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Our study engaged with community partners to understand the data needed to address livability in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. It explored their perspectives on livability metrics and provided insights on best practices for distributing information.
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Target audience
Urban planners and policy makers, community leaders and local organizations
The problem
Livability is a people-oriented concept, and accurately measuring it requires a contextual understanding of what local stakeholders deem essential for making communities livable. Despite extensive research on livability indicators, most studies have taken a top-down approach, with few considering the input of the communities.
What we did and why
We engaged nine community partners currently working to enhance the quality of life and livability in the City of St. Louis. Discussions centered on participants’ comprehension of livability and the types of data in use. We also addressed participants’ challenges and their need for an online data portal, as well as the factors that would encourage its use, along with preferred platforms for distribution, including ideas for effective communication and dissemination of information about it.
Our study’s contribution
Our study offers a community-engaged approach to product design, which aims to improve the adoption and utilization of the community data portal and, thus, livability. Community perspectives emphasized: the conceptualization of livability in community settings, the need for localized thinking in metric design, amplifying community voices, addressing community needs, and ensuring long-term sustainability and impact.
Impacts for city policy and practice
This study highlights the multifaceted nature of livability and the importance of inclusive, community-driven approaches to developing effective livability metrics for policy decision-making and city planning practices.
Further information
Full research article:
Community perspectives on livability metrics: insights using designing for dissemination and sustainability by Andrew N. Crenshaw, Yi Wang, Ana Luiza Favarão Leão, Maura M. Kepper, Raúl D. Gierbolini-Rivera & Rodrigo Reis
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