Socio-Technological Dynamics

Background: Why Socio-Technological Change Matters?

Municipal authorities and cities in general deal with social, environmental, and technological challenges in an era of constant socio-technological change characterized by high connectivity and rich virtual environments. It is in this context, and based on the Covid-19 experience, that we connect quality of life with the need for accessible, enriching public space. This need will only increase as a management and planning challenge, as work and consumption spaces merge with residential and community spaces, due to the rise of remote work, improvement in Internet technologies, and delivery services and changes in leisure habits.

Objective

The goal is to develop the movement of humans in public space, and to manage it in order to ensure continuous, safe and comfortable access for various populations for whatever purpose. Accessibility will enable the municipal authority to deal with expected and unexpected social and technological change better and with more flexibility.

Stages:

1. Collecting information about the physical infrastructure, land uses, characteristics of the population and movement of people in a chosen local space, including accessibility models for employment, services, leisure, etc. b. Calculating, estimating / projecting transportation and accessibility needs.

1. Comparing estimated or projected traffic with potential traffic and identifying the gap between the desired and the actual.
2. Using the comparison to propose steps and actions to remove barriers from the grid and managing traffic to promote agreed-upon objectives, such as: strengthening the urban center, improving the vitality of the urban street, assisting with urban renewal and promoting non-motorized traffic.

Results:

Possible results are varied and are presented here as examples only:

• Reorganizing the division of road rights between various users while reinforcing their function as accessible public spaces and as places for varied activities.
• Turning roads to streets, boulevards, and promenades, as well as interchanges into squares and parks, and parking lots into playgrounds and activity areas.
• Building ride-sharing systems for shared employment, leisure, and other destinations.
• Organizing public transport based on the ‘transportation as a service’ model. (See also ‘transportation as a service’ kit.
• Creating a pupils’ ‘walking bus’ (joint walking to school for safety purposes; safety and time savings for parents).
• Setting down boundaries for differential space and time areas so as to enable efficient management of the coronavirus crisis or future crises / changes without impacting the economy, society, and culture.