State of Place
How AI is forecasting the real value of public space
Dr Mariela Alfonzo holds a PhD in Urban Planning and Design; has worked as research fellow, professor and scholar in several universities around the world; and has lived in Shanghai, Boston and New York City. She has also founded one of the most exciting analytics software companies in placemaking today: State of Place.
I caught up with Mariela while in New York, to learn more about how AI can be used in development processes.
Hi Mariela, it’s a pleasure to meet you! How about we start by talking about where State of Place came from?
I’m a first-generation Latina. Growing up in an underinvested part of Miami, it was painfully clear to me that zip codes – and their design – predetermined more about our lives than genetic codes. Growing up in a poorer neighbourhood meant attending poorer schools, having access to poorer infrastructure, and making use of poorer mobility.
Since then, I’ve qualified as an urban planner, and during my PhD I became interested in understanding how attitudes towards public space translate to lifestyle and wellbeing. Where we live predetermines how well we live – I knew this growing up, and the post-2020, Covid world has made it excruciatingly clear.
“A more liveable, equitable and valuable place.”
In this new world, there’s clearly more interest coming from city planners, governing bodies and developers in creating more liveable, equitable and sustainable places. However, even though federal and state dollars may be flowing, it still can be difficult for these decision-makers to know what cities and constituents need – and to know exactly where and how to invest in places.
This is where State of Place comes in: we use AI and data to help forecast what needs to be done to the built environment, in order for everyone to gain maximum benefit from a more liveable, equitable and valuable place
How does State of Place work?
First, we use AI to pull data from digital images on over 125 street-level features - like sidewalks, benches, and crosswalks.
We crunch this data into the State of Place Index, giving a score from 0-100, which measures walkability, bike-ability, and liveability. Then we break down the assets and needs and map it city-wide.
This helps us to objectively identify communities with spatial inequities based on their built environment quality – down to which streets lack trees, playgrounds, or curbcuts. We can provide a full inventory of what’s working, what’s not, and where – which helps developers and governing bodies open up productive conversations with communities about their state of place.
But that’s just the diagnostic part.
“It helps open up productive conversations with communities about their state of place.”
Great, so how can these diagnostics be turned into solutions?
For over two decades, my work has quantified how urban design impacts economic, environmental, health, and social value – and it turns out some urban design features matter more than others depending on what goals you most want to achieve. For example, some things matter more for driving retail revenue, while others are great for, say, reducing asthma.
So after diagnosing and calculating a State of Place Index, our software generates a set of recommendations. These can tell you which built environment investments are most likely to maximize the outcomes that a community values most.
We have a Sim-City-like scenario tool for this, which allows planners and communities to co-create project ideas and test how these recommendations would increase their State of Place Index, all in real time.
This allows us to forecast how community-scale infrastructure investments translate into real-life outcomes – like reductions in collision rates, reduced violence, increased tax revenues, or increased use of the public space. That way, developers and governing bodies can understand exactly how their investments will improve lives – and they’ll have a productive way of communicating this.
Also, since we can quantify how investments would increase economic value, like residential rent, we can also get ahead of displacement threats by outlining policies and subsidies that ensure investments benefit those that need it most.
Finally, our tool estimates the return on investment of proposed projects so developers and governing bodies can vie for funding, justify their decisions, and maximize the bang for their buck – and get community-buy-in to get things done.
“We can quantify how investments would increase economic value.”
What kind of areas is the tool being used in at the moment?
State of Place is pretty versatile, and we’ve worked with all levels of US government on projects of all scales, in order to help create better places.
For example, we’ve helped cities like Philadelphia identify inequitable built environment divestments and quantify how that impacts key metrics like Covid rates, diabetes, asthma, flood and heat rates, and homicide rates, helping inform their participatory budgeting, public works and capital improvement investments, violence prevention plans, pedestrian, bicycle, and mobility plans, and more.
We helped the City of Durham map vehicle collision hotspots and identify which urban design changes could most help save lives.
We’ve quantified the links between the State of Place Index and vehicle miles travelled for Caltrans to help Californian cities reach greenhouse gas reduction targets.
And we’re helping Downtown Austin Alliance get a handle on what built environment assets they have to offer – and what they need to improve – to generate more foot traffic, drive retail sales, and ensure public safety.
Amazing! So what does the future look like for State of Place?
Infrastructure – especially community-scale infrastructure – is personal. What guides State of Place, and what will continue to guide us, is the knowledge that the built environment has a tangible impact on people’s lives. By creating a smart way of understanding and forecasting how investment can benefit places, we hope to continue to deliver more liveable, equitable and sustainable places.
