Change is possible

The ‘Technology and Innovation’ theme at the 2023 Urbanism Aotearoa conference posed the question of how we define urbanism in our transformational world.

The discussions we had clearly identified the key role of technology and innovation in planning for different scenarios of uncertainty.

Societal and economic responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, ongoing technological innovations, the re-modelling of business, environmental pressures and the climate crisis were all cases in point.

The scales of each and every challenge are daunting, but change is possible.

Data is crucial to planning

A good proportion of our discussions emphasised the importance of making decisions based on the best possible evidence-base, with a conclusion that obtaining the right data is crucial to getting planning right.

The corollary to this is that a useful evidence-base is dependent on asking the right questions and on survey design that provides for feedback loops at all points that can be accessed easily and quickly. Technology and innovation is an enabler of this.

Using technology and innovation for engagement

There was agreement that we need to build a quest for diverse engagement into all our processes and to keep iterating. The response to the pandemic was seen as an example of how quickly uses of space and patterns of urban behaviour could be rescoped.

People know their places best

Three principles that were spoken about are that people know their places best, they can be creative if we give them space, and bringing technology and innovation into play is all about presenting options and flexibility for all.

Technology and innovation can then enhance the relationship people have with the spaces they live in, enabling a better articulation of their needs and preferences.

This is already being seen in the implementation and uptake of beneficial technologies, be that low emission autonomous vehicles that can create more localised routes or better utilisation of public transport and more informed decisions based on better data.

Looking to the future and disruptive thinking

To meet future needs it was considered that technology and innovation tools and methods we become party to developing and deploying must have the ability to be scaled up from small starts and to be able to function at all scales.

The point was made that disruptive technologies, like all things, require a system thinking response that is translated into action on adequate infrastructure and policy settings.

Concerns were expressed that infrastructure and policy settings are not being put in place at the pace needed, and that advances in technology and innovation are being crippled by uncertainty of funding sources.

Another question that was posed was to ask what opportunities urbanists have in our transformational world to think outside of and beyond their disciplines in the future – along the spectrum from urban planning to un-planning, from optimising our urban footprints to reprioritising the directions we take.