Leveraging openstreetmap data for smart city development in Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) faces complex problems that come with being a megacity, and it needs smart city solutions to overcome those challenges. But like many cities in developing countries, it doesn't have all the data it needs. Recent changes in the administration also affect the way to utilize previous public data. To fill in the data gap, this study looks into using OpenStreetMap (OSM), a crowd-sourced geospatial open data platform, to create urban indicators and a ward-level transport model for HCMC within 102 wards in the previous HCMC boundary. The analysis will serve as a foundation for evidence-based smart city initiatives. The study aimed to develop urban indicators based on OSM, construct a ward-level transportation model, and recommend contextually relevant smart city initiatives. The study first chose 22 indicators of urban patterns by using OSM features with census data. A correlation analysis shows significant urban dynamics and spatial disparities. This identifies particular local challenges regarding senior people, children, and migrants. Furthermore, the study created a transportation model at the ward level using OSM data. The regression model was built with OSM-derived variables to estimate trip production and attraction for each ward. Then, the gravity model is developed to understand the traffic pattern. The model’s outputs reflect known commuting patterns and demonstrate the feasibility of using open data to support transport planning in a data-scarce environment. Finally, the last step employs a qualitative approach to develop the HCMC smart city recommendation. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with specialists in urban planning, transportation science, and related fields. The objective is to ensure that the recommendations are feasible and related to the HCMC context. The thesis contributes to existing knowledge by using open data for data-driven urban analysis. This approach can be applied to many other developing cities. Future works can explore the implementation in other cities, incorporate real-time data, and explore community participation in smart city design using open data