Platform for innovation of sidewalks - state of public space accessibility (BUE0011)

Link with the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 (SDG) SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Status quo / Issue to be addressed One of the work axes raised by the City is the design of an enjoyable city at human scale. We seek to contribute to make a city designed for people, more connected, with initiatives which contribute to improve citizens’ enjoyment and experience in the City. The promotion of the use of public space and implementation of improvements in a collaborative manner. In this context, we identify several situations to be addressed: • Existence of different types of obstacles in the public space (darkness, physical obstacles, their state), which particularly affect people with reduced mobility (older adults, disabled people, etc.) • There is lack of knowledge about the urban planning and construction code among citizens, mainly because it is difficult to nderstand for non-experts. • Marginalisation (exclusion) of older people in the public space and surroundings (housing, public services, transport services, businesses, among others) • The Ministry of Culture contributes significantly to the development of independent culture in the City through the policy on promotion of diverse artistic disciplines. The information related to the actions for funding independent culture conducted by the Ministry is partially published in a fragmented manner.

General objective To think and achieve an enjoyable human scale city through different open government initiatives. We propose: • Improve public space accessibility in the City through tools which involve different open government pillars, guaranteeing safe transitability and accessibility environments, thus contributing to the re-dimensioning of Buenos Aires at human scale. • Promote and simplify the access to the information about the new urban and construction code to support knowledge and improvement. • Promote integration of older people into the public space and surroundings, adjusting them to their requirements. • Improve the access to information related to the promotion actions conducted by the Ministry to foster the development of initiatives on the field of diverse artistic disciplines.

Brief description of the initiative The Human Scale City commitment has different lines of action aimed at improving neighbours’ experience in it. These experiences are: Design and implement a collaborative georeferenced platform of diverse aspects of the public space. It will allow for the report, control and follow-up of repairs and “obstacles”. Likewise, there will be channels to receive citizens’ suggestions related to public space (in terms of accessibility) Generate friendly, accessible and clear information for citizens to be able to know the possibilities and conditions for building in the City, main characteristics, cadastral information and information on the situation of asset protection of each plot of land. We will simplify the information regarding use of plots of land and infrastructure works status, facilitate the identification of new building opportunities, and we will provide open data and tools to analyse the urban profile of the City. Make the challenges of aging nowadays visible and incorporate the old age perspective into the strategic planning of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires (GCBA). Promote the openness of data related to the offer of activities for older adults in the City of Buenos Aires. Contribute to the improvement in the access to information related to funding, projects and beneficiary agents of the actions which promote culture through its publication in the website of the Ministry of Culture in a downloadable format.

Describe the way in which this commitment is relevant to strengthen OGP values of transparency, access to information, public accountability, civic participation, and technology and innovation for openness and accountability The initiative of the platform for innovation of sidewalks is robust and it contemplates the diverse open government pillars since it strengthens transparency, access to information, accountability and it promotes civic participation through a collaborative stage of interaction with neighbours. By implementing a platform that provides information on urban code in a simple manner, we guarantee citizens access to information. For this reason, the commitment is relevant in terms of transparency. Likewise, the provision of information in a friendly and pedagogical manner will allow for the interaction with the citizens, letting them know the construction possibilities and conditions. The openness of data on older adults’ situation, services and the offer of activities for this sector of the population contribute to strengthening the OGP values of transparency, access to information and accountability; likewise, it can promote civic participation through the reuse of information. The culture initiative will allow the access to systematised information on the actions which promote culture, in a downloadable format; this will mean a progress in terms of transparency and improvement in the access to information. Likewise, the project will contribute to accountability since it includes the provision of budgetary information related to the policy on promotion of cultural activity in the City.

Milestones Ongoing or new commitment Start date End date 1. Platform for innovation of sidewalks - state of public space accessibility 1.1 Collection, consolidation and systematisation of information on footpaths and public space (cracks, repairs, construction, value enhancement, etc.) and georeferencing of information. Ongoing July 2018 December 2019 1.2 Design and development of the platform and its functionalities. Tentative functionalities: · See photos of Surveys and Census about sidewalks (at each sidewalk level) · Display sidewalk data · Check if that sidewalk has a repair scheduled by the Public Services Company · Check the geographic impact, at sidewalk level, of the Public Services Companies or the Government and get to know the end date · Check which claims have been done in a certain sidewalk Note: it must work on tablets handed to older adults. New September 2018 December 2019 1.3 Publication and diffusion of the collaborative platform for innovation of sidewalks and public space. Channels: social networks, newsletters. Metrics: coverage, users, visits, etc. New December 2019 September 2020

6. Plataforma de innovación en veredas (estado de la accesibilidad en el espacio público)

Limitado:

Si bien se cumplieron los dos primeros hitos referentes a la sistematización de la información sobre vías peatonales y espacio público, y se diseñó la plataforma colaborativa de veredas, la misma no llegó a publicarse debido a un “cambio de misiones y funciones” dentro del área a cargo de la implementación del compromiso [44].

Por un lado, la Subsecretaria de Vías Peatonales sistematizó los datos de stock de frentes/veredas de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, georreferenciadas, con diferentes atributos, tales como su largo, ancho, área, estado, intervenciones (permisos de empresas de servicios públicos), reparación, etc.  Por el otro, diseñaron la plataforma con las siguientes funcionalidades tentativas: fotos de relevamientos y censos de las veredas (a nivel de cada vereda), visualización de los datos de la vereda, reparaciones planificadas, impacto geográfico de las obras de empresas de servicios públicos o Gobierno, fecha prevista de finalización de obra, y seguimiento de reclamos. La plataforma diseñada cuenta con un sistema de fiscalización que le permite cruzar datos con otras áreas relevantes y empresas públicas y privadas, y su funcionalidad será tanto web como para teléfonos móviles y tabletas distribuidas a adultos mayores [45]. Sin embargo, aún queda pendiente saber cuándo la Subsecretaría de Vías Peatonales publicará la plataforma.