Designing Smart Streetscapes, Together

“How do you define a smart city? What makes a city smart for you and your neighborhood, your community?” Those were some of the questions explored during a co-design workshop hosted by the NSF Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3) at Columbia University. The workshop convened Harlem-based participants working alongside researchers, students, and community leaders to reimagine how technology can connect people more meaningfully to the places they live, work, and play. 

This co-design workshop was one in a series hosted by the center collaboratively developing proactive technologies for the street. “Engineers can explain what’s possible technologically. But it’s everyone else in the room who is teaching the engineers what the real problems are,” says Brian Smith, who led the workshop. Smith is a CS3 applications researcher and associate professor of computer science at Columbia Engineering.

Through a series of co-design workshops like this one, participants explore how smart technologies, like AR, can better showcase historical landmarks, share local insights, and foster a stronger community. 

The ideas from the workshops are being developed into a pilot proposal which will receive input from the center’s community advisors before implementation.

Lead Photo Caption: CS3 hosts a co-design workshop to explore smart streetscapes. 

Lead Photo Credit: Jane Nisselson