SCC-PG: The Prospects for Artificial Intelligence in Urban Planning

人工智能（AI）应用的广度显著增长，特别是在过去十年中，提高了许多行业的生产力和效率。城市已经成为数据收集和算法部署的主要场所，但城市规划的专业领域缺乏对人工智能如何/应该如何用于改进分析过程的全面评估。城市规划预测并指导社区未来的物质和社会条件，以提高生活质量-所有这些都严重依赖日益庞大和多样化的数据集，这表明如果该领域要为道德部署制定强大的框架，人工智能的潜力尚未开发。该项目审查并寻求解决提高公共服务提供效率与加强城市决策中的再分配和程序公平之间的矛盾。随着人工智能在社会中的作用越来越大，人们也越来越担心它可能会重现种族偏见，加深“数字鸿沟”，侵犯隐私，并且对解决复杂社会问题核心的“邪恶问题”无能为力。 此外，它还可以揭示自动化在城市生活中的更广泛影响，如劳动力转移，生活方式的改变，以及公共服务专业的未来发展。该项目是弗吉尼亚理工大学，美国规划协会（阿帕）和阿灵顿县，弗吉尼亚州的社区规划，住房和发展部（DCPHD规划部）和技术服务部（DCPHD）之间的合作伙伴关系。作为该规划拨款的一部分，该合作伙伴关系将对阿帕成员进行调查，并与DCPHD一起举办可行性分析研讨会和焦点小组会议。其目标是评估县规划人员执行的各种任务，并确定其中哪些任务最有可能得到人工智能技术的帮助和改进。这包括县级对综合规划、土地使用、基础设施、环境、住房、公园和交通的责任。 该项目预计，这些领域中的每一个都有可能获得更先进的数据和分析能力。该方法合作伙伴研究人员，规划专业人员和社区成员将专注于基于人工智能的规划活动的可解释性和透明度。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The breadth of artificial intelligence (AI) applications has grown significantly, particularly over the last decade, increasing productivity and efficiency across numerous sectors. Cities have become the primary sites of data collection and algorithm deployment, but the professional field of urban planning lacks a comprehensive evaluation of how AI can/should be used to improve analytical processes. Urban planning anticipates and guides the future physical and social conditions of communities to improve quality of life – all with a heavy reliance on increasingly large and varied datasets, which suggests the untapped potential of AI if the field were to develop robust frameworks for ethical deployment. This project examines and seeks to address the tension between improving the efficiency of public service provision and enhancing redistributive and procedural equity within urban decision-making. As AI’s role in society grows, so do the concerns that it may reproduce racial bias, deepen “digital divides,” infringe on privacy, and do little to address the “wicked problems” at the heart of complex social issues. In addition, it may shed light on broader impacts of automation in urban life, such as workforce displacement, lifestyle changes, and future developments in public service professions.This project is a partnership between Virginia Tech, the American Planning Association (APA), and Arlington County, Virginia’s Departments of Community Planning, Housing and Development (DCPHD Planning Division) and Technology Services (DTS). As part of this planning grant, the partnership will survey members of the APA and conduct feasibility analysis workshops and focus group sessions with DCPHD. The objective is to assess a broad range of tasks performed by County planners and determine which of these have the highest likelihood of being assisted and improved by AI technologies. This includes county-level responsibilities for comprehensive planning, land use, infrastructure, environment, housing, parks, and transportation. This project expects that each of these areas has the potential for more advanced data and analytical capabilities. The approach partners researchers, planning professionals, and community members will focus on the explainability and transparency of AI-based planning activities. This relates to the equitable deployment of AI methods and will also address concerns about trust in the use of data and analytical processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.