Urban Systems Design: A Conceptual Framework for Planning Smart Communities

TLDR

Urban systems design addresses fragmented planning approaches by integrating IoT, big data, and rational methods to systematically tackle urban challenges with humans at its core. The study proposes a framework that unites human well‑being, sustainability, resilience, and economics as foundational pillars to create smart communities. The framework employs an iterative three‑phase loop—contextualization, evaluation, and scenario design—incorporating continuous feedback to guide planning.

Abstract

Urban systems design arises from disparate current planning approaches (urban design, Planning Support Systems, and community engagement), compounded by the reemergence of rational planning methods from new technology (Internet of Things (IoT), metric based analysis, and big data). The proposed methods join social considerations (Human Well-Being), environmental needs (Sustainability), climate change and disaster mitigation (Resilience), and prosperity (Economics) as the four foundational pillars. Urban systems design integrates planning methodologies to systematically tackle urban challenges, using IoT and rational methods, while human beings form the core of all analysis and objectives. Our approach utilizes an iterative three-phase development loop to contextualize, evaluate, plan and design scenarios for the specific needs of communities. An equal emphasis is placed on feedback loops through analysis and design, to achieve the end goal of building smart communities.