Uploaded on 2017-02-01 by Helen Chen

This is a photo of a street in one of the older quarters of Xiamen City in Fujian, China. The visible information in the photo include the building frontage width, building height, facade design, window and door sizes and numbers, surface material and color, store names, etc. One of the invisible information is the historical transformation of the area - how the buildings were designed in this style, how they changed over time in shape (through additions), color, material, and function (stores). Another set of information is about the inhabitants and users of this street - how many people live there, how many people visit there (locals and tourists), how they travel there and what they do on this street. The information about when people travel to this area and use the streets could be measured through time lapse photos of the street and automatic image recognition of pedestrians, cars, bikes. The information over the hours of the day can be mapped to understand how people use the street. Then the designers can use this information to decide whether the sidewalks are adequate, and whether the street should be modified to make it safer for pedestrians and bikers.