Dalang Fever 3 — How data can empower a migrant society

Dalang Fever 3 — How data can empower a migrant society / 大浪狂热 3.0. 如何使数据变得有价值，用以改善移民社会

Het Nieuwe Instituut + International New Town Institute

Het Nieuwe Instituut and the International New Town Institute join forces by combining extensive working experience in Shenzhen with knowledge on data and the smart society in a research proposal curated by Linda Vlassenrood. The impact of datafication on society and the human environment is all-pervasive. Yet the threats and opportunities it presents for urban life are still not being sufficiently recognized by design disciplines like architecture and urban planning. We strongly believe that technology should not be an end in itself but should be used to solve locally grounded problems in society. Many cities are, however, still far from using technology in a more inclusive way. We are therefore specifically interested in the fifth research question of the open call presented by the curators: how can designers and citizens harness the power of real-time data in novel ways, especially to foster architecture’s ability to respond to people’s needs?

Our research will use a methodology of identifying questions before collecting data at large, starting with the needs of residents in Dalang, a district in the outskirts of Shenzhen in which hardly any generalized data is being gathered. Primarily a dense collection of urban villages and factory compounds, it is hard-to-reach with few public facilities and limited green and public spaces. It is home to approximately 500,000 people, a majority of them young migrants. We will start by identifying the needs and ambitions of the residents and collect formal, informal and qualitative data to provide genuine insights and a richer sense of the human interaction, needs and networking in the area.

Using an application based on blockchain technology, we will gather four layers of information. A multidisciplinary data and design team (data analysts, urban planners, architects, graphic designers, industrial designers, social designers or sociologists) with spatial and social expertise will collaboratively analyze the collected data and use their different lenses to propose solutions to improve living conditions and empower people in Dalang. It is an iterative and open-ended process that will question the use of quantitative and qualitative data in order to incorporate people’s needs into the continuous upgrade and transformation of Dalang. How should we collect data? How can we make it accessible? How can we visualize it? Which spatial and organizational transitions should be instigated? What kind of new platforms and working methods will be needed?

在Linda Vlassenrood策划的这项研究项目中，Het Nieuwe Instituut和国际新城研究所携手合作，将他们在深圳的丰富工作经验与数据知识和智能社会相结合。数据化对社会和人类环境的影响是方方面面的。然而，建筑和城市规划等设计学科仍然没有充分认识到数据化给城市生活带来的挑战和机遇。我们坚信，技术本身并非终点，而是应该用于解决社会中的地方性问题。然而，许多城市并未以更具包容的方式使用技术。因此，我们对策展人在公开征集中提出的第五个研究问题颇有兴趣：设计师和市民如何以新的方式利用实时数据并驾驭这股力量，尤其是如何提高建筑响应人们需求的能力？

在收集大量数据之前，我们带着问题意识，首先从确定深圳关外的大浪居民的需求开始，在那里我们几乎没有收集任何常规数据。大浪主要由密集的城中村和工业厂房构成，公共设施极少，绿地和公共空间有限。这里居住着大约50万人，其中大部分是年轻的移民工人。我们将首先确定居民的需求和理想，并收集正式、非正式和质性数据，以便对该区域的人际互动、需求和网络有真正的见解和更深入的认识。

我们使用基于区块链技术的应用程序来收集四层信息。一个具有空间和社会专业知识的跨学科数据和设计团队（数据分析师、城市规划师、建筑师、平面设计师、工业设计师、社会设计师或社会学家）将通力合作，对所收集的数据进行分析，并从不同的角度提出解决方案，改善大浪社区的生活条件，增强居民权利。这是一个迭代、开放的过程，将会对定量和定性数据的使用提出质疑，以便将人们的需求纳入大浪的持续升级和转型之中。我们应该如何收集数据？如何让数据变得触手可及？如何把它可视化？应该鼓励哪些空间和组织转变？需要什么样的操作平台和工作方法?

Credits:

Linda Vlassenrood (Independent Curator), Tat Lam (Research / Impact Hub Shenzhen), Xu Min (Research / Impact Hub Shenzhen), Tim Lin (Research / Impact Hub Shenzhen), Toon Koehorst (Design / Koehorst in ‘t Veld), Jannetje in ‘t Veld (Design / Koehorst in ‘t Veld), Francien Van Westrenen (Het Nieuwe Instituut), Michelle Provoost (International New Town Institute)