ICT-based Adaptation to Climate Change in Cities: Case Studies Drawing inspiration from global cases Implemented by: In cooperation with: INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE INITIATIVE (IKI) CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 1 SOCIAL MEDIA 7 1.1 SOCIAL MEDIA-BASED FLOOD-MAPPING: PETABENCANA 8 1.2 WEATHER ALERTS AND REPORTS USING WHATSAPP: WEATHER CHASERS MALAWI 10 1.3 GOOGLE DRIVE FOR DISASTER RESPONSE: CHENNAI FLOODS 12 2 SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE (SMS) 15 2.1 DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT DURING PAKISTAN FLOODS: FRONTLINESMS 16 2.2. SMS-BASED AUTOMATED DATA MANAGEMENT: BUS TRACKER BY SMS 18 3 SENSOR-DRIVEN TOOLS 21 3.1. IOTREES IN GUADALAJARA 22 3.2. DIY-SENSING OF RADIATION AFTER FUKUSHIMA: SAFECAST 24 3.3. DIY-SENSOR TO MEASURE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA: SENSEBOX 26 3.4. PROPRIETARY SENSOR TO MEASURE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA: BREEZE 28 WEB APPS 31 4.1 CREATING A MESH NETWORK USING SMARTPHONES: FIRECHAT IN MARIKINA 32 4.2 USER-GENERATED REPORTS ON URBAN ISSUES: FIXMYSTREET 34 4.3 MEASURING SAFETY IN URBAN SPACES: SAFETIPIN 36 4.4 TRACKING TRAFFIC PATTERNS USING SMARTPHONES: MODALYZER 38 4.5 MEASURING ROAD QUALITY AND TRAFFIC DATA: CYFACE 40 4.6 SENSING NOISE USING SMARTPHONES: NOISETUBE 42 5 MAPPING 45 5.1 CRISIS MAPPING - HUMANITARIAN OPENSTREETMAP TEAM (HOT) 46 5.2 OPENDRI: OPEN CITIES 48 5.3 OPENSTREETMAP 50 6 CONCLUSION & RECOMANDATION 53 SOURCES 60 IMPRESSUM 61 INTRODUCTION | 1 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION In the past decades cities have gone through as radiation and fine dust particles. Twitter users radical changes, from being the motors of economic report and geotag urban infrastructure destroyed growth, to becoming the home of 55% of the world’s by flooding. Weather data and alerts are reported 1 population . In this light, city planning has gained using WhatsApp to enable better forecasts, and This compilation of case studies aims to provide of data ownership, interoperability, transparency significant importance, as the effective and efficient experiences of urban citizens are translated into guidance and inspiration to urban practitioners and privacy. By contrast, the majority of the allocation of resources lies at the intersection of ‘safety data’, leading to new ways of assessing the eager to integrate ICT-based approaches to climate presented solutions are free to download, use and the global challenge that is climate change. The quality of urban environments for its inhabitants. change in their work. Those presented examples run on current Android, iOS smartphones and/or common characteristic of urban agglomerations, Adapting these technologies for climate-related that are not directly applicable to managing the computers. a high state of population density, means that well purposes is proving increasingly popular and leads consequences of climate change, have been planned interventions can benefit a comparatively to the necessity of considering their value and included due to their potential in this sector. large number of individuals. Simultaneously, this significance for urban practitioners. characteristic makes cities particularly vulnerable to The document has a strong focus on open formats extreme weather events and other repercussions of Simultaneously, numerous concepts developed and approaches (Open Data , Open Hardware , climate change. Meanwhile, the worldwide advance in the larger space of ICT-based tools related Free and Open-Source Software , collaborative of digital technologies have enabled a paradigm to climate adaptation follow similar goals, mapping and crowd-sensing) comprise the shift in urban planning processes from technocratic leading to a confusing oversupply. Enthusiastic majority of this study. The ability to share, modify, approaches to citizen-centred solutions. Drivers expectations from the side of creators are not use and re-distribute content lies at the heart of in this development have been technologies such met, when confronted with low user numbers; constructing useful systems that enable citizens, as social media, smartphone applications, low- new digital applications are created, where robust researchers, governments, and urban practitioners cost environmental sensing devices, collaborative solutions already exist; the sole focus on digital to collaborate towards a more climate resilient mapping techniques and concepts integrating approaches increases energy usage and leads future with the use of ICTs. Commercial options short message service (SMS) technology. Bridging to higher emission. Hence, choosing or adapting are driven by an economically motivated smart-city the gap between citizens, urban practitioners, the appropriate tools that are most appropriate design. That approach leads to challenges in terms researchers and governments, these platforms is key to a successful ICT-based adaptation to incubate potential solutions for the urban climate change in cities as part of integrated urban challenges of today and tomorrow. The informed governance. and coordinated deployment of information and communication technologies (ICT) can significantly contribute to the adaptation to climate change of urban centres. 