Abstract
The digital turn of the 21st Century has witnessed emerging concepts of big data and its applications in urban sciences. Introductions to the use of technology and computational systems merging with innovative methodologies are reshaping the urban environment for sustainability and resilience. The UNHABITAT New Urban Agenda 2017 recommends strengthening data and statistical capacities for effective implementation and monitoring of sustainable urban development and informed decision-making. It also accentuates the need for the leveraging of natural and cultural heritage in cities and human settlements through integrated urban and territorial policies. Since urban sciences encompass economics, social and landscape faculties amongst others, decision making is largely carried out in silos of the institutional frameworks. Integrated processes within the ambit of urban science pose challenges to engage relevant theoretical frameworks, developing indicators for measurement, data collection and analysis. In the absence of a framework for assessment, although data is generated by different institutions, the silos are perpetuated. This multiplicity of information and datasets can be better managed with help of innovative frameworks of indicators, assessment matrices, with new emerging digital tools and datascaping methods as visual representations of quantifiable data. Data driven urbanism collaborated with theories and science may have the potential to improve and advance sustainability and resilience. This concept if applied to urban heritage, inclusive of tangibles and intangibles and liminal spaces, may generate information to document the urban invisibles to address issues of spatial complexities and foster resilience. This research explores the case study of a multicultural historic port town Jaffa, a marginalized Arab neighborhood on the fringes of the Jewish modern city of Tel Aviv, Israel. This case highlights the socio-spatial heterogeneity of the historic urban landscape and the present day gentrified cultural tourist spot inflicted by neoliberal practices which has resulted in shifting demographics, spatial conflicts and fragmentation. There is a need for cognizance of the socio- spatial configurations in the decision-making process to acknowledge the liminality in spatially complex multicultural historic cities. This datascaping method can constitute a key resource in enhancing the liveability of urban areas, and foster economic development and social cohesion in a changing global environment. This article will demonstrate the sustainability and resilience of historic urban landscapes, data collection, analysis of indicators and attributes can assist in bridging the gap between policymakers and citizens thereby breaking the silos of information within institutions. Moreover, it will explore thematic analysis for: (i) An explorative database of attributes and indicators adhering to the 2011 UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape recommendation and the UNHABITAT 2017 New Urban Agenda (ii) Developing a methodology for interlinking theory to data-science and digital techniques at various scales of design strategies (iii) exploring methods of visualization to serve as a point of inquiry for spatial representation of attributes and its potential to enhance historic urban design and decision making. The research hinges upon the interlinking of data sets of attributes and digital technology to fill the gaps of management practices and define the role of heritage in spatially complex multi-cultural urban areas. The introduction of such innovative methodologies has the potential to contribute to the ontologies and discourse of urban heritage management, sustainability and resilience of cities.
