Urban systems and the role of big data

Abstract Smart cities are rapidly developing in the world. Their sustainability needs to be achieved based on transformative urban systems design from system of systems perspective. Especially, to conduct evidence-based assessments, our new approach will use big data and analytics tools to support urban planner's decisions. The use of data science, analytics, and visualization will play important role to codesign urban systems with local stakeholders. This chapter outlines performance-based urban systems design. The modeling involves the use of metrics through analytical tools to evaluate sustainability of urban systems. Both qualitative (e.g., comfort level) and quantitative (e.g., CO2 emission) properties are modeled focusing on factors such as performance, experiential, and people's flow. Performance metrics are used as tools for evaluating current and predict potential future of different urban forms to support decision-makings.