UT Urban Information Lab

Abstract Despite a growing body of research on the smart city framework for disaster resilience, a comprehensive systematic literature review from urban planning perspectives has never been attempted. In this review of smart and resilient cities, we distill vital learning and shared concepts, identify research trends and limitations, and suggest… read more 

Abstract Extreme heat exposure and sensitivity have been a growing concern in urban regions as the effects of extreme heat pose a threat to public health, the water supply, and the infrastructure. Heatrelated illnesses demand an immediate Emergency Medical Service (EMS) response since they might result in death or serious… read more 

ABSTRACT Fires and burning are the chief causes of particulate matter (PM2.5), a key measurement of air quality in communities and cities worldwide. This work develops a live fire tracking platform to show active reported fires from over twenty cities in the U.S., as well as predict their smoke paths… read more 

Abstract Cities worldwide have initiated the installation of urban climate sensors to monitor air quality in real time and take proactive measures against the growing threat of climate change. This study focuses on the city of Chicago and utilizes Microsoft’s recently launched Project Eclipse sensors to evaluate air quality status.… read more 

Abstract: Bike-sharing is rapidly gaining popularity due to health, transportation, and recreational benefits. As more people use bike-sharing, the burden of reallocating bikes will increase because of the mismatch between outgoing and incoming bikes. Optimizing truck routes, incentivizing users, and crowdsourcing are common suggestions to mitigate rebalancing issues. This research… read more 

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing restrictions have had a significant impact on urban mobility. As micro mobility offers less contact with other people, docked or dockless e-scooters and bike-sharing have emerged as alternative urban mobility solutions. However, little empirical research has been conducted to investigate how COVID-19 might… read more 

Abstract: Dockless electric scooter (E-scooters) services have emerged in the United States as an alternative form of micro transit in the past few years. With the increasing popularity of E-scooters, it is important for cities to manage their usage to create and maintain safe urban environments. However, E-scooter safety in… read more 

Abstract— Big data and its production, management, and utilization are essential components in smart city planning. This paper presents a research framework for applying machine learning and deep learning using multiple big data sets on real estate. We built ensemble machine learning models to track property ownership variance in Austin,… read more 

Abstract: Transit deserts can result from the inequitable distribution of resources and services, and people living in transit deserts have limited access to transportation system. The aim of this study was to perform spatiotemporal data analysis to identify transit desert areas in Seoul in three steps. First, the transit gap… read more 

Abstract The expansion of e-scooter sharing system has led to several novel interactions within the existing transportation system. Although there is a potential for e-scooter sharing and ridesourcing to both compete and complement each other, few studies shed light on the relationship between e-scooter sharing and ridesourcing. To fill this… read more