Digital Transformations for Optimizing the Post-Pandemic Sustainable Smart City

March 2021 – February 2023

Objective
My research aims to examine how digitalising urban water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructures can enhance public wellbeing – acknowledging that secure and equitable access to critical WASH infrastructures and facilities is a core human right.

This project draws on the transdisciplinary intersection of architecture with human-computer interaction (HCI) and the shift to human-building interaction (HBI) in querying the ethical implications of spatiotemporally immersive urban spaces.

Background
The digitalisation of cities is a well-established concept; however, the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need to optimise existing, Sustainable Smart City urban infrastructures to protect public health and well-being. As society negotiates the long-term threat of disease transmission, digital technologies offer the opportunity to transform human nature, human-built, and human-human relationships.  

About the Digital Futures Postdoc Fellow
Stacy Vallis completed her doctoral studies in architecture at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her doctoral research responded to the risks to public urban safety posed by natural hazards. It explored the applications of geospatial and drone technologies for rapid assessment of contemporary and historic urban centres to inform the selection of retrofit solutions that generate safer streetscapes.

Stacy’s postdoctoral research will also be driven by overarching themes of public well-being, disaster response, and the integration of emerging technologies in urban centres. She will examine human-centred approaches for optimizing the development of digital technologies in post-pandemic Sustainable Smart Cities. Her work will provide insights into how digitalization is used to enhance public health and well-being by retrofitting the built environment.

Stacy is also passionate about using cultural heritage and intergenerational dialogue as tools for addressing many societal challenges.

Main supervisor
Andrew Karvonen, Researcher, Urban and Regional Studies, KTH

Co-supervisor
Elina Eriksson, Associate Professor, Division of Media Technology and Interaction Designs, KTH

Watch the recorded presentation at Digitalize in Stockholm 2022 event: