Performing smart cities research based on existing datasets: a methodology framework

Our understanding of how a city works is changing as more and more activities and interactions of citizens with and within the city are being tracked. It is estimated that by 2020, 1.7MB of data will be created every second for each person [1]. These data are created by different actors, including businesses that collect information to fuel their services. Cities can enrich the understanding of their citizen dynamics and improve data-driven decision-making using these data. However, cities do not have the resources or skills (yet) to handle and analyze this new type of information. In this paper, we propose a methodology for cities to map and identify different sources of existing data, in order to give them a new meaning in the urban planning context. Also, we present our empirical experience with the methodology in solving issues at the city management level. Results show that cities can not only gather new insights by exploring existing datasets from businesses but also give them a new purpose to support and evaluate decision-making on the urban space and its development.