25Q in London

On June 27th, Open City, in partnership with Arup, hosted an inaugural one-day convention in Peckham London to explore how cities are made. Throughout the day, architects, industry professionals, academics, authors, and cultural commentators crafted discussions around contemporary issues and fresh citymaking perspectives. The convention took place at the groundbreaking Bold Tendencies Multi-Storey Car Park.

Themes explored during the day included:

• How do we make cities more equitable?
• How can the needs of residents become centre stage?
• How do we involve residents in shaping their neighbourhoods – the places where they live, work and play?

For the event, Arup & Interactive Spaces Urban Studio exhibited part of the digital installation “25 Questions for Liveable Cities” — a total of 9 questions to be exact. The polling results were anonymously captured, enabling us to compare the collective opinion in Peckham with results from an event happening one month earlier in Copenhagen.

These are still very early findings representing a small sample size, and the data is insufficient to draw hard policy conclusions from. Even so, the findings begin to raise interesting questions on how norms around digital technology will continue to shape around the world, and how policy might need to be customised to different local contexts. We hope this installation can continue to travel to different cities to engage with a wider audience and build out a rich understanding of public perception of urban technology over space and time.

Data Comparison / Copenhagen & Peckham / May & June 2019

1. Shared belief / All homes should be required to have a smart meter to monitor electricity usage

• 87% support in Copenhagen
• 100% support in Peckham

Strong support in both cities indicate a shared common belief in the importance of limiting energy usage in buildings, and the potential role digital technology can play in building good behaviour and monitoring use. This strong support may be linked to a growing global narrative on climate urgency and energy use.

2. Shared disbelief / Algorithms should be trusted more than planning councils to grant building permits

• 33% support in Copenhagen
• 27% support in Peckham

In both cities, people indicated a hesitation to support a policy where algorithms, rather than human experts, grant planning permission. This can indicate a shared, enduring belief than planning is inherently a complex, social, sensitive matter that cannot be automated. It may suggest that people in both cities view planning inherently as a process of negotiation, rather than as a set of formal rules.

3. Shared confusion / Public spaces should prioritise free wifi above benches

• 53% support in Copenhagen
• 45% support in Peckham

From our data, it seems that both Copenhagen and London participants are divided over this topic, with answers near the 50-50 line in both cities. This may be a symptom of a larger ongoing debate around the role of the modern public realm and what responsibility local government has in providing amenities.

4. Divergence / Holiday flat-rentals should be banned to protect the hotel industry

• 20% support in Copenhagen
• 70% support in Peckham

This question saw most divergent answers from our respondents in the two cities. Those in London were more likely to support an all-out ban of flat rentals, which may be due to support for the hotel industry (as the question suggests), or more likely, due to the acute pressure of housing shortage felt in the UK's capital city.

About the findings

London: Data was extracted 15 times over an eight-hour period. Approximately 300 people engaged with the installation.

Peckham: Data was extracted continuously over a six-hour period. Approximately 150 people engaged with the installation.