2021 VKN 320 Ind Assignment 2

ASSIGNMENT 2
AFRICAN DIGITAL TWIN CITIES

BUILDING OUR URBAN COMMONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
A joint collaboration between the University of Pretoria, Chalmers Institute of Technology,
Sweden, and the IFC / World Bank Edge Tool
Task 1A - Basic digital assessment of your neighbourhood.
In order for us to mature our shared Urban Digital Commons, we first need to know the status of the digital
urban inventory around us. This task is not about collecting private information at all, but about public and
observable information about the built environment world so that we can build up our digital inventory together.
In building out such digital commons of the real world (like digital maps), we all contribute to building shared
reliable resources. This urban digital commons will also support us as we build out our digital twin cities in Africa.
Download Epicollect on your phone or a friends’ phone. This task takes about 1-2 hours, prepare accordingly!
● https://five.epicollect.net/
● Search and Add “VKN 320 2021” as a Project
● To start your task, click on “Add Entry“
You can only complete this task on Epicollect. This task is completion-based. It’s either done right, or it is not
done right. (100% or 0%)
Answer the following prompts on the Epicollect App directly:
1. Provide your student number (numbers only i.e. 123456789)

2. Tag your current neighbourhood location (tap location on your phone)
3. Study the OSM digital map around your house, and provide your general digital assessment of the area
a. We want to know how much of that area is captured on Open Street Maps (OSM) or not.
b. Go to Open Street Maps - https://www.openstreetmap.org
c. Study your current neighbourhood on OSM up to about 2-km radius from your location.
d. Compare reality to the digital OSM map.
i. How much is the digital OSM map reflecting the built environment in reality?
ii. Are most roads mapped or not?
iii. Are most buildings mapped or not?
iv. Are most parks mapped or not?
e. Provide your best guess by using the dropdown options on Epicollect.
4. Find the biggest building closest to your home location and tag it.
a. Anything within 1-2 km range from your home location. Look for any type of large building
(shopping mall, garage, office building, school, whatever makes sense).
b. Provide the “google address” or provide a “GPS location” for that building (provide your answer
in the App). We want to make sure that these data points are reliable for finding errors in the
future.
5. Walk to that building to tag its official GPS location (tap location on your phone on the Epicollect app)
6. Take a picture of that building that clearly identifies it (take a picture with Epicollect app)
7. Upload all the data AND photo (s) to complete the submission on Epicollect.
Deliverable for Task 1A: All Epicollect Surveys must be done by Monday 11 October, midnight.
PAGE 8
Task 1B - Update the Urban Digital Commons
This task takes about 1-2 hours (working time) and 24 hours minimum (confirming the final upload to OSM).
Prepare accordingly! I will demonstrate this task in detail with you in class on November 14th, 2021.
I use your Epicollect locations to determine which parts of the urban digital commons you will be updating for
the world. I will assign each of you approximately 0.5 square kilometres to update on OSM.
We can only build digital cities if we have “building footprints” and “floor levels” and “typologies” as minimum
data points.
Just like Wikipedia is a shared knowledge commons for all, so too is Open Street Maps (OSM) is a shared spatial
commons for all. With higher quality shared digital resources, we can do higher-quality work in our projects in
the built environment. It took Wikipedia a while to develop, and today, it is the first point of reference for all
world knowledge. Imagine how much value can be added to our common work practices in the built
environment, and how much rework can be avoided, if we all work together to maintain our shared urban digital
commons too. Digital open-source maps like Open Street Maps also provide the basis for many of the common
mobile and logistics services we use every day. OSM is also the basis for which we will build more complex
virtual worlds, such as African Digital Twin Cities initiatives.
However, many territories in the world are not mapped well (or mapped at all!) in digital open-source forms,
including many areas in South Africa or continental Africa. With this task, you will contribute directly to improving
our Urban Digital Commons, via Open Street Maps.
This task is completion-based. It’s either done right, or it is not done right. (100% or 0%)
1. Create a free account with Open Street Maps. https://www.openstreetmap.org

