How Can Geodesign Help Solve Big 21st Century Problems?

Civilization faces unprecedented challenges in the 21st century, such as climate change, technological disruption, and socioeconomic inequality. Common threads include uncertainty, disruption of societal norms, and disproportionate impacts on poor and vulnerable populations. For example, Paul R. Brown postulates that Hurricane Harvey demonstrates what steadily rising temperatures and resultant climatic ""non-stationarity"" hold in store for us—the inadequacy of accepted engineering and building standards to deal with an unprecedented extreme weather event. This presentation will challenge the audience to consider how geodesign can help society address such big problems, drawing on the increasing power of digital technology and sophistication of tools such as scenario planning. It will focus on the projected impacts of autonomous vehicles, which, according to a Florida State University research team, ""have the potential to transform transportation systems and land use patterns to a level not seen since the mass production of the private automobile."" The complex variables that will determine the secondary impacts of this coming technology on our cities and regions include, among others, transportation costs, the balance between driven and driverless vehicles over time, private ownership vs. shared use, and electrification of the vehicular fleet. Access and equity for the poor and mobility impaired are major concerns. The presentation will provide an overview of what is currently known about the technology and its impacts, followed by an exploration of how geodesign and scenario planning might be used to inform policy and decision-making at scales ranging from the district to city and region. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow us on Social Media! Twitter: https://twitter.com/Esri Facebook: https://facebook.com/EsriGIS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/esri Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/esrigram The Science of Where: http://www.esri.com