Building enduring smart city data platforms to provide urban management support

Former CURA visiting scholar Kristina Wolf recently published the paper “Building enduring smart city data platforms to provide urban management support: lessons learnt from UK Urban Observatories and the US Smart Columbus Operating System” in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Cities. Former CURA post-doctoral fellow Jonathan Stiles and myself are also co-authors. The paper is a case study of the Smart City Operating System (SCOS), part of a Smart City project awarded by the US Department of Transportation in 2016 in Columbus Ohio. SCOS was developed as a robust smart city data management platform. However, despite a well-designed organization, methodology, and processes, the platform did not sufficiently capture city users, and was no longer used soon after demonstration funding ended in 2021. The study compares the SCOS with urban data observatories in the UK, concluding their more restrained scope, university support and stable funding environment made them more successful.

Wolf, K., Stiles, J., Miller, H.J., Dawson, R.J., Mills, J.P., Blythe, P. and Morley, J. (2025) “Building enduring smart city data platforms to provide urban management support: Lessons learnt from UK Urban Observatories and the US Smart Columbus Operating System,” Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 7:1512847.

Check out our Ghost Neighborhoods models!

After extensive work from CURA’s research associates and engagement with the community, we are excited to share drafts of two interactive Ghost Neighborhood models: a three-block stretch of Mt. Vernon Avenue in 1951, and Poindexter Village in 1941. These models will be displayed in Ohio History Connection’s Poindexter Village Museum opening in 2028. You can find out more about our process, explore the models, and complete a feedback survey on our website.

Check out the models here

Ghost Neighborhoods project demo at Poindexter Village event

At a public event at the Union Grove Baptist Church on the Near East Side neighborhood of Columbus, the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA) teamed up with the Sharpe Field Library to demonstrate the 3D urban models of historically Black neighborhoods being created by CURA’s Ghost Neighborhoods of Columbus project.  CURA is developing these 3D models to give people an immersive and visceral feeling of what Black neighborhoods were like before highway construction, disinvestment due to redlining and urban renewal projects. Participants were able to experience a VR simulation of Poindexter Village in 1940, and interacted with the model of Mt. Vernon Ave in 1951 on iPads. Participants also provided some very valuable feedback on the model interfaces, and the historical authenticity of the representations.

The Ohio History Connection organized the event to highlight plans for a new Columbus African American history museum, opening in February 2028. CURA’s 3D models will be featured in the museum. Harvey Miller, Jordan Swaim-Fox, Karyn Kerdolff, Summer Ha (CURA) and Adam Tjoelker (Sharpe Field Library) were at the event.