2. Take a screenshot for your “before” image. Save this screenshot somewhere safe.
3. Map out any missing digital assets in your assigned area.
a. Switch on the layer “Esri World Imagery” and use this aerial photo as a reference point.
b. Select the “Area” tool at the top of your screen, and start to draw the building footprints.
c. Assign a building typology (type of building) to the footprint that you are drawing.
i. Try and be as accurate as you can be by choosing the best option.
ii. Do not just use “area” as a typology, that doesn’t help us in the long run!
iii. If you’re not sure, just select “building” as the typology.
d. Provide the building levels (1 or 2 etc)
i. Use Google Earth in walking mode, or any other means to determine this.
ii. If you can’t determine the floor heights from observation or Google Earth, please
provide “1” as the answer.
e. If possible, update any other building information with more details. The more you update, the
better for everyone!
i. For example, the “common name” or provide the estimated heights in meters etc. You
can use Google Earth to do this.
4. When you’ve completed all your mapping on OSM.
a. Save your progress on OSM.
b. Put your student number, and date of update in the final save in the “comment box.”
i. Uncheck the box for “Do not require update to be reviewed”
ii. Logout and login again to confirm that the building information has been saved
correctly.
5. After 24 hours - 36 hours, OSM updates globally. Come back and log in minimum 24 hours to confirm
that your progress has been properly loaded onto OSM.
6. Take a screenshot of the final update on OSM (your “after” image)
Deliverable for Task 1B: Upload one PDF with both the “before” and “after” on a single page. As a minimum, all
building footprints must be mapped. Task 1B must be completed by Thursday 18 November, midnight.
PAGE 9
Task 2 - Develop a business case for a sustainable solution for the largest building in
your neighbourhood.
Your Client, the World Bank, has commissioned you to develop a business case to improve the largest building in
your neighbourhood towards more sustainable outcomes. Your Client is asking you to find out how to make this
building at least “20% more sustainable.” Your Client also has not specified what “sustainability” means to them
and is asking you to decide which factors are the most important.Your Client wants you to provide grounded
reasoning for your decisions in order to finance this improvement, and high-level estimates of how much this
may cost. Your Client also wants to know you will “prove” that your business case is likely to lead to “20%
improvement in sustainability.”
To do this, you may consider this assignment in any way that you can and from multiple perspectives or
disciplines. You may also choose to decide which issues are most important to focus on and develop towards a
“20% more sustainable” asset. For example, you may consider a variety of retrofitting and redesign options, or
you could propose rethinking business and inventory ideas, reconsider building systems or operations, energy
sources or services, new rental models — anything that will make the asset and its programs become a minimum
of “20% more sustainable” according to you. Your Client wants to see proof of how your proposal improves this
asset and includes the 3P’s of triple-bottom line thinking in the built environment — people, planet, and profit.
Your tools at your disposal are the Africa Property & Construction Cost Guide 2020 - 21 (AECOM), the World
Bank EDGE online tool, Lean A3 template, and any resources or benchmarks from the GBCSA. However, you are
welcome to use additional tools to build out and prove your case.
Creativity is wanted, but credibility matters the most! No one will finance you with a half-baked idea. You can
take this topic as far as you want, but you must be able to back up all your thoughts and ideas like a built
environment professional.
Task 2A - Lean A3
Copy the Lean A3 Template from Google Sheets (provided) for your own private use.
1. Develop your thoughts using this template, iterate and work it to provide your business case.
2. You may add as many photos or graphs or images as you need to express yourself.
3. Iterate on this template until your messages and proofs are well articulated, and your project is well
thought through. Complete this template for submission.
Task 2B - Final Business Case Proposal

1. Write a 2-page high-quality summary of your final proposal (including the important graphics) to explain
your final proposal to your Client.
Deliverable for Task 2A and Task 2B: Make a PDF of your completed Lean A3, and your completed 2- page
proposal. Combine together and submit on Clickup as one PDF. Task 2 must be completed by Thursday 18
November, midnight.
RUBRIC FOR ASSIGNMENT 2
Task Deliverable Points

1 Task 1 A - Basic digital assessment of your neighbourhood. 10
30
Task 1 B - Update the Urban Digital Commons. 20
2 Business Case for Sustainable Development
Task 2A - Lean A3 20 40
Task 2B - 2 Page Business Case Proposal 20
TOTAL 70
PAGE 10

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ASSIGNMENT 2

AFRICAN DIGITAL TWIN CITIES

Task 1A - Basic digital assessment of your neighbourhood.

Answer the following prompts on the Epicollect App directly:

1. Provide your student number (numbers only i.e. 123456789)

1. Create a free account with Open Street Maps. https://www.openstreetmap.org

Task 2B - Final Business Case Proposal

RUBRIC FOR ASSIGNMENT 2

Task Deliverable Points

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