CityLab has been an active learning experience for me and my fellow collaborators in the lab. With the mentorship of our Professor we embarked on a learning and community enriching experience. In consultation with the Penn Branch Economic Development Committee, we started on our first projhect to build a website for the committee along with laying the foundation and starting a community mural engagement project – designed to inspire and involve the youth and the young at heart of the neighborhood.
Urban Immersion
The process of discovery based on experiential understanding of a neighborhood, its people, and its places are important to this piece of the practicum - We started off with a kick off meeting with the PENAVEEDC committee members and Steven Downing who heads the committee took us around the neighborhood and gave us some insight into what are the possibilities in the area. Through this immersive session we were able to understand and learn what the neighborhood is all about who are all the people who make this neighborhood, brief history and the possible improvements we could all help to make an impact in the community and be part of this change. This tour set the base of our future conversations to take up specific projects in the area.
Domain Knowledge Integration
This was truly our exploration phase. Our domain knowledge integration was primarily based on how we explored, interpreted, and synthesized key elements of the neighborhood of PennAveEast and its livability domain knowledge through interviewing and reading about the community. Our knowledge also enhanced because of critical and reflective conversations with fellow collaborators and colleagues in the class. All the deliverables we had like the website, the promotional video which is an integral tool to connect the community and give them a voice was directly influenced by this methodology.
Data Analytics
We used data analytics and data visualization through the website by sampling and interpreting the data for the neighborhood that became the foundation for the Neighborhood at a glance feature on the website. This was achieved through consultation, research, data analysis and map visualization in collaboration with the PENAVEEDC committee members and other stakeholders. The result is a visually stunning data visualization of key performance indicators in the area displayed on the homepage of the website