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A BIG PROJECT!

The BIG project use Gävle as a test bed to understand how healthy, sustainable, and livable cities should be built in the future. The project runs over three years and aims to co-create knowledge for urban solutions that simultaneously promote individual, social, and ecological health. There are three methods to collect data in the BIG project:

1. Digital maps

First, we’ll compile a collection of digital maps of the human and green infrastructure of the municipality of Gävle (Sweden). Together with the department of Geospatial Sciences at HIG, the BIG project will produce, combine, and cross-analyze a multitude of GIS maps. This will include maps about the urban infrastructure (for example: walkability, cyclability, and access to primary health care) as well as maps about air pollution, noise pollution, ecological health and biodiversity.

2. MyGävle

Second, the project will survey people living in Gävle using a smartphone application that has been created ad-hoc for this project (MyGävle). Using the GPS sensor of the smartphone, this application will collect data on where, when, and how participants use the municipality of Gävle. MyGävle allows participants to report positive and negative experiences that shape their people’s everyday life. These surveys aim to understand the role of nature, people, and the built environment in people's routines. At the end of every season, we then survey people on their wellbeing, life satisfaction, social cohesion, sense of safety, and connection with nature.

3. Garmin Fitness bands

Lastly, the third method to collect data is with Garmin Vivosmart 4 fitness bands. A representative sample of 300 people will be given Garmin Vivosmart 4 fitness bands. This fitness band allow us to collect various biometric data about participants, but most importantly, it allows us to have access to participant's Heart Rate Variability (HRV). HRV is an objective indicator of people's health that complement the subjective information received from the surveys. Using these fitness bands allow us to understand how specific locations, with their geography, climate, and human presence, have the possibility over time to influence people’s health and wellbeing. This is essential information to create a living landscape for humans that is safe, healthy, and sustainable.


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