A deeper level of feeling included is where the public space helps give you a sense of identity. From discovering the nooks and crannies of your city overlaying photos from the past and augmented reality to interviewing people on video about their memories.
The “sharing economy” is growing every month, so how can public spaces and technology contribute. From sensoring up micro bookshares to enabling people to rent out their kitchens for community events.
Efficiency is not a principle that’s often used to describe public spaces, but with the introduction of digital technology and in particular the internet of things, where you can use source real-time data to see how you canpredict the level of traffic for when you want to get to or monitor car park availability without having to come into town to check the availability billboards.
Of course, it’s always better when the public space is clean and when they can repurpose from being an eyesore to putting planters to brighten them up. But what about making the space help people become more environmentally-friendly? You could make it fun for them to track the quality of their air in public spaces using sensors or you could use a system that thanks people for their litter. You could even install solar panels on disused spaces to give them a new lease of live and…energy.
You might feel included, but what about public spaces that make you feel involved, where you could share how you feel about the spaces you’re in and even affect decisions about your neighbourhood, like being able to use augmented reality or host WIMBY parties to see what new developments are being planned.
How about where the public spaces could encourage people to look after each other? From platforms identifying community assets and brokering people to provide “meals on wheels” through to apps which “flashmob” volunteers to help out people who are house-bound who need last-minute help.
Of course, people want to be aware of what’s around them, want to feel safe and included, but they also like creative disruption in their public spaces. They want the spaces to feel entrepreneurial, whether that’s thephysical infrastructure providing tools to upskill people and make 3D printing exciting & meaningful through to putting up digital walls, so that people can spray “digital graffiti”…or even repurposing an old space for social use, like the old post office.
Finally, only a few insights valued affordability of public spaces, looking at being to be able to set your spending limit. Perhaps, that’s because most public spaces are free, which is of course another way to make them feel accessible and inclusive!
