This book explains the potential value of using mobile phone data to monitor urban practices
and identify rhythms of use in today's cities. Drawing upon research conducted in the Italian
region of Lombardy the authors demonstrate how maps based on mobile phone data which are
better tailored to the dynamic processes at work in cities can document urban practices
provide new insights into spatial and temporal patterns of mobility and assist in recognizing
different communities of practice. The described methodology permits detailed visualization of
the spatial distribution of mobility flows and offers a more extensive and refined description
of the distribution of urban activity than is provided by traditional travel surveys. The book
also details how maps derived by processing mobile phone data can assist in the definition of
urban policies that will deliver services that match cities' needs facilitate the management
of large events (inflow outflow and monitoring) and reflect time-dependent phenomena not
included in traditional analyses.
