32. Big Data in Urban Planning Practices: Shaping Our Cities with Data

In this age of information, massive volumes of data about cities and their residents are strewn everywhere. Since big data bears great potentials for providing enhanced insights and improving decision-makings, its effective application becomes a key factor for achieving success in the development of smart cities. In the domain of urban planning, attempts have been made to explore the better utilization of big data. This paper aims at identifying current applications of big data in urban planning with emphasis on understanding public behaviors and citizens’ needs via space-time information. It is found that obtaining public data through passive data acquisition and active public participation could well support planning decisions, and particularly active civic participation could generate better social effects and enhance the public acceptance of urban planning. This paper ends with revealing five problems and challenges that need to be overcome, including poor data quality, data analytics, privacy leakage, digital divide, and information security before the benefits of smart cities can be reaped.