Technology
Jittery Places, Reducing the Right to Just Be
You’re being monitored. Everything you are is tracked and stored in a data centre. How do you feel about these digital and physical forms of regulation? Do they make you jittery? Do you feel more secure? Are you a wiser consumer?
Lessons from Don Draper (for Planners)
Aside from inspiring a classy wardrobe, what can urban planners learn from characters like Don Draper and Peggy Olson? What cues should urban planners and policy makers take from the field of advertising to help pitch planning ideas?
Drug Testing Your City's Sewer System
If you really want to know how prevalent drug use is in your community, don't ask people–just test their wastewater.
"Ghost Buildings" Help Stakeholders See the Shape of Things to Come
An Oxford city councillor would like to bring a Swiss system of erecting "ghost building" profiles to the UK for the first time to help residents and officials understand the scale of proposed projects before granting permits.
Seattle Looks to Data Centers for Heat, Hot Water
Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE) is looking to an unusual source for energy: the area’s data centers.
Chicago's Data Projects: Overblown or On Target?
Chicago's big-data projects seem unwieldy, but there is a sound core plan informing them.
StreetSeen: A New Tool for Understanding the Built Environment
Want an easy to use public engagement tool that helps you to understand the visual preferences of the public? StreetSeen (http://streetseen.osu.edu), a free online tool allows planners and others to simply construct and deploy visual surveys.
Virginia Senate Votes to Rescind Prius Tax
The much maligned "Prius tax", an annual registration fee for hybrid and electric vehicles to ensure they pay their share of road costs that was part of former Va. Governor Bob McDonell's landmark transportation bill last year, may soon be history.
The Perils of TEDification
On Places, Simon Sadler explores the magical thinking and many contradictions of the TED Talks.
The Dark Side of Electric Vehicle Charging
You've heard of road rage. Electric vehicle drivers at Silicon Valley workplaces where EVs substantially exceed chargers may experience "charge rage" when a "top-off" can take as long as eight hours.
A Low-Cost Way to Improve Transit Service in Every City
The developers of a transit-tracking app have some for exciting news for public officials: There's a way to improve transit rider satisfaction without reducing fares, buying new vehicles or expanding service. Just give your users more information.
It's Street Furniture; It's a Smart Device
Street furniture like benches, garbage cans, and bike racks are found in every city. But not all street furniture is created equal—new technology is redefining street furniture as the smart devices that run efficient cities.
How Technology Is, and Isn't, Affecting Street Life
By analyzing four public spaces using William H. Whyte's groundbreaking techniques for studying street life, a team of researchers led by Keith Hampton reached some surprising conclusions about how technology is changing our social interactions.
The Shared Dynamics of Obamacare and Public Transit
Seems like an absurd pairing, right? Perhaps so but please hear me out.
Performance, Not Efficiency, on Display at Detroit Auto Show
PBS' Hari Sreenivasan and guests share impressions of the North American Auto Show held in Detroit last week. Trucks and luxury cars were the focus, not electric and super-efficient vehicles. Debate on fuel efficiency standards is predicted in 2017.
What are Transportation Planners Talking About?
Last week, the Transportation Research Board held its annual conference with < 10,000 people in attendance. We analyzed the tweets to generate a list of the hottest topics, links to transportation resources, and most influential people.
How to Create a Mobile Enabled Plan
People are increasingly accessing information via mobile devices, so why not provide mobile enabled plans? Learn how to create a mobile ready plan that is readable in Kindle or iBooks at low to no-cost.
Google Invites Itself into Your Home
It's already conquered phones and the Internet, and is moving rapidly into the automotive world, but Google's $3.2 billion purchase of smart device maker Nest provides the company with entree into the "connected home" market.
Is Your Car Spying On You?
A new Senate bill aims to give drivers more control over the growing trove of data being collected by sensors and computers embedded in our cars. Most drivers are unaware of how much personal information is being recorded.
The Best Planning Apps for 2014
We have compiled a list of mobile apps to support planning, as part of our annual update. Learn about exciting new ways to explore cities and enhance planning via mobile apps. Please feel free to add your own favorites.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Ada County Highway District
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
