This Framework offers a step-by-step process to create vibrant, data-informed public spaces. Whether you’re launching a new project or assessing an existing one, this Framework walks through each phase of a public life data project, from planning to execution and evaluation.
URBAN95
Public Life Data Framework
Tips for applying the framework
Public life data collection isn’t a one-sizefits-all process—it’s flexible, adaptable, and ready to meet you where you are. Whether you’re working solo or with a team, this Framework is here to support your project in any way that makes the most sense for you. There’s no single starting point or perfect path. Jump in, explore, and use this holistic approach to build a strong culture of data-driven planning and decision making.
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Print this Framework and identify where you currently stand in the process
Note down which steps you have already accomplished, or which you may want to revisit or tackle later
Create a project process that best fits your team’s goals and capacity
Need more guidance? Check out the Framework Guide for deeper insights, step-bystep explanations, and helpful resources along the way.
Plan and Define
Build a Coalition
Define Constraints and Challenges
Identify a Site
Let’s kick off your Public life data collection! Start by identifying the key challenges children and their families face in your community. Before collecting Public life data, define the constraints that Public life data can help mitigate. Then identify the constraints that could block a Public life data project in terms of resources, feasibility or sustainability.
Considerations for the project kick off
Now you are well on your way! Use the Shared Public Life Vision, the desired impacts, neighborhood level data and engagement insights to select a site for Public life data collection.
Try mapping core challenges and constraints as early as possible to best inform the project’s vision and by extension the data collection process.
□ Regulations: What are the local laws, regulations and permits you need to navigate to ease permitting?
□ Budget: How much funding needs to be secured? Where is funding coming from? □ Data: What datasets are available for a complete understanding of the local context? Are there gaps in the data? □ Community-level challenges: What local challenges will you address through your project?
□ Timeline: What is a realistic project timeline and is there flexibility to handle unexpected events?
Engage Stakeholders A strong engagement plan and stakeholder coalition is essential for informing and sustaining a data informed planning practice and to build alliances. Engaging stakeholders doesn’t stop at stage one, this can occur throughout any data process to ensure transparency and trust along the way.
Backed by big data, site selection ensures that chosen sites are useful for collecting Public life data and for studying behaviors. Develop a clear selection criterion to prioritize data collection at impactful sites. Ask, “Which areas of the city can have the greatest impact in addressing public life challenges?”
Key actions for developing a stakeholder plan and coalition □ Map the local players - governmental, organizational, community, and private sector stakeholders. □ Of those listed, who are most relevant to activate in the project? Is there something you’ll need to offer to ensure their buy-in?
A strong Public Life Vision is a great guiding north star for any Public Life project. The vision should be shared between stakeholders and informed by a central research question. This will inspire how you design the project and how the project translates into measurable behavior changes.
□ Who is the project’s target audience? Who is on the receiving end of the final project? This is important for tailoring the engagement plan to activate them sensitively.
Celebrate Public Life can be used here to learn what places the community values today
An evaluation plan can be simple or complex, what’s important is that it is useful for data collection. Create an Evaluation Plan according to the overall vision, the research question and the scale of the site. Consider how the plan will enhance accountability and transparency with project stakeholders and the community.
Follow a ‘measure, test, refine’ approach to test small pilot projects to inform smarter decision-making. You can collect a baseline of data with the Public Life tools, implement and test a pilot, then evaluate and refine it based on the findings.
Tips for building an evaluation plan □ Desired impacts: Set goals for how a public space should influence people’s behavior and experience. ie: Create a strong relationship between children and their caregivers. □ Key drivers: Identify specific features or interventions that encourage behavior change. ie: Design elements or programming that increase child and caregiver interaction.
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□ Metrics: Quantifiable indicators to assess if the desired outcomes are being achieved. These should be specific to the outcomes, and be qualitative and quantitative. ie: ‘Interaction’ would use counts of users interacting, and documentation of interaction type.
Craft Impact Stories
Identify an audience and tailor the project’s story effectively to inspire others to re-imagine public spaces, demonstrate impact, build a strong case for future funding, and document the project for long-term advocacy.
Framework Guide An in-depth guide to the Urban95 Public life data process
□ Define a series of desired impacts the project can achieve. □ List the public life behaviors the project might be able to address, and even change. □ Define the spatial and programmatic changes that will be needed to influence those impacts and behavior change goals.
□ Align the Public Life Vision with your stakeholders.
Piloting for Change
Leverage data findings, resident stories, and visuals to craft a compelling narrative about your project. Engaging storytelling will strengthen opportunities to communicate and disseminate data stories to foster shared understanding. Storytelling is useful in different phases, from the analysis phase to the dissemination of results.
Steps toward crafting a Shared Public Life Vision
Urban95 Public Life app can be used to study current public life behavior patterns
□ Desired outcomes: The observable, concrete changes in behavior or the environment that signal the project is successful in achieving the desired impacts. ie: Higher number of interactions compared to the baseline.
Share and Scale
□ Create a site selection criteria to narrow down and prioritize a site. Criteria can include themes such as target audience, partner priorities, the right captive audience, no near-term risks, and an engaged community. See the Framework Guide for inspiration.
□ Based on the above information, craft a Shared Public Life Vision, visit the Framework Guide for inspiration.
Create an Evaluation Plan to Study Public Life
Urban95 Public Space Public Life Toolkit can be used to develop the plan
□ What locations have unique opportunities associated with them? What makes these sites ready for intervention?
Set a Shared Public Life Vision
□ Develop a cadence of touch points for engaging the stakeholders. How often, where, and in what format will you involve them? Let them know your plans to ensure continued support.
Measure, Test, Refine
Site selection considerations
This allows you to try ideas, adjust plans, and ensure long-term investments achieve impact. Urban95 Public Life app can be used to assess public life behavioral patterns Urban95 Public Space Public Life Toolkit can be used to inform methodology choices
Measure, test, refine pilot process □ Assign a survey manager and coordinate baseline Public life data collection. □ Analyze the data and bring it together into a compelling story. □ Design a pilot project and implement it to test 1:1 how people use and perceive it. □ Assess the project with the same Public life data tools to compare the how the project is performing against the baseline of data. □ Use the learnings from the test phase to refine the pilot and gather new learnings. □ Ensure there is a maintenance plan in place to care for the project beyond the testing phase.
Celebrate Public Life can be used to assess impact through people’s perceptions
Scale for Impact Identify your audience Decide if you want to... □ Build trust □ Gather feedback and input □ Understand their experience □ Build awareness for the work □ Build consensus □ Build on strategic priorities of partner organizations □ Develop a partnership
Now that you’ve implemented an Urban95 Public Life project, do you want to scale it? Scaling can achieve different things, so consider why you want to scale and what the readiness is among local partners – whether to increase usage or awareness, enhance impact long-term, or replicate its success in new locations. The process of scaling can follow many of the same steps: identifying stakeholders, setting a shared vision, and piloting in new locations.
Considerations to determine the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of scaling your project □ Why do you want to scale? Is it to increase usage or awareness, increase impact, replicate the success in new sites, or another reason? □ Can you involve local businesses, organizations, or communities to foster a shared ownership over the project? Who can you bring on board now? □ Are there unintended consequences of scaling the project? How can they be overcome? □ What funding sources are available to ensure capacity and longevity for taking this project to the next level?
□ Gain support and momentum
Urban95 Public Life App An open-access tool for public space and public life observation advocacy
Public Space Public Life Toolkit A how-to guide for measuring children and caregivers in public space
Celebrate Public Life A web platform for crowd-sourcing places people love