On July 12, 2019, at the invitation of SPA Deputy Dean Professor Zhang Weiwen, Doctor Diao Mi, senior researcher of School of Urban and Real Estate Studies of NUS, visited SPA and brought us a lecture entitled “From theoretical study to formation of policy: the exploratation of application of big data in urban study”. The lecture was presided over by Chairman of Department of Urban Develoment and Management Professor Shi Minjun.
The rising big data can monitor, understand, plan and govern cities in a more rapid and effective way, bringing a huge possibility for urban study and decision making. Doctor Diao Mi introduced his exploration in urban trafic based on big data, focused on three application layers including visualization, measurement and models, covering a wide range from theoretical study to formation of policy so as to use the uniqueness of big data to study urban problems that are hardly handlable by studying traditional data.
The layer of visualization makes direct spatial and temporal description mainly through forms of big data like remote sensing data, data of mobile phone signal and data of light. The layer of measurement includes extraction of individual travel variables from mobile phone data, then combines big data (mobile phone data) and small data (travel survey data) to infer an individual behavior. The layer of models takes “the utilization mode of public bicycle stations in Hangzhou and its relationship with the built environment” and “the relationship of salary and work time of taxi drivers in Singapore” as an example, to give a final optimized policy advise with a spatial self-return gliding equalization model. The three application layers and analytical depth increasing in sequence were highly praised by SPA faculty and students present.
A brief introduction to the lecturer: Doctor Diao Mi, senior researcher of Urban and Real Estate School of University of Singapore, obtained undergraduate and master degrees in architecture in Tsinghua University, master and PhD degrees in urban planning in MIT. His main field includes big data analysis, transport infrastructure and traffic policy, real estate and housing policy, and urban micro-modelling based on a main body.
Department of Urban Development and Management, SPA, Zhejiang University
Research Center of New Urbanization, Zhejiang University