The era of big data in public Policy has begun, and the promises and limitations of this social science tool will soon be tested in cities. Policy outcomes can now be measured with greater accuracy and finer location than ever, improving the delivery of urban services and accounting for their value to society.
Alas, big data cannot solve urban social problems on its own. In a new working paper, Edward Glaeser, Scott Duke Kominers, Michael Luca, and Nikhil Naik review when and how big data can have an important policy impact and how information from the Internet is being used to improve city management.
From online social networks to the computerization of public records, big data can help answer urban questions. Big data is also improving city management, as municipal operations, local regulations, the allocation of scarce resources, and financial forecasts can all benefit from data-driven evidence. For example, Seattle has partnered with Accenture and Microsoft to track energy usage in public buildings downtown and has developed algorithms to cut consumption and cost.
Planners and architects have long promoted the idea that physical space helps shape social outcomes. Data from GPS imagery like Google Street View can now be used to measure urban spaces and their impact on social outcomes. For instances, Nikhil Naik, study co-author and part of the MIT Media Lab, created StreetScore as an algorithm to estimate perceived safety of different streets. Measuring street images could also enable research into patterns of poverty, segregation, and development.
Estimating the Value of Urban Amenities
Policymakers often estimate the value of urban investments by weighing the social costs and benefits of a given policy. These estimates can be enhanced by big data. Two methods of estimating social costs and benefits involve revealed preferences and contingent valuation.
Revealed preferences refers to inferring consumer value for a non-market good through the prices of other goods. For instance, hedonic housing price models attempt to capture the ‘price’ of fresh air by looking at housing prices in areas that have or lack fresh air.
