Big Data in the Big Easy: How Social Networks Can Improve the Place for Young People in Cities

Ben , PhD ISSN 0277-2426 © 2015 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System ABSTRACT Access to social data on human experience of place has never been more available than now. Social media, smart phones, and the Internet of Things provide glimpses into individual activity across the globe. The nearly-boundless stream of information is called "big data." Today, physically and even socially disconnected individuals can benefit from the similar experiences of others to adapt and change their environment. I argue that big data provides two critical benefits for landscape architecture research and practice: (1) big data opens a window into previously inaccessible human experiences of designed environments, introducing new metrics for evidence-based design and new ways of improving design literacy; and (2) the design, planning, and management of the land--especially in cities--can benefit from scraping big data to support urban ecological design. My study of YouTube use in New Orleans shows that big data can advance landscape research to support positive, interdependent relationships between people and built environments. Landscape architecture would benefit by harnessing this resource to better understand relationships with place and encourage individuals to participate in the design, creation, and evolution of cities. KEYWORDS Big data, YouTube, landscape research methods, urban design, urban ecology, New Orleans INTRODUCTION While debates endure about how it infringes on individual privacy and political control, big data nonetheless promises access to information otherwise unavailable. Big data could offer insights into how landscape architecture can more effectively improve the land to support an increasingly diverse, centralized human condition. Further, big data is publically accessible, not only in terms of how it is posted or provided by individuals, but also in how it is viewed by others to become part of their reflexive...