The open-source tool that can transform urban planning
Y25 – OpenDataCam by Valentin Sawadski
Data drives urban planning, and recent examples like bicycle usage doubling in Paris between October 2022 and 2023 highlight the importance of understanding how people move through cities. As we push towards sustainable transport goals, analysing commuting patterns has never been more crucial. OpenDataCam, a project by German tech entrepreneur Valentin Sawadski could help us do just that.
OpenDataCam is an innovative open-source tool that transforms video feeds into valuable urban mobility data. It avoids compromising the privacy of citizens, as no visual data is saved or sent to online cloud processing. Instead the system just saves surveyed meta-data, in particular the path an object moved or number of counted objects at a certain point.
The tool works with various video sources, from IP cameras to YouTube live streams. Multiple counters can be set up to track different types of movement, analyse how people navigate spaces, and customise the system to detect specific patterns of urban movement.
This tool demonstrates how technology can help cities make data-driven decisions about urban design. Instead of relying on manual counts or rough estimates, city planners can now gather accurate, long-term data about how people actually use urban spaces.
Workshop: Data Visualisation for Data Professionals
Is your data stuck in spreadsheets or locked away in PDFs? What if your audience could explore that data themselves, uncovering compelling narratives and drawing their own insights?
Join us for a half-day workshop at Makerversity in Somerset House, where you'll learn the fundamentals of data visualisation. Discover how to uncover the best stories within your data and focus on what truly matters to your audience.
Sign up here (11 Feb 2025, Somerset House, London, £250)
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