The "Best of" roll continues with Emily Badger's list of the most useful tools, maps and data visualizations to make use of municipal open data over the past year.
As recent writings on Planetizen have noted, the emerging methods of urban governance, planning, design, and management made possible by technological advances in data collection, analysis, and communication promise to make our cities better, and more efficient, places to live. As more cities take advantage of the opportunities made possible by Big Data, a wider range of possibilities for the instrumentalization of such data become evident. Over the past year, for instance, a group of Code for America fellows unveiled a new web application to help identify and clean up New Orleans's blighted properties, and San Francisco’s Department of Public Health published a High-Injury Corridors map, an indispensable tool in identifying the city's most dangerous streets for pedestrians.
From green roofs in Chicago to dangerous dogs in Austin, Badger examines eight other significant open data releases from 2012.
FULL STORY: The Best Open Data Releases of 2012
The State of Mobility as a Service Platforms
With so many new mobility options available in cities, mobility as a service (MaaS) platforms have a lot of work to do for a lot of people. Development is still catching up to the scope of the endeavor.
A Better Way to Compare Cities
An online tool released three weeks ago by the Chicago Federal Reserve allows a more nuanced comparison between peer cities.
An Online Portal for Making Sense of Toronto Traffic Data
With so many potential sources of data with which to analyze traffic behaviors and real-time conditions, University of Toronto engineers have created an online portal that could one day help drive a system populated with autonomous cars.
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?
EV Chargers Now Outnumber Gas Pumps by Nearly 50% in California
Fast chargers still lag behind amidst rapid growth.
Affordable Housing Renovations Halt Mid-Air Amidst DOGE Clawbacks
HUD may rescind over a billion dollars earmarked for green building upgrades.
Has Anyone at USDOT Read Donald Shoup?
USDOT employees, who are required to go back to the office, will receive free parking at the agency’s D.C. offices — flying in the face of a growing research body that calls for pricing parking at its real value.
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