Urban Readings

The Urban Readings initiative involves a series of methodologies for collecting and analyzing data from the shape of public spaces and how people use them. Interactive and playful tools that engage users allow for obtaining quantitative and qualitative information about public life in these places.

In addition to the collection and interpretation of secondary data, the initiative includes the use of tools to obtain on-site data, including site dimensions, pedestrian and vehicle counts, stationary activity mapping (people’s behaviour on a specific space), among others. Through this reading, it is possible to identify the different dynamics of the space, focused on how users occupy it and behave at different times or days of the week. There are also survey tools that allow for collecting data on the profile of users of the site and their opinion on various topics.

Besides interviews and questionnaires, our team develops “interactive panels”: a playful tool for collecting information about people, their opinions and desires for the place, which makes both the researchers and the ones researched agents of transformation. By visualizing the others’ answers and creating interaction between users, this methodology supports consensus building in a community and gives visibility to great ideas.