209.1 Technology is rapidly changing how we live, work, and travel and it will continue to shape the District in unexpected ways. Since the 1980s, telecommuting has changed travel patterns, on-line purchases have changed retailing, and e-mail has changed the way business and government operate. For instance, working from home is one of the fastest growing ways employees "commute" to work. Mobile computing, self-driving cars, new construction methods, green technology and other advances will have new and unexpected impacts on our lifestyles, how the city makes development decisions, and the shape of future growth.

209.2 It is hard to fathom how advancements yet to be made will affect us in the future. The only thing that is certain is that technology will change our lives, with potentially profound spatial impacts. Such change may have more of an impact on Washington than it might on other cities, given the city 's role as a global and intellectual capital. The city is already a center of the information economy and has demonstrated a strong pull for innovators from around the country and the world. In Washington, economic activity is becoming less reliant on a place-based office, with implications for the social spaces where people meet. In addition, the potential decline in demand for high-value office space has fiscal implications for commercial real estate.

209.3 The District should also ensure its plan for preserving and improving its neighborhoods is evidence-based and data-driven. The District should take advantage of any technologies it possesses that inform public policy. Risk terrain modeling, for example, is a predictive tool that explores the relationship between public safety and certain environmental features, including parks, transportation infrastructure, vacant or blighted properties, and businesses. The model allows the District to identify environmental features that impact public safety, coordinate a targeted response to address those features, and evaluate the success of that response.

209.4 One aspect of technological change is its potential to deepen economic divides in the city. In 2004, the National Poverty Center reported that 85 percent of the nation's white children had access to a home computer, compared to just 40 percent of black and Latino children. Recent Census data suggests the District has made significant progress in this area, but gaps remain as effectively 100 percent of white children and 89 percent of black children have access to a computer. Access to technology will be an important part of improving the well-being of District residents in the future. This will place a premium on education and training, and an emphasis on providing residents with the skills to use technology and access information.

209.5 Finally, rapid advances in technology present new opportunities for how the

District identifies problems and tests solutions. The ability to collect and analyze large amounts of data from a variety of sources goes well beyond traditional Census data. Many aspects of urban life are now tracked by public or private entities. From bikeshare station usage to the deployment of health inspectors based on environmental conditions, a new era of 'smart cities' is rising. With it comes an opportunity to monitor, predict, and respond quickly to new problems, but it also presents new challenges to information security and maintaining the privacy of our citizenry. A key challenge is to adapt technology to our historic urban city rather than force the city to adapt to technology.

SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Framework Amendment Act of 2019, effective August 27, 2020 (D.C. Law 23-127; 67 DCR 001360 (February 14, 2020)).