New geo-tools for urban studies

Daniel Orellana

Mateo Neira

María Laura Guerrero

Priscila Samaniego

M. Augusta Hermida

ABSTRACT:  One of the biggest challenges in urban research is to obtain spatial data with high enough spatial and temporal resolution. New tools based on mobile devices, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Web services allow the creations of platforms for collecting georeferenced information to study the complexity and dynamism of urban environments with a resolution, cost and frequency hardly reachable with traditional techniques. This paper presents methods and results obtained within the research group LlactaLAB  –  Sustainable Cities using three of these tools for three cases. The first case presents the use of low-cost UAVs to produce 2D and 3D geographical information to study urban morphology and visual integration. The second case shows the application of mobile devices to collect data to analyse spatial behaviour of people on public spaces. Finally, the third case explains the use of Google Street View to produce land use information  for urban analysis. These cases demonstrate the advantages of such tools in terms of time, effort and cost for producing information for urban studies. Some limitations and lessons learned are also reported.

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