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Placemaking, which involves shaping public spaces in a way that supports function while also encouraging engagement and promoting well-being, is a complicated process. According to Nicolas Palominos, senior spatial data scientist at ERA-co, achieving successful placemaking is not simply a matter of prioritizing friendliness or utilitarian goals.

“Take, for instance, the placemaking of a train station,” Palominos says, “where ensuring the safe flow of people becomes a key design parameter. This emphasis on safety and flow efficiency might be viewed as a utilitarian approach. Nevertheless, within the given context, improving the flow of people without compromising safety can have positive impacts not only on station users and the immediate surroundings, but also on all citizens and train users by enhancing the frequency of the transportation service and improving the overall commuting experience.”

ERA-co is a global consultancy that harnesses the power of data and analytics to unlock the true potential of placemaking. Bringing together creativity, business, and urbanism, ERA-co provides its clients with the expertise necessary to understand the dynamic interactions between people and place and how design can create truly human-centric experiences.

“The primary element that fosters a people-friendly space is a design that not only caters to people’s needs, but also embraces the collection of many small systems that impact them at multiple scales,” Palominos says. “It takes into consideration both obvious and less apparent aspects that contribute to creating high-quality spaces and cities.”

To ensure that the many small systems and less apparent aspects of design that Palominos refers to are being carefully considered, urban designers are turning more and more to data analytics.

Uncovering hidden patterns with data analytics

Analysts in a wide variety of fields use data analytics to uncover hidden patterns. By systematically examining and analyzing large volumes of data, insights emerge that are not apparent through simple observation.

“Analytics plays a vital role in facilitating the understanding of how a place operates,” Palominos explains. “Placemaking often requires the simultaneous consideration of numerous influential factors, some of which are evident while many remain hidden. Urban analytics serves as a valuable tool in uncovering the underlying dynamics of people’s interactions within a space, as well as the intricate relationships between a place’s form and function.”

Urban analysts look to a mix of different data sets for insight, considering everything from demographics to mobility to economics. Anything that may provide a deeper understanding of how people engage with a space and what drives their behavior can lead to more effective design.

“Foundational data regarding people’s movement patterns, their activities, socio-demographic characteristics, and their relationship with the built environment are essential in comprehending how a place functions and in guiding the placemaking process,” Palominos says. “Depending on the specific contextual circumstances, data derived from traditional sources — such as census data — can be equally significant as data concerning stakeholder relationships or the cultural imageries and sentiments pertaining to a place. Moreover, with the emergence of novel data types and the ability to access vast amounts of data with high spatial and temporal resolution, the role of analytics in identifying meaningful patterns that can inform the placemaking process has gained increasing significance.”

Utilizing AI in data gathering and analytics

The AI revolution, which is having a significant impact on many facets of the design space, brings a host of new capabilities to urban designers. Tools driven by artificial intelligence can assist with a variety of steps in the urban design process, including data gathering, analysis, and visualization.

“Urban analytics encompasses the utilization of visualization, design, computational, and quantitative methods, which can all be enhanced through the integration of AI,” Palominos shares. “By leveraging AI, time-consuming analytical tasks can be automated and streamlined, expediting the progression from data inputs to data insights. Within the placemaking context and considering the intricate nature of places, obtaining early-stage data insights becomes a pivotal component of evidence-based urban design and master planning.”

However, Palominos warns that AI must be carefully managed to ensure results are reliable. “It becomes more crucial than ever to pose the right questions at the outset of the design process,” he says, “as failure to do so may result in generating insights that are irrelevant to the placemaking process. Thus, despite the amplified analytical power of AI, careful consideration and framing of the initial inquiries are essential to ensure the generated insights align with the objectives of the placemaking endeavor.”

Predicting the long-term impact of public spaces

Urban analytics not only help designers to see how a space is being used, but also to predict how its use may evolve over time. By anticipating the ways in which the place may be used in the future, designers can incorporate flexibility and adaptability in an appropriate way.

Hayden White, global urban design and masterplanning lead at ERA-co, cites Barcelona’s approach to urban design in preparing for the 1992 Summer Olympics as an example of effective placemaking that benefitted from urban analytics.

“The city decided that, instead of constructing large stadiums, infrastructure, and buildings, their Olympic shopping list would instead consist of streets, plazas, and other uplifting designs for the everyday elements of the city,” White explains. “Barcelona already had stadiums and venues throughout the city, but understood that people will visit once for an Olympic event and will return for a place. The Olympics was Barcelona’s vehicle for investing in itself. The result is that people fell in love with the streets, its beaches, and plazas — not its velodrome.”

To be truly effective, placemaking must go beyond mere physical infrastructure to consider the needs and aspirations of the people who will inhabit and utilize the space. By leveraging urban analytics, designers are better able to understand those needs and aspirations and design for them in an effective way.