Urban Creative Commons

Urban Creative Commons is a speculative practice headed by Soki Kimura that aims to bridge the gap between the stream of urban data analysis and the field of placemaking and urban design, aiming to close the divide between those with and without access to the overwhelming datasets of the modern era. By making urban data accessible to all through various strategies and combining with urban design techniques, we seek for the commoning of advanced spatial analysis to inform decisions by citizens and planners alike.

GitHub

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About the Website

This website is created for the ARC6975 Trajectories in Spatial Practices module as part of the MA Urban Design course at the University of Sheffield’s School of Architecture and Landscape.

Here I walk through the Urban Data & Design Game that I have created for the course, as well as additional insights from the datasets that could not be expressed through the deliverables.

About the Site of Interest

The site chosen for this project is the harbour city of Shimizu, Shizuoka in central Japan. It is known for one of the most beautiful ports in Japan, having the iconic Mount Fuji building up from the sea, along with the world heritage site of Miho no Matsubara. It is a large trade port, with major exports including motorcycles, paper and paper products, and automobile parts, while fuels and paper ingredients being some of the major imports through the docks.

Various issues and risks are associated with the city (along with other areas along the Pacific Coast), the major one being the Nankai Trough Earthquake, with a probability of occurring within the next 30 years being estimated at 70%. Tsunamis, flooding, and population decline have are all issues that the city faces. The aim of this project to guide the discussion to the future through the lens of urban analysis that can be accessible by everyone.