urbanAPI · Interactive Analysis, Simulation and Visualisation Tools for Urban Agile Policy Implementation

In the context of European initiatives to improve policy as a more transparent and understandable process, the urbanAPI project aims to support activities such as issue identification, policy analysis, consultation, decision and evaluation in urban planning and land management policy. For this purpose, a policy metamodel, a formalised vocabulary, a set of rule languages to define data integration and abstract simulation models are introduced. Furthermore, the urbanAPI approach will transpose elements of agile ICT development to the urban policy making process: Multiple activities can run in parallel, and all activities are kept synchronized. In such a process, risks are identified earlier, conflicts are understood better, and that knowledge gained in one activity can directly be used in all other activities.On this formal basis, a novel ICT toolset is developed. The urbanAPI toolset allows the fast development and deployment of participative policy support applications. These applications can be used for decision support, conflict management, analysis and visualisation and rely on innovative interaction platforms. Concepts known from web 2.0 and semantic web technologies, such as linking, tagging, rating and adding of semantic annotations, are supported directly. Applications created with the urbanAPI toolset also make use of a comprehensive data integration system to make use of the vast data resources – geospatial and statistical datasets – related to planning.Local initiatives in the four urban regions working in this project will be encouraged to participate within the planning process, to contribute to the final solutions and understand and finally accept the expected impacts on environment and habitants. Based on the toolset, adapted urban planning applications will be created, deployed, evaluated and used to support policy makers, planners and stakeholders at different governance and spatial levels (urban quarter level, municipal level, urban region level).