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Innovative Urban Governance: A Game Oriented Approach to Influencing Energy Behavior

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Towards Cognitive Cities

Part of the book series: Studies in Systems, Decision and Control ((SSDC,volume 63))

Abstract

We are moving fast toward a smart urban era in which all components of our dominating urban life need to be not only sensing and smart but also learning and cognitive. This includes all stakeholders of the extensive network of urban systems and their governing body structure all across societal sectors. From this perspective, and considering the two key concepts of sensing and learning, the focus of the future efforts should be on education and collaboration among stakeholders to increase the entire system’s reliability and effectiveness. There’s also the obvious factor of infrastructure for machine-based sensing, which is becoming more available through the use of smart devices as well as venues for connectivity, which is fortunately possible by advancements and availability of social networking technology nowadays. Moreover, urban stakeholders’ collaboration is also known to foster sustainable development, when accompanies a detailed plan for influencing behavioral patterns in city networks. Creating a dynamic methodology for policymaking through quantitative and computational governing mechanisms could be considered as a solution. The premise of this chapter is that innovative urban governance can effectively influence the desired impact and behavior through using technological tools such as city sensors and smart devices. Since administration of social games in smart urban environments are known as one of such governing mechanism, we have applied the theories of interactive collaboration to a simple yet effective game, which involves citizens of an isolated environment with dynamic adjustment of their behavior with regards to energy consumption. The presented case of Hoboken in this chapter is focused on evaluation of behavioral change among residents of Stevens Institute of Technology, given the right collective information and provided the sustainable incentive structure. As a part of this research, the results of the experiment with on campus residents were analyzed against similar information collected from citizens of Hoboken. The results of our research supports the hypothesis that people will choose a sustainable alternative when given the right information and provided with incentives to do so.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.hobokennj.org/311/.

  2. 2.

    http://www.iea.org/media/files/WEO2013_factsheets.pdf.

  3. 3.

    The Residence Hall Survey is presented at the end of this chapter as an appendix.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Castle Point on Hudson, Hoboken, NJ, 07030-5991, USA

    Mo Mansouri

  2. Information Technology Department, Credit Suisse (USA) LLC, New York, NY, USA

    Nalan Ilyda Karaca

Authors
  1. Mo Mansouri
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  2. Nalan Ilyda Karaca
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mo Mansouri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information Systems (IWI), Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Edy Portmann

  2. Institute of Technology & Public Policy, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Matthias Finger

Appendix: Residence Hall Survey

Appendix: Residence Hall Survey

  1. (1)

    Which type of Stevens Residence House you leave in? (Building name, Shipyard, Curling Club…. Etc.)

    110 Washington street

    538 Washington street

    733 Jefferson street

    800 Madison street

    828 Garden street

    Juliana apartments

    The curling club

    Other (please specify)

  2. (2)

    How many occupants in your apartment?

    2

    3

    4

    5

    6

    Other (please specify)

  3. (3)

    What kind of light bulbs do you have in your place?

    Traditional incandescent bulbs

    Compact fluorescent

    Spot bulb

    LED

    Other (please specify)

  4. (4)

    Which electrical appliances do you have in your place, please specify the number as well?

    Refrigerator

    Refrigerator with freezer

    Washing machine

    Drying machine

    Dishwasher

    Television

    Personal computer

    Air conditioner (both cooler and heater)

    Cooker/oven

    Microwave

    Other (please specify)

  5. (5)

    What is the brand (model) and electric consumption “Watt” of the item (information should be labeled behind of the item)?

    For:

    Refrigerator

    Refrigerator with freezer

    Washing machine

    Drying machine

    Dishwasher

    Television

    Personal computer

    Air conditioner (both cooler and heater)

    Cooker/oven

    Microwave

    Other (please specify)

  6. (6)

    Which is the main energy source for cooking?

    Electricity

    Gas

  7. (7)

    How many hours in a day you use oven/stove/cooker?

  8. (8)

    How many hours do you turn on AC per day (both as cooler or heater)? Please specify if you leave it turn n at sleeping time?

  9. (9)

    How many hours do you turn on lighting per day?

  10. (10)

    Do you prefer keep lighting on when you leave the apartment or during sleeping time?

    Yes

    No

    Other (please specify)

  11. (11)

    What is average room temperature in your apartment? (Please just specify the degree for heater or AC)

    Average temperature during the summer season (F/°C)

    Average temperature during the winter season (F/°C)

  12. (12)

    Are doors and windows kept closed when your heating system is on?

    Yes

    No

  13. (13)

    Do you put on the washing machine when it’s not full?

    Yes

    No

  14. (14)

    Do you put on the dishwasher when it is not full?

    Yes

    No

  15. (15)

    After having used a computer, television, game console, or similar, do you switch off the screen?

    Sometimes

    Never

    Always

  16. (16)

    If you would able to monitor your energy consumption, do you think it would encourage you to save energy?

    Yes

    No

  17. (17)

    Would you be interested in participating in energy saving activities in the future?

    Yes

    No

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Mansouri, M., Karaca, N.I. (2016). Innovative Urban Governance: A Game Oriented Approach to Influencing Energy Behavior. In: Portmann, E., Finger, M. (eds) Towards Cognitive Cities. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 63. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33798-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33798-2_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33797-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33798-2

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