Urban design and mapping technologies

This chapter introduces eye-trackers, thermal cameras, and drones as contemporary mapping technologies that add to the extensive existing mapping toolbox of urban designers. Further, it describes the key data-capture options involved in each method and provides relevant empirical examples, drawing on current research projects and urban design curriculum activities. These mapping technologies must be connected to one’s fundamental urban design assumptions and not simply ‘added on’ to urban design mapping. Hence, it is important to view each of these technologies in relation to a fundamental understanding of places, which can be defined as relational and by the mobility and immobility of people, ideas, and matter. These technologies enable the users to gain a deeper understanding of how humans inhabit contemporary urban ecosystems and landscapes. This chapter ends with a discussion on potential future research using these novel urban design mapping technologies.