Is the mediated public open space a smart place? Relationships between urban landscapes and ICT – The cost action tu 1306 CyberParks

Abstract

The main aim of this work is to rise the challenge of relentless growth of digital technologies into our daily life. Smart phones, smart watches, tablets, etc and Internet have become common tools is several fields of human activities, connecting, guiding, informing, and in a last stance making people interconnected and informed. Public open spaces (POS) (such as, parks, gardens, squares, plazas) would greatly benefit by this growing availability of relevant geolocated information. Therefore, our aim is to unfold two main questions: how can we use digital technologies to attract people to spend more time outdoors for a more active lifestyle; and what opportunities technology opens to increase knowledge about users and uses of public open spaces? The discussion is backed by experience exchanges carried out within the Cyberparks Project and articulates around the ICT potential to enhance communication among (potential) users, transforming public open spaces production an interactive process. Such improved interactivity, on a turn, enables creative community participation, empowerment and capacity building. Besides a discussion on the mobile technology for human interaction with spaces, this paper presents an overview of the possible technological benefits for users, policy makers, practitioners and planners.