Capturing the beat and rhythm of the city: Using GPS devices to visualise individual and collective routines within Central London

This paper investigates aspects of time in an urban environment, specifically the cycles and routines that constitute everyday life in the inner city. As part of the UrbanDiary project (urbantick.blogspot.com), a preliminary study was undertaken that utilised GPS wristwatch devices to record the individual journeys and spatial habits of twenty volunteers, in order to capture and trace their lived experiences of the city. The data collected included time and location, which enabled each trip by an individual to be plotted on a base map of the city and visualised as a 'personal track'. The tracks were then compared with a series of statements by the individuals that described how they 'used' and experienced the city. The tracks made by individuals were superimposed upon one another to build up a composite picture of their daily, weekly and monthly movement routines. Individuals' composite pictures could even be aggregated, to distinguish 'collective' from 'personal arteries' within the inner city. In this paper, the main intent has been to explore the context of the UrbanDiary project, as well as to examine the methodological and technical aspects of tracking, focusing on a comparison of the different visualisation techniques used. The paper concludes by presenting examples of the most promising approaches to data visualisation and suggesting that, by taking account of the aspect of time, the city can be understood in a new way as a collective, constantly renewed space.