this is an awesome review of what has already been done in the field of digital engagement in urban planning! Using Second Life as a meeting space is so easy, but it has too many barriers to entry. The Melbourne Wiki on the other hand got great reception and over 30,000 participants!
The article also deals with the trend towards social media in public engagement and how, if we continue in this way everything will have to go through public referendum.
My question is, is that the biggest problem? Maybe we should all just get engaged digitally in local politics and hope that our representative democracy does it what it was intended to do.
Tiger Schmittendorf shares childhood memories of the fire service and emphasizes the value and importance of storytelling as a means of helping firefighters recall and regain their passion for the job.
A tidbit on why storytelling isn't specifically for fictional writing, how we can include storytelling in all of our writing to enhance the meaning and support a deeper understanding of ethical and moral concepts within a project.
Nonprofits need to capitalize on what makes them stand out from for profit institutions, they are honest about their ethics and run 100% on the energy of that dedication.
The FTC’s move demonstrates that online privacy isn’t only about the language in a policy.
lauryn burkhalter's insight:
This is an example of early design flaws - The social network Path settled with the FTC re: a design error that preemptively collected user's private information by looking for friends who had already signed up.
Privacy standards should be shared as best practices so that nonprofits and other "social good" groups don't make the same mistake with their limited resources.
Unlimited Cities is a digital collaborative platform to consult citizen’s imagination for urban planning. It’s under process in France, Finland, Deutschland, Nederlands, Brazil, and created by UFO. “A...
fun stuff, this is an example of a potential tool for urban planning, but it needs to move past ideas and into a systematic project where urban residents are participants, planners, enablers, funders, etc.
For many years, architects and city planners from around the world have been trying to create the green ideal: an entire city built to strict environmental standards- highly functional while still retaining aesthetic value.
Here’s a look at some green building and community design that caught our attention in recent months and may (or may not) become reality in the next several years. Their physical footprints may be large, but by using features such as wind power, solar, rainwater recycling and advanced air quality controls, their carbon footprints don't have to be...
In San Francisco, you can find the “Airbnb-of-everything." Just as Airbnb capitalized on the fact that many of us have a spare bed, bedroom, or even apartment from which we’d gladly make some money, many other industries have followed suit.
Cloud computing will potentially generate at least 14 million new jobs across the globe within the next three years. Moreover, these new jobs may likely be in many areas outside of IT. Photo: Wikimedia.
Biodiversity Conservation can Improve Human Health in Worlds Growing Cities, according to a new UN assessment...
The Cities and Biodiversity Outlook, a new study from the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), is the world's first global analysis of how projected patterns of land expansion will impact biodiversity and crucial ecosystems.
The world's total urban area is expected to triple between 2000 and 2030, with urban populations set to double to around 4.9 billion in the same period. This expansion will draw heavily on water and other natural resources and will consume prime agricultural land. Global urbanization will have significant implications for biodiversity and ecosystems if current trends continue, with effects for human health and development, based on the new research. The assessment, which draws on contributions from more than 123 scientists worldwide, states that over 60 percent of the land projected to become urban by 2030 has yet to be built. This presents a major opportunity to greatly improve global sustainability by promoting low-carbon, resource-efficient urban development that can reduce adverse effects on biodiversity and improve quality of life..
Read the complete article for more on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as an overview of successful initiatives taken on by cities, local authorities and governments in their efforts to develop a green economy...
Based in Indianapolis, People for Urban Progress (PUP, for short) is a non-profit organization that successfully has been able to use design and nostalgic ephemera to promote and advance public transit, environmental awareness and urban design. It’s a perfect example of how great solutions can be found by simply looking at the issues faced by a city or community, and the previously overlooked resources available to address those problems
Twenty something people gather at Portland State University to created their ideal city, town, or neighborhood. Before the interactive urban planning workshop started, the participants began tinkering with the thousands of small objects placed in front of them. This exchange was a great start for the hour and a half, high-energy, exercise that followed.
A makerspace (sometimes also referred to as a hackerspace, hackspace or hacklab) is a location where people with common interests, often in computers, technology, science, electronics, engineering, and/or digital or electronic art, can connect, create and collaborate. Makerspaces can be viewed as open community labs incorporating elements of machine shops, workshops, and/or studios where hackers and makers come together to share resources and knowledge to build and make things.
Many libraries have embraced the maker movement and have incorporated makerspaces into the services they provide as they both encourage community building, skill sharing, participatory learning and the concepts of scientific and technological savvy as 21st century literacies.
Most of the world lives in cities. That number, now at about 3.3 billion people, will keep going up. During the next five years, urban populations are expected to soar well beyond half the world's total.