Exploring the Use of a Spatio-Temporal City Dashboard to Study Criminal Incidence: A Case Study for the Mexican State of Aguascalientes

• Main Author: Rodrigo Tapia-McClung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-03-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: smart governance; geovisual analytics; city dashboards; smart cities; crime analysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2199

By considering public safety as a relevant component of a smart city framework, the development and use of city dashboards that explore the spatio-temporal monitoring of crime incidence to help local governments base their decision-making process on evidence is becoming more relevant. This research deals with the case study of the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico, whose capital hosts the annual San Marcos Fair, considered the most important fair in the country. By developing an online dynamic platform consisting of several different modules that rely on the use of geovisual analytics for dynamic and interactive data display and exploration, authorities can gain insights about the times and locations of the impact of criminal incidence, detect patterns over space and time, and look into what actions could be put in place. This becomes useful in advancing a circular model of the smart city in which urban processes are observed, data is collected and analyzed, management and decision actions occur, and more data is collected to measure their effectiveness. By comparing statistics for the three year period of 2016−2018, it is found that the second year of the study had a significant decrease in pedestrian crime incidence during the Fair, supporting the use of city dashboards with geovisual analytics to help monitor urban processes and aid authorities in making decisions. Further research is needed to uncover more efficient practices to achieve inter-institutional collaboration and data sharing schemes that adhere to and boost the principles of the smart city.