Citizens Interactive Behavior in the Performance of the Urban Space of Cohabitation: Interactive Atlas of Urban Habitability

Abstract

The article shows a range of contemporary phenomena linked with urban space and the increasing citizens' interactivity in the network. The sources for theory and reflection are related to the ongoing research project "Interactive Atlas ofurban habitability" which is based on citizen participation in the sensitive description ofthe urban environment. It addresses a classification of variables related to the desires ofurban habitability. The project is an ongoing and open process feasible through communication and socialization spaces and through work in compiling sources ofdata, other related projects and initiatives, be they governmental, corporate, or civic. Our proposal consists in organizing and displaying all this data in an online platform thatprovides citizens andpublic administrations with the sensitive variables that define urban space for both citizen uses and city planning. Thanks to the available technology, is already possible to créate this platform for interactive generation and reception of urban information. It would reveal possibilities for optimizing the existing uses and for promoting better and more intensive ways by improving livability and coexistence. We weren 't referring to mercantile uses, but any kinds of uses connected with spatial needs about vital, daily, recreational, and social variables. The development ofa data corpus derived from subjective descriptions ofthe citizens' desires would have enormous potential for gaining knowledge of an environment. Such data could complement and enhance the geospatial information managed and usedfor a more sensitive transformation ofthe urban space. We have come to this conclusión after studying a number of paradigms linking network interaction and urban transformation, as well as open platforms that provide information to citizens. This article addresses new paradigms with both contemporary thinking on ICT and through the visión ofthe city expressed by authors such as A range of contemporary phenomena related to Information and Communication This trend became observable with the May 15, 2011 occupation of public spaces in Spainan event that later inspired similar actions throughout the rest of the world. Outraged citizens connecting via Twitter and Facebook were able to organize and construct campsites in a matter of hours. Today there are many paradigms of active groups and associations that propose new types of urban participation and management: actions concerning appropriation, occupation and the construction of public space in response to austerity programs, environmental awareness and sustainability. These actions represent both viable solutions adapted to crisis situations affecting the economy and employment and they relate to emerging values of citizenship, such as participation and cooperation. Some of these new paradigms have been more or less formally regulated by authorities. Such regulated activities include flea markets, attempts to organize public events or the so-called Wagenplatz 1 , as well as the occupation of abandoned and un...