We cannot speculate the preferences of people based on place and time. We must gather data to measure their preferences related to other places, people, and time. In “Data Dimension: accessing urban data and making it accessible,” three methods of obtaining urban data are tested—1. Large, uniform datasets that follow a consistent logic (i.e. the Borderline project analyzed the phone calls across Britain and how each phone call was more or less related to the specific region the call was being made or if it fell outside of the traditional government boundary lines), 2. Less consistent data from multiple sources with many different purposes (i.e. the Wikicity project in Rome utilized “electronic breadcrumbs” from social media check-in sites to layer real-time location of people at major cultural venues/events ), 3. Datasets generated from scratch (i.e. the Trash Talk project placed sensors on items that were to be disposed and tracked their route to trace the path of their movement). The last method is a novel way of creating a dataset and therefore less reliable with its infrastructure. Yet, the only way to create interesting and accurate datasets is to test again and again.
In summary, data must be filtered or analyzed before it is distributed or used to design new environments, enable better processes, or provoke action. It is important to recognize patterns carefully, to look for the inherent biases and “massage data” to begin sensing the many pulses of a city.
Looking closely at a culturally diverse phenomena of mobile cuisine, in “Food, Time and Space: Mobile Cuisine in New York and Portland,” food trucks demonstrate creative and determined ways to utilize urban space to vend many local and international foods. The evolution of the food truck, from popsicle pushcart to sophisticated kitchens in mobile trucks, the food truck’s success pivots on the local government support or opposition to parking in certain locations.
New York City’s rigidity against parking food carts an accessible and worthwhile project will need to change to compound the opportunities, the diversity and social activity through affordable, quick bites. It appears Portland, Oregon is an archetype for food truck success.