Smart Community Mapping Exercise - Safeguarding Health and Well-Being Via Participatory Mapping

Eleni Tracada (University of Derby)

Today the greatest goal for any city worldwide is to become liveable. Not only has the concept of liveability covered the urban design, but also has influenced the city growth and its prosperity. The author was recently invited to participate in a project of Derby City Council, UK, during which a smart community mapping exercise was carried out according to the guidelines of the council and the needs of the local community. Surveys and interviews carried out by the author and her students in urban design and planning focused on a specific area, in which the council wishes to tackle increasing youth crime and unemployment. They also wished to get a better picture of places and spaces available for social and health care of the youths and the elderly with health conditions, such as dementia, etc. The council wanted to identify particular existing structures in community centres, which could be used as social and health care units run by the youths as co-working spaces. The students wrote particular short questionnaires and created notes during organised half-day forums held in a number of selected centres and in a sample area. All outputs have been communicated to the local authority, which is going to create an interactive map for future reference for all. The author and her students have identified that community centres and assets provide essential hubs for more than fifty ethic groups of residents. This is an area of first choice for transient communities, too. Thus, recent outputs show that the area is in desperate need of establishing clear and fast communications between communities and the council. The urban space targeted by the scholars was presented to locals via innovative ideas of integrated services and green infrastructure and by including participatory activities, such as arts and crafts, cultural events, etc.