I am currently researching the changing role of the city in the Information Age and how these changes can influence community design.  Below is my research proposal.  As I get time to add to it, this page will evolve and provide updates on my work and resources for interested individuals.

John Lewis - Masters Degree Project Proposal
Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary

Title

Community Design in the Information Age: A Study of the Southeast Planning Area (SPA), Calgary, Alberta

Purpose

The purpose of this MDP is to identify the changes brought to cities by telecommunications and information technology and the impact they will have on community design.

Background

There has been a great deal written in popular literature on the unfolding Information Age and how it will impact our economy, our jobs, our lives.  A noticeable gap in this writing has been in how these changes will impact our cities.  Without an understanding on how the massive changes of the Information Age will alter the nature of our cities, we will end up with urban environments that are unresponsive to the realities in which they exist.

The few authors who have looked at the future of the city in the Information Age have looked into technology and the city on various fronts - from social impacts to employment to transportation, but the issue of community design has been relatively neglected. It is rare that these changes and concepts discussed are ever translated into the design of communities.  How do changing demands and uses of the city change the physical spaces of a city?  How can the positive effects be enhanced through design, and how can the negative impacts be mitigated through design?

It is the goal of this project to address these issues and create new research into how our cities and communities need to develop in the future.

Objectives

1. Identify changes of the Information Age that will put new demands/requirements on cities; specifically in Calgary.
2. Identify key issue areas to be targeted for new design investigation.
3. Translate these issue areas into changes in design at the community level.

Methodology

1) Literature Review

• Review academic and professional work on the role of cities and planning in the Information Age. This study will look at how the Information Age puts new requirements on various elements of the city – residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional uses, as well as infrastructure requirements such as transportation and information technology infrastructure.  It is also important to understand the latest developments and directions in technological advances and their potential influence on cities.

2) Policy Review

• Identify key City of Calgary policies that relate to the SPA and how they will shape the kind of development that will occur there.   Policies and documents central to development in the SPA are: Calgary Plan,  the GO Plan, the Employment Centres Strategy, and the Sustainable Suburbs Study.  Attention will be paid to City policies regarding the positive implementation of information technologies in new communities.

3) Interview Key Individuals

• Interview and work with on an ongoing basis key individuals that will play a key role in the development of the SPA and how information technologies will be incorporated into this new community.  Individuals will include members of the City of Calgary Planning Department, major developers (Carma), Calgary business leaders, and technology infrastructure providers.

4) Study Designs

• Look at designs of new developments where technology has been a central focus and study how technology has informed their designs.  The developments will be studied from the physical design of the community as it relates to issues that the municipality or developer identified.  It will also look at the evolution of the design from  (a) the conceptual development, (b) the physical creation of the communities, and (c) implementation - how the design combined with information technology has influenced the daily lives of residents, both positively and negatively.  Some examples include Issaquah Highlands in Seattle;  Lowry Air Force Base in Denver; and Montgomery Village near Toronto.

5) Case Description

• Study the Southeast Planning Area.  Explain the metropolitan context of the area, the development pressures that it faces, and the planning issues that are central to the SPA.  By identifying the potential strengths and weaknesses of this new community, the design will be better informed and more responsive to the context in which the SPA exists.

6) Design Development

• Utilizing the theories and concepts reviewed, the input from key informants, the issues and policies that are key to the SPA, and the precedents from other developments, begin developing community designs for the SPA.  The design work will be focused on proactively creating physical spaces that will facilitate quality community life in the future.  By enhancing the positive attributes of information technology and mitigating the negative, the designs will help to show how the SPA can become an urban community that will be responsive to the information Age.

7) Implementation Strategy

• Identify key decisions and strategies that need to be made in order to implement these designs.  This section will pay attention to the varying roles that the City, developers, and information technology providers will play in developing the SPA.  It will also look at timing – when decisions need to be made and actions need to be taken in order to make these designs a reality.

• A presentation at the CIP National Conference in Ottawa and to other professionals (City of Calgary Planning Department).
• Inclusion of the project in the Urban Research Initiative on Information Technology and the Future of Urban Environments at New York University.
• New design possibilities/suggestions for the City and/or the developers to utilize.
• Summary of key issues surrounding the Information Age and how they relate to the Calgary context.
• A website developed to inform professionals and the public on the importance of understanding these issues.

1. Introduction
This chapter will introduce the Information Age and how it relates to cities using the Southeast Planning Area as a case study.

2. Review of the Issues – The Information Age and the City
In this chapter, critical issues regarding cities and the new Information Age will be reviewed and questions of how design can relate to these issues will be raised.

3. Issues into Design – Creating the New Communities
This chapter will look at the SPA and its context, first by evaluating how the issues from Chapter 2 apply to the area, and second by discussing how these issues can be addressed through community design.

4. Community Design in the SPA – Designing an Informational Community
Chapter 4 is the illustration of how community design in the SPA can be used to create a more responsive community in the Information Age.

5. Implementation – Into the Future
This chapter will highlight the decisions and implementation strategies that need to be executed in order for these designs to become realities.

6. Conclusion
This final chapter will provide conclusions as to how proactive designs can create communities that will meet the changing needs of people in the future.