Technology
Real Tomorrowland Comes to Orlando
Last week, networking infrastructure company Cisco announced that the Orlando community of Lake Nona will be the site of the first of the company's nine planned "Smart+Connected" cities, which will endeavor to "unify urban development and IT."
Parasols, Slides and Succulents for Better Cities? SF says, 'Why Not?'
What do all these seemingly unrelated elements have in common? They were just a few of the creative ideas for improving the urban environment showcased at the recent Urban Prototyping Festival held in San Francisco.
LocalWiki: An Insider's Guide to Cities
If you want to know something about Davis, CA, don’t go to the website of the local paper or the city, go to DavisWiki, a repository of all things Davis, written by the public. Thanks to a recent grant, could something similar be coming to your town?
7 Visions for the Accessible City of the Future
With the portion of American's living in cities set to rise to 90 percent by 2050, a new set of accessibility issues will confront the nation's disabled and aging. Metropolis invited 7 teams of designers to develop solutions to meet this challenge.
New Orleans Crowdsources Renewal
After months of development, a group of Code for America fellows has unveiled a new web application that seeks to assist communities in identifying and cleaning up New Orleans's blighted properties, reports Emily Badger.
Scrutiny of Electric Vehicles Follows Bankruptcy of Subsidized Battery Manufacturer
Electric-car-battery manufacturer A123 Systems received $249 million in federal grants. It filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 16, prompting Bloomberg reporter Angela Greiling Keane to look at the progress of President Obama's goal of 1 million EVs by 2015
Turning off the Lights to See the Stars
A movement to shed light on the worldwide loss of dark skies aims to minimize light pollution in order to increase public opportunities for stargazing, while also serving as a money-saving measure for cities, reports Kate Galbraith.
Vertical Farming: A Viable Option for Future Food Production?
Is the idea of "farming up" really taking off? Vertical farming could yield long-term environmental benefits, but still faces many obstacles.
Animating San Francisco's Turbulent Decade
A joint project by technology company Esri and the city of San Francisco shows the promising confluence of open data and innovative visualization techniques.
Using an App to Shame Property Violators Into Repenting
In Philadelphia, resourceful City Councilman Bobby Henon has introduced a free app named CityHall, which has quickly become a weapon of choice for getting landlords and tenants who blight their blocks to clean up their acts, reports Dan Geringer.
LocalData: An App for Grassroots Planning
A free digital toolkit allowing communities to collect, analyze, and share their own data will be launched nationally at the end of the year.
Where to Find Elusive GIS-Ready Census Data
For planners searching for hard to find historic census data in a GIS-ready format, the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) may be the one-stop shop you've been looking for.
New Software Helps Visualize a City's Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Ever wonder how the greenhouse gas emissions of your home compare to your neighbor's, or the supermarket down the street, or the office tower you work in? New software helps visualize such information in three dimensions across an entire city.
New Apps Bring Hand Drawn Designs to the iPad
Lissette Valdez looks at two new applications that are helping to blur the lines between digital and hand drawn designs.
How Location-Based Data Can Improve Government Services
With three-quarters of smartphone owners accessing real-time location-based information, the biggest names in technology - from Apple to Google - are working to mine the value of location-based data. Can local governments do the same?
Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs Move South and Buy LA's Luxury Housing
The Wall Street Journal reports on the growing numbers of technology entrepreneurs who are buying luxury homes in beachfront areas around Los Angeles, earning the stretch from Santa Monica to Playa Vista the name "Silicon Beach".
Why You Don't Drive An Electric Car
At one time in the 1900s, a third of cars in major cities were powered by electric motors. Today, only about 1% of cars are fully electric. Why did we end up with gasoline-powered cars?
Using Twitter as a City's Suggestion Box
Writer David Lepeska offers a great summary of innovative civic technologies and mobile apps being used across the country, and speculates about which city will be the first to use Twitter as a very public suggestion box.
Caltrain 'Modernization' Kicks Off With $40 Million From State HSR Bonds
In a ceremony that featured local politicians and environmentalists, Caltrain accepts $39.8 million to install Positive Train Control, a funding milestone in the commuter rail's modernization.
Agrisaurus: An App for Growing Food
A new suite of tools to help you design, plan, and manage your plot is looking for investors on Kickstarter.
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.
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
