Asset management organisations need to juggle limited resources, a wide asset portfolio, and high community expectations. To tackle these complex issues, Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) combined data visualisation with government statistics to reveal how to manage its playspaces to meet community expectations and optimise its resources.

TCCS sought to move away from traditional asset management strategies by partnering with tech firm Assetic for a pilot study on the management of its 665 playspaces across Canberra. This study used data to optimise $1.9 million in funds supplied by the ACT Government through the Better Suburbs Program.

The project sought to bridge the gap between community expectations and financial realities by rationalising TCCS’s asset management strategies for its playgrounds. To do this, data visualisation was used as a communication tool for community engagement, says Nicola Daaboul, Senior Asset Management Consultant at Assetic and Australasian Chair of Young IPWEA.

“How do you visualise and display the complexity of asset management in a way that the layman can understand? It was about providing an engaging story that’s actually going to explain what we’re doing and what the problem is," Daaboul says. 

The approach was a natural evolution for TCCS which has always had data as part of its DNA. By partnering with Assetic, TCCS could present complex statistical trends in a series of easy-to-read story maps, visualising how different financial models performed over time and matching playspaces to the community’s needs. The organisation plans to expand this approach across its entire portfolio of over three million assets worth approximately $12 billion.

“You’re meeting the service needs of the community whilst providing a cheaper alternative option that’s a sustainable practice for the community.”

The full picture

A data visualisation strategy that ranked each playground by its condition and measured the long-term impact of different financial models was eventually utilised. This separated the emotional connection the community felt for its playspaces from the raw data, says James Downing, Service Delivery Manager at TCCS.

“Everyone looks at spatial data to see where they live or what assets they use. You’re bringing an emotional side into it where you’re impacting people’s use of the asset but you’re also doing it with pure cold hard data. The data is what’s actually underpinning all of this and it tells us the full picture.”

Using a lifecycle modelling tool and digital story maps, TCCS overlayed its complete span of playspace assets across a map of Canberra, colour-coding each based on its condition. Financial modelling and ABS statistics were then added to see how playspace condition would change over time and highlight gaps where assets were failing to meet area demographics.

Through this approach, TCCS compared lifecycle models and funding scenarios to help the organisation provide better recreational, health, and social outcomes to the community whilst staying within budgetary constraints. This was something traditional methodology failed at, Daaboul says.

“The traditional approach of assessing playspaces in isolation does not allow for wider playspace service gaps such as different age cohorts, accessibility or play diversity. Nor would it consider other facilities such as seating, pathways, shade, school and childcare proximity, or access to public amenities.”

Fit-for-purpose

A key component of ensuring TCCS’s playspaces matched area demographics was the addition of ABS statistics onto the story maps.

“There’s potential to do all sorts of analysis there and just figure out better ways to provide services to communities,” Downing says.

An example of using ABS statistics to optimise TCCS’s playspaces is Telopea District Park - a high-profile space designed for children aged 0 to 12. Analysis, however, showed the park was also often used by teenagers from a nearby high school.

This insight revealed a more cost effective option than replacing the entire playground: constructing pocket playspaces such as a concrete table tennis table or skate park for a lower cost while still meeting community needs.

Daaboul says this approach enabled TCCS to identify key drivers for service demand and tailor playspaces for maximum utilisation.

“You’re meeting the service needs of the community whilst providing a cheaper alternative option that’s a sustainable practice for the community. Combining that together is essentially what we were able to do on a network basis.”

Shifting the conversation

As well as utilising a new technological approach, TCCS also changed its mindset and culture from handling base asset management to examining playspaces from a location and service perspective, Downing says.

“When you are focusing on the customer or service, you’re still doing asset management but you’re also having a look at the wider aspects of how everything interrelates and what the end user might actually require.”

“When you are focusing on the customer or service, you’re still doing asset management but you’re also having a look at the wider aspects of how everything interrelates and what the end user might actually require.”

This shift included a realisation the goal was not to achieve cost efficiency under budgetary constraints but rather using data to sustainably deliver services within the current asset portfolio and financial restrictions.

Daaboul says the key change here involved moving toward sustainable service provision. The visualisation tools have not only made it easier to rationalise TCCS’s assets but will also allow the organisation to optimise its cash flow and secure cost savings while taking care of the community’s needs long-term.

“It’s going to have a significant impact on the organisation, that’s for sure, because it’s just essentially enabling a greater allocation of resources to be spent where they’re needed. Basically it’s ensuring that assets are delivering what they need to be delivering and not just being there for argument’s sake.”

“Nothing out there exists in isolation so you’ve got to think about how these things complement or even impact each other.”

A thousand words

For organisations hoping to streamline their asset management strategies, Daaboul has one piece of advice.

“The simplest answer would be to give it a go. Most organisations will have some kind of tool, whether it’s a GIS or spatial tool that they can use or whether it’s Google Maps that they can plot points on to show where their asset portfolio is. A picture paints a thousand words.”

As many non-technical people are visual, colour-coded images can be used to tell the full story of any asset class, she says.

“That’s where the power really comes from visualisation because you’re taking something that’s complex and making it easy for people to understand.”

Downing echoed this, saying visualisation was a great way to engage the public, especially for assets such as playgrounds which are located near where people work and play.

“By utilising these outputs, you are really connecting with someone’s mind. It’ll tie you to where they live, how it’s going to impact them, their children, their families, even things like their travel. Nothing out there exists in isolation so you’ve got to think about how these things complement or even impact each other.”