State of Place

Needham, MA

State of Place is an AI-driven built environment database, benchmark, and predictive analytics software that helps citymakers use data to make better citymaking decisions and effectively communicate the WHY behind those decisions. This saves citymakers time and money, and optimizes outcomes they care about - increasing social, health, environmental, and economic value of communities, while creating more walkable, livable, equitable, and sustainable places people can access and love, inclusively. The State of Place software distills 20+ years of evidence into a data-driven citymaking toolbox: Street-level, micro-scale urban design data on up to 300 built environment features is aggregated into the State of Place Index, which quantifies walkability and quality of place; the State of Place Profile, displayed geospatially and graphically, breaks down the Index into ten sub-indices measuring varying urban design dimensions, helping diagnose built environment assets and needs; our recommendation engine shows how best to increase the Index and Profile to maximize value efficiently; our scenario planning, Sim-City-like tool allows users to model out and quantify how proposed plans would impact the Index and Profile; and finally, our forecasting models show how increasing the Index leads to social, health, environmental, and economic benefits, and quantifies proposed projects’ return on investment. State of Place has helped 30+ citymakers in North America, Europe, and Asia: 1) identify the best ways to make places more walkable, livable, equitable, and sustainable, while unlocking maximum social, economic, health, and environmental value; 2) make the investment case for better places by quantifying their benefits, to get faster approvals, funding, and buy-in for proposed projects, plans, and policies; 3) and objectively market and communicate the value of better places by quantifying their value across the quadruple bottom line.