Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi
Conceived out of collaboration between Kenyan and American universities and the technology sector in Nairobi, Digital Matatus shows how to leverage the ubiquitous nature of cellphone technology to collect missing data for essential infrastructure - including those with high levels of informality. Th...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institut Veolia Environnement
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126838 |
| _version_ | 1826189194496573440 |
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| author | Williams, Sarah E |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Williams, Sarah E |
| author_sort | Williams, Sarah E |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Conceived out of collaboration between Kenyan and American universities and the technology sector in Nairobi, Digital Matatus shows how to leverage the ubiquitous nature of cellphone technology to collect missing data for essential infrastructure - including those with high levels of informality. The project captured transit data in standardized form for Nairobi’s semi-formal bus system, developed the first public transit map for such a system and made the map and data free to the public, spurring innovation and improved services for citizens. While most cities develop sophisticated IT projects to make their organization smarter, the Digital Matatus case suggests the value of a much more modest and bottom-up approach: it encourages reliance on common technologies like cellphones to understand and improve existing urban services - that often involve informality - in emerging countries. By developing the first-ever high quality data set and map of the Matatu network (very common semi-informal mini-buses in Kenya), the projects promotes a new, low-cost and more practical vision of smart and transit-oriented cities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:11:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/126838 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:11:01Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Institut Veolia Environnement |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1268382022-09-23T11:28:09Z Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi Williams, Sarah E Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Conceived out of collaboration between Kenyan and American universities and the technology sector in Nairobi, Digital Matatus shows how to leverage the ubiquitous nature of cellphone technology to collect missing data for essential infrastructure - including those with high levels of informality. The project captured transit data in standardized form for Nairobi’s semi-formal bus system, developed the first public transit map for such a system and made the map and data free to the public, spurring innovation and improved services for citizens. While most cities develop sophisticated IT projects to make their organization smarter, the Digital Matatus case suggests the value of a much more modest and bottom-up approach: it encourages reliance on common technologies like cellphones to understand and improve existing urban services - that often involve informality - in emerging countries. By developing the first-ever high quality data set and map of the Matatu network (very common semi-informal mini-buses in Kenya), the projects promotes a new, low-cost and more practical vision of smart and transit-oriented cities. 2020-08-28T12:17:43Z 2020-08-28T12:17:43Z 2017-06 2020-08-27T18:24:02Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1867-139X https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126838 Klopp, Jacqueline et al. “Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi.” Field Actions Science Report, Special Issue 16, (June 2017): 39-43 © 2017 The Author(s) en Field Actions Science Report application/pdf Institut Veolia Environnement 532979 |
| spellingShingle | Williams, Sarah E Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi |
| title | Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi |
| title_full | Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi |
| title_fullStr | Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi |
| title_full_unstemmed | Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi |
| title_short | Informal 2.0: Seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in Nairobi |
| title_sort | informal 2 0 seeing and improving urban informal practices through digital technologies the digital matatus case in nairobi |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126838 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT williamssarahe informal20seeingandimprovingurbaninformalpracticesthroughdigitaltechnologiesthedigitalmatatuscaseinnairobi |