NZPI SPECIAL VIRTUAL EVENT | A Digital Future


Professor Tom Sanchez

Urban Affairs & Planning, Virginia Tech (USA)

Tom Sanchez earned his PhD in City Planning from Georgia Tech and is a Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech in the National Capital Region (Washington, DC/Northern Virginia). He conducts research in the areas of transportation, social justice, technology, and scholarly impact. His most recent books, Networks in the Knowledge Economy (with Denise Bedford) was published in 2021 and Planning Knowledge and Research, was published by Routledge in 2018. He has co-authored three other books including, Planning as if People Matter: Governing for Social Equity (2012), The Right to Transportation: Moving to Equity (2007), and The Social Impacts of Urban Containment (2007).

Presenting:

The Prospects for AI in Urban Planning.

Thursday 1st September, 9:30Am (40 mins including Q&A)


Over the past several decades, urban planning has considered a variety of advanced analysis methods with greater and lesser degrees of adoption. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is probably the most notable, with others such as database management systems (DBMS), decision support systems (DSS), planning support systems (PSS), and expert systems (ES), having mixed levels of recognition and acceptance. Advances in information technologies have moved very slowly in the field of urban planning, more recently concerning artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT) technologies, while revolutionizing other domains such as consumer goods and services. This is an opportune time for urban planners to (re)consider the application of AI-related techniques given vast increases in data availability, increased processing speeds, and increased popularity and development of planning-related applications. This presentation will highlight related topics along with the results of a national survey of urban planners about their perspectives on AI adoption.