Uploaded on 2015-05-03 by SimonObendorf

*General Information:* This photograph is taken looking north down the River Witham towards the Brayford Pool and the city of Lincoln, in the East Midlands of the UK. On the right (with the brick arches) is part of a new shopping development that has taken over one of the rail stations that used to serve the city. Behind that are several new apartment developments, mainly serving the new student market that has emerged since the University of Lincoln was established in the city in 1996. The university campus is located on former industrial rail yards and is bisected by the remaining rail line that crosses the river to enter the city. A small part of the university itself is visible at the left of the image (the building with the yellow structures and solar panels on the roof). It currently enrols approx 13, 000 students. In the background of the picture is the older part of the city, the central business district and established residential areas rising up the hill to the (circa. 1088) Lincoln Cathedral and (not visible) Lincoln Castle. *Information Visible in the Photograph:* There is a lot of visible information here about the topography of the city, its location on the River, the visible traces of layers of architectural, industrial and urban history (Roman, medieval, Norman, industrial, 20th and 21st century), differing contemporary architectural styles, patterns of streets, buildings, canals, rivers and open space, retail units, the existence of shared bike and pedestrian pathways, citizens using the open space by the river. Also visible is some sense of the climate (this was taken on a sunny spring day but it is clear that many of the older brick buildings are designed for harsher winters). The species of trees and planting of public gardens are also evident. Also visible (just!) under the bridge are two of Lincoln's many swans that inhabit the river, the Brayford Pool and the canals. Crossing the road bridge in the middle ground is a van which makes some traffic patterns (a perennial issue in the city) visible. *Two Instances of Invisible Information in the Photograph:* One interesting area is to explore the ways in which we might derive information about how Lincoln's student population inhabits and uses the space of the city. The university has provided access to University WiFi throughout the central business district which is accessible by students logging in with their individual university accounts. Many university facilities and student accommodation buildings are accessed by swipe cards. University resources - administrative, library, virtual learning - are accessible only via University logins that can be linked to particular ISPs or physically locatable IP addresses. Even many recreational data services are accessed (ie Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video) are accessed via the university network or after authenticating as a university student (in order to access a student discount!) Thus, overlaid on this visible image is a huge amount of data and information that can (potentially at an *individual* level, certainly as a larger-scale/group dataset) trace the ways in which students move through the city, access various spaces, engage with particular physical and virtual resources, patronise particular cafés, live, study or congregate in particular neighbourhoods. The combination of the *type* of use of resources together with the *location* of the use of that resource and the *frequency/number* of such use provides us with a rich knowledge bank from which to think about the management, regulation and planning of the city. The second invisible aspect I'd like to highlight from this photograph is the extent to which flows of north-south vehicular and foot traffic are disrupted by the running of passenger and goods trains through the heart of the city. At several locations in the city (including one of the bridges at the rear of this photograph) level-crossing barriers activate many times an hour as trains enter or leave Lincoln station or traverse the city. Vehicular and passenger congestion occurs at these times, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the time of day/year, events taking place in the city, length of barrier closure, length of train passing. Certainly some data could be derived from the records of the barriers being up or down at certain times and for particular lengths of time (presumably digitally collected as the barriers are automated - if not it could be derived from rail timetables) and then correlated with numbers of people, bicycles and vehicles waiting at the crossing, emissions from idling vehicles, cost in fuel consumption, wasted productivity etc. Some of this latter information could be collected via cameras or GPS information from in-car or mobile telephones. This data could be used to make a business case for elevated crossings, redirected trains or even a wholescale relocation of the train station. *Knowledge:* Returning to my first example (students in the city), I think that if this data could be collated it would make a big difference in creating knowledge to better plan and regulate the city - and ease existing urban tensions. Lincoln has a long industrial and working class heritage and is surrounded by farms, agriculture and a large number of military bases. The recent arrival of the university has raised tensions between "town and gown" with existing residents complaining of how the students have changed the retail profile of the town, attracted more nightclubs and drinking venues, increased noise levels and caused housing stock to be adapted into short-term/multiple student occupation (which has flow on effects for things like schooling, healthcare and transport provision). Yet much of the "evidence" for these impacts is largely anecdotal and indeed many longer-term residents of the city are probably unaware of the extent to which students live, work, consume and contribute across the urban space. Similarly, better data about the reality of how students live in and consume the city (as opposed to how they self-report living in the city or are administratively *supposed* to) would help both the university and local authorities better plan things like housing, student facilities and induction/student management policies. For instance, there is a lot of disgruntlement about the perceived number of private rental properties in multiple occupation by students in excess of their permitted number. The sort of data collection I have proposed here might allow this to be verified (numbers of students logged on from a particular location etc) and, if it is a problem, to be better managed at a policy level. It might also help allay tensions between students and longer-term residents and help demonstrate the valuable contributions of the university to the local economy (as Lincoln enters a post-industrial phase of development). Finally I should point out that there is an ethical dimension to all of this. We *can* collect a lot of data now - right down to the individual level - but that doesn't necessarily mean we always *should*. Data protection, privacy and the consent of participants in big data collection is an issue of which we should remain cognisant. ![Lincoln and the River Witham, United Kingdom][1] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14306656445908317.jpg