense and diverse populations while hosting continuous social activity are an integral part of any successful urban district. The design of such places has motivated the efforts of urban planners and decision makers for centuries. In recent decades, data-driven and analytical approaches to evaluate the performance of public spaces have begun to emerge. In particular, the recent emergence of Location-Based Services data from mobile phones has created opportunities for detailed modelling of urban behavior. Previous applications of such data to urbanism have been exploratory and have occasionally lacked rigorous statistical modelling. In this paper, the relationship between physical and functional characteristics of urban environments and the propensity for dense clusters of activity to form is examined. Activity clusters are identified using a density based clustering algorithm. These clusters are modelled as the realization of an Inhomogeneous Poisson Process (IPP), where the density of the process varies in space in association with the urban features. The IPP intensity was found to be positively associated with amenities such as shopping and entertainment, the availability of parking and bus stops and the presence of natural water features. The intensity was negatively associated with the distance from the city centre and streets and with presence of hotels. Ultimately, this study suggests a methodology of 'reversed urbanism', where statistical relationships can offer an evidence-based approach to urban design, planning and decision making.
AAMAS 2018, July 10-15, 2018, Stockholm, Sweden, 2018
This study proposes a novel information visualization approach developed and deployed in the stat... more This study proposes a novel information visualization approach developed and deployed in the state of Andorra. We present a framework to analyze and represent the flow of people through a multi-level interactive and tangible agent-based visualization. The presented framework, developed to understand Andorra visitor behavior, is embedded in the MIT CityScope framework used for civic engagement, urban development, and decision making.
Procedia Computer Science, 2017
This paper describes the conception, development and deployment of a novel HCI system for public ... more This paper describes the conception, development and deployment of a novel HCI system for public participation and decision-making. This system was applied for the process of allocating refugee accommodation in the City of Hamburg within the FindingPlaces project (FP) in 2016. The CityScope (CS) – a rapid prototyping platform for urban planning and decision-making – offered a technical solution which was complemented by a workshop process to facilitate effective interaction of multiple participants and stakeholder groups. This paper presents the origins of CS and the evolution of the tangible user interface approach to urban planning and public participation. It further outlines technical features of the system, including custom hardware and software in use, utilization in real-time as well as technical constraints and limitations. Special focus is on the adaptation of the CS technology to the specific demands of Hamburg´s FP project, whose procedures, processes, and results are reflected. The final section analyzes success factors as well as shortcomings of the approach, and indicates further R&D as well as application scenarios for the CS. Abstract This paper describes the conception, development and deployment of a novel HCI system for public participation and decision-making. This system was applied for the process of allocating refugee accommodation in the City of Hamburg within the FindingPlaces project (FP) in 2016. The CityScope (CS) – a rapid prototyping platform for urban planning and decision-making – offered a technical solution which was complemented by a workshop process to facilitate effective interaction of multiple participants and stakeholder groups. This paper presents the origins of CS and the evolution of the tangible user interface approach to urban planning and public participation. It further outlines technical features of the system, including custom hardware and software in use, utilization in real-time as well as technical constraints and limitations. Special focus is on the adaptation of the CS technology to the specific demands of Hamburg´s FP project, whose procedures, processes, and results are reflected. The final section analyzes success factors as well as shortcomings of the approach, and indicates further R&D as well as application scenarios for the CS.
Roadmap for Autonomous Cities: Sustainable Transformation of Urban Spaces
Despite the inherent relationship between cars and their physical urban surroundings, many cities... more Despite the inherent relationship between cars and their physical urban surroundings, many cities are hesitant to embrace the impact of autonomous mobility on urban design. Industry leaders envision autonomous vehicles soon penetrating global markets, although the relationship between autonomous vehicles and their urban context has been poorly discussed. Witnessing rapid technological advancement and tardiness of city planning and execution, the proposed research diverts discourse from intrinsic technology of autonomous vehicles to their impact on urban design. This paper offers a review of historical cars-oriented design and the global surrender to car-culture in the past century. Then, it elaborates on different autonomous technologies and their potential impact on urban form. Furthermore, it shares plural plausible future perspectives to initiate a discussion on tangible implications of autonomous vehicles on contemporary cities. Ultimately, this research suggests a preliminary roadmap to the way autonomous mobility might be incorporated within new and existing cities.
There has been an increasing interest in designing tangible user interface (TUI) systems in the c... more There has been an increasing interest in designing tangible user interface (TUI) systems in the context of urban planning. However, little has been done in studying the usability of such systems. In this paper, we present an observational study on a collaborative TUI system to examine the usability of the system in the urban planning process and to investigate its effect on stakeholders’ engagement and decision-making. The study suggests that TUIs and physical objects encourage collaboration and communication among stakeholders, which lead to more informative decisions.
Conference Presentations by Ariel Noyman
CHI, 2018
Processes of urban planning, urban design and architecture are inherently tangible, iterative and... more Processes of urban planning, urban design and architecture are inherently tangible, iterative and collaborative. Nevertheless, the majority of tools in these fields offer virtual environments and single user experience. This paper presents CityScopeAR: a computational-tangible mixed-reality platform designed for collaborative urban design processes. It portrays the evolution of the tool and presents an overview of the history and limitations of notable CAD and TUI platforms. As well, it depicts the development of a distributed networking system between TUIs and CityScopeAR, as a key in design collaboration. It shares the potential advantage of broad and decentralized community-engagement process using such tools. Finally, this paper demonstrates several real-world tests and deployments of CityScopeAR and proposes a path to future integration of AR/MR devices in urban design and public participation.
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Papers by Ariel Noyman
Conference Presentations by Ariel Noyman