Providing location based health information using dynamic, aggregated and static urban data
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Last Updated: 11-2021
The goal of this research was to create an efficient framework and method to provide Urban Health information for both short- and long-term decision-making making use of mobile sensors in combination with static data. A summarized list of 6 variables (Air Quality, Heat, Noise, Green Spaces, Walkability and Traffic Safety) was constructed to form the basis of the Urban Health Index (UHI). As both dynamic and static data are included in the UHI, a hexagonal grid is used to visualize the scores of each location. This grid combines the spatial resolutions of both data types, while ensuring high resolution information discovery. Moreover, end-user research showed that current use of location based applications is mostly concerned with finding optimal routes. However, respondents indicated that Urban Health information would mostly be used for the selection of optimal locations. Therefore, this was the basis for the application design proposed by this research. The application consists of three layers, each with a different function. The home page educates the user the UHI and its uses. The core of the application, is a map of the city (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) with the hexagonal grid layer projected on it. The goal of this part of the application is to explore the data on a more coarse level. Specific locations can be investigated further through the individual sub-index scores and historical progression of the UHI and relevant sub-indices. User-validation tests show that this format for showing Urban Health information is relatively effective, however, more research should be done on the indicators of Urban Health and their correlation to adverse health effects. Moreover, it should be investigated whether different categories of end-users have different requirements when using the dashboard. These requirements could lead to a new iteration of the proposed application and underlying methodology.