Data Science for Arts and Culture

The Triumph of the City (ToC) Seminar

Abstract
Vishal will provide concrete examples of his academic research and how he is using data science techniques in cultural management for cities and governments to measure the economic and social impact of arts and culture in cities. In particular, Vishal will bring light to one project where he has measured the impact of cultural infrastructure on Airbnb listings in London. For this research, Vishal leveraged multilinear, spatial lag and geographically weighted regression models to empirically capture the impact of cultural infrastructure on the supply and demand of Airbnb listings in neighbourhoods in London.

Bio
Vishal is a cultural data scientist at The Bartlett’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at UCL researching the economic and social impact of arts and culture in cities. He is interested in technology for arts and culture, the science of cities, and uses data in a creative and impactful way, particularly data visualisation, information design & creative AI. Vishal works for a range of public and private cultural institutions. He was the lead data scientist for the London Borough of Culture Programme 2019 and is on the Technical Reference Group for Coventry 2021 City of Culture. He is a Visiting Associate the Centre for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) London based at King’s College London, a visiting lecturer at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art and Christie’s Education, and is a member of the Museums AI Network and Cities of Culture Research Network.