1 SOCIAL MEDIA Crisis-mapping approaches increase the speed of damage assessment and critical points in the 2 SMS technical infrastructure, such as water drainage and the built environment. Environmental 3 SENSOR DRIVEN sensors in public spaces, along streets or on the windowsills of private residences highlight areas 4 WEB APPS particularly exposed to pollutants and toxins, such 5 MAPPING 6 CONCLUSION 2 | INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION | 3 INTRODUCTION LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS API Application Programming Interface ACCCRN Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network CTA Chicago Transport Agency DCCMS Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services DIY Do-It-Yourself FMS FIxMyStreet FOSS Free and Open Source Software GPS Global Positioning System HOT Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team ICT Information and Communication Technology ITU International Telecommunication Union LAN Local Area Network LED Light Emitting Diode LoRa Long Range Network MCU Micro Controller Unit NGO Non-Governmental Organisation OSM OpenStreetMap REM Risk Evaluation Matrix SDK Software Development Kit SPO Strengthening Participation Organisation URL Uniform Resource Allocator UV Ultra Violet GPS Global Positioning System 4 | INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION | 5 01 SOCIAL MEDIA Social media are digital communication tools preferences are analysed by algorithms, which show through which users create online communities to the individual ads for products and services that they share information, thoughts, personal messages, are likely to consume. In other words, users ‘pay’ the and other content. They are popular and widely platform provider with personal data6 . spread2 : In the first quarter of 2019, Facebook counted more than 2.3 Billion monthly active users Low operational cost and wide proliferation are , WhatsApp 1.5 Billion3 and Twitter 350 Million in the biggest advantage of using social media to the same time frame4. According to a study by the communicate information. Whereas government Pew Research Center, emerging and developing and third-party apps face the challenge of attracting countries reveal significant growth in smartphone the attention and willingness of their prospective ownership and social media use over the past 5 users, the large number of existing active users years5 . overcomes one of the major challenges in promoting a widespread use of the approach. Due to their extensive use, it is indispensable for urban practitioners With regard to climate adaptation in urban contexts, social media has shown great potential to consider digital solutions that as a means of communication during and after operate through social media.” natural catastrophes, tracking developments in real-time, and organising disaster-relief activities. Due to their extensive use, it is indispensable for However, the path to integrate social media “urban practitioners to consider digital solutions that channels in governmental planning structure is not operate through social media. straightforward. Hurdles begin at the interoperability of the social media with the existing government IT- Most social media applications allow their users Structure, questions on data privacy and ownership, to share text, images, GPS data as well as audio as well as challenges within the legal framework. and video recordings in peer to peer or group Nonetheless, the case studies below showcase conversations. “Hashtags” facilitate structuring specific contexts, in which social media are a useful of user-generated content in the case of Twitter. and efficient tool to mitigate risks. Rating and voting systems influence the visibility of the (user-generated) content on the platforms. Algorithms based on personal preferences, behaviour and platform dynamics generate a personal feed of information for each user. Social media platforms are typically free of user fees, 1.1 Social media-based flood-mapping: because their business model is based on user- PetaBencana targeted advertisement. Here, behaviours and user 1.2 Weather alerts and reports using WhatsApp: Weather Chasers Malawi 1.3 Google Drive for disaster response: Chennai Floods 6 | SOCIAL MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA | 7 Interested in other SOURCES digital solutions in case of floding? 1.1 SOCIAL MEDIA- • PetaBencana • Cognicity Check out chapter 1.2 BASED FLOOD-MAPPING: • mapbox • OpenStreetMap A WhatsApp group PETABENCANA was created in the MORE INFORMATION “aftermath to send out weather information • Video explaining CogniCity