Use of Social Media in Urban Design

The word 'social' dictates the link and exchange of information and 'media' refers to a medium to transfer such data among the people concerned in various parts of the world. To serve this purpose various social media platforms have been introduced most popular being used are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. The idea of social media came into being to create a medium of connection among the people who are distant and connecting to them in person, is not an option. In the past few years, the usage of social media has expanded finding its way in marketing, business, exploration, etc. depending on the subject of study. The social media analysis strategy has also paved the way in urban planning and design. The exploitation of data available due to the user usage and analyzing it to our advantage to extract relevant data impacting the traditional design techniques to create more equitable spaces. It is a source of valuable data in the form of geotagged images on Location-Based Social Networks. The analysis of these data could provide the analyst with the activity pattern, usage of resources, transportation behaviour, and land use pattern of that particular place. 

10 ways in which social media can enhance the design strategies of urban space:

Community Engagement 

The desirability of humans to broadcast where they are and what they are doing has increased considerably and does not easily wear off. There are approximately 60 million public uploads on Instagram, 500 million tweets daily, and 8 million check-ins on average, available to the advantage of planners and urban designers. 

Indirect Involvement of Citizens in the Planning Process 

Lately, the Delhi Development Authority in association with the National Institute of Urban Affairs, decided to invite young minds to express their insights in preparation for the next Masterplan of Delhi. The main idea behind this was to understand the issues that the youth face and the design solutions for the same. 

Analysis of Activity Patterns 

The density of posts, tweets, or check-ins from a given location provides a tool to gauge how the areas and the available resources are being used. 

Landuse

The key locations and digital footprints of the users help analyze the land use pattern. However, the volume of data obtained through a geotagged social network is huge and unstructured. 

Wide Range of Audience 

The correct usage of the social media platform and crowdsourcing, can attract users of all age groups to participate and contribute to the digital data. 

Creating an attractive base for increased human influx 

Social media also is a platform for business marketing that delivers data to its target audience, increasing the reach online as well as in person. This could also help in contributing to the economy by the promotion of the place by the users itself. 

Identification of issues relating to the place

The issues associated with any given place can be identified by its inhabitants. The data collected from social media can be utilized by merging it with locally available data as well such as from the police and emergency service records, traffic data. These help urban planners to analyze the issues concerning the area. They are given a sense of understanding if an area is struggling with crime, crowding, traffic flow issues, or natural disasters which may have an impact on the supply chain management and hamper peaceful urban living. 

Collective Measures to resolve the identified issues 

The suggestions can be easily provided by the inhabitants and the users. A link between the authories and users allows for an interactive platform. 

Improvement of Existing Services The available, analyzed information can be used to deduce what services may be needed in given areas within a city at a given time. For example, a series of blocks with a large number of geolocated check-ins on Facebook in the evenings would depict the area with nightlife. This information can be utilized to improve existing services in an area or provide a proposal for new services. 

Opportunity to create equitable spaces 

The advent of technology and new developments lead to new strategies to carry out the process of design. The strategies when blended with the user interest, help in creating a more balanced and resilient urban environment. 

Technology can be a bane or a boon. It depends on the choice of the users. For a collaborative and efficient design, the use of social media seems to be a possible solution, whereas, it has its drawbacks, one of which could be the non-uniform usage of social media in different areas. So, this could serve as a challenge if we decide to replace the traditional strategies with modern ones. The correct methodology would be to blend the modern as well as the traditional techniques to design a better future and a better city.

References:

https://urbact.eu/five-brilliant-ways-use-social-media-and-apps-urban-growth-0

https://www.sustainablehealthycities.org/commentary-crowdsourcing-urban-design-via-twitter-anlaysis/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewarnold/2018/06/19/how-social-media-can-be-a-tool-to-impact-urban-planning/?sh=7ddc77a236d