A new program is being implemented in Portland, Oregon, to try to quantify and model the behavior of the city.
The effort is seen as a way to understand how various urban systems and functions interrelate, and how tweaking one might affect others -- or the entire system.
"This problem--if you can't measure it, you can't manage it--combined with the impulse to improve cities by models, is driving both IBM's "smarter city" strategy and the nascent "urban systems" movement, which seek to apply complexity science to cities. IBM sponsored the first Urban Systems Symposium in May (where West co-starred in a show-stopping discussion with Paul Romer and Stewart Brand) and today announced the latest plank in its smarter city platform: an "app" containing 3,000 equations which collectively seek to model cities' emergent behavior. IBM also revealed its first customer, the City of Portland, Oregon.
Systems Dynamics for Smarter Cities, as the app is called, tries to quantify the cause-and-effect relationships between seemingly uncorrelated urban phenomena. What's the connection, for example, between public transit fares and high school graduation rates? Or obesity rates and carbon emissions?"
FULL STORY: IBM Partners With Portland To Play SimCity For Real

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?

Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

Greening Oakland’s School Grounds
With help from community partners like the Trust for Public Land, Oakland Unified School District is turning barren, asphalt-covered schoolyards into vibrant, green spaces that support outdoor learning, play, and student well-being.

California Governor Suspends CEQA Reviews for Utilities in Fire Areas
Utility restoration efforts in areas affected by the January wildfires in Los Angeles will be exempt from environmental regulations to speed up the rebuilding of essential infrastructure.

Native American Communities Prepare to Lead on Environmental Stewardship
In the face of federal threats to public lands and conservation efforts, indigenous groups continue to model nature-centered conservation efforts.
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