Technology

Artists Find Alternate Uses for Billboards in Los Angeles
With a surplus of unsold billboard spaces dotting Los Angeles, artists are using the empty spaces as canvasses for new forms of public art.

Uncertain Future for Electric Vehicles if Fuel Efficiency Standards Relaxed
The U.S. EPA has signaled that it will withdraw an earlier decision to maintain the 54.5 miles per gallon target. Should that happen, a major casualty will be electric vehicles, according to one prominent EV advocate interviewed on NPR.
The Road to 5G Starts With Home Broadband
This year’s Mobile World Congress is all about 5G and IoT, with some handset and wearable launches. Wireless carriers and infrastructure vendors are starting to launch Gigabit broadband pilots to bring 5G class connectivity to residential users.

California Investing In 'Transformative Climate Communities'
The California Strategic Growth Council has $140 million in cap-and-trade revenue for the new Transformative Climate Community program. The aim of the program is to catalyze environmental and economic investment in disadvantaged communities.

Big Data, Smart Cities, and Personal Privacy
Cities, which have demonstrated vulnerability to hacks, present a threat to personal privacy. Experts propose solutions to a growing problem.

Israel Plans to Harness the Power of Waze to Save Wildlife
Just in time for United Nations World Wildlife Day, a new initiative in Israel has launched to identify deadly road crossings for animals by harnessing data collected from the Waze app.

Trump Administration Reviewing U.S. DOT's Automated Vehicle Guidelines
Among the many guidelines and rules going back to the drawing board (or ceremonial execution by executive order) at the federal level are guidelines for self-driving cars released only months ago by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Research Team to Study the Physiological Responses of Pedestrians to 'Physical Disorder'
Associate Professors Yunwoo Nam and lead PI Changbum Ahn from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, were recently awarded an NSF grant entitled "Human-Centric Sensing Platform to Assess Neighborhood Physical Disorder."

A Tool to Show the Effects of Transit Closures
The NYC Transit Explorer from Sidewalk Labs shows how much transit service New Yorkers stand to lose when the L Train shuts down for 18 months.

Are Driverless Cars Good for Cities?
With experts predicting widespread autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption in the not-too-distant-future, many policymakers, designers, and ordinary citizens are left scratching their heads, uncertain of what to expect and how to prepare.

Google Can Now Predict Parking Difficulty
The way Google predicts parking difficulty could make it easier to develop "smart city" applications in the future.

Should Online Shopping Change How We Use Ground-Level Space?
Urbanist Jane Jacobs' support for mixed use development has long been seen as the best urban design strategy, but this vision assumed that the retail space under housing could be rented. What if that is no longer the case?

All the Reasons to Map a City's Smells
"Smell-mapping" is gaining attention from urban planners, data scientists, and nature conservationists alike.

Friday Eye Candy: A Minecraft Duplicate of Chicago
An exemplary display of Minecraft prowess.

World's First Passenger Drone Readies for Takeoff in Dubai
This summer, commuters may have another option for moving around Dubai as a pilotless drone is prepared to shuttle passengers around the city.

Big Data Brings Bespoke Cities
This start-up uses an AI to comb through Google Street View images, matching users with cities that fit their "lifestyle preferences."

A New Policy Agenda for Autonomous Vehicles: It's Time to Lead Innovation
A call for planners, policy makers, and the car industry to assertively lead the policy development in anticipation of the coming wave of autonomous vehicle technology.
Rolling Digital Billboards Hit New Orleans' Streets
A southern Louisiana company is bringing a mobile, four-sided digital billboard to the streets of New Orleans

Google Maps Update Opens New Access to Mobility and Culture
Google Maps and other navigation and mapping apps have done a lot to inspire and educate people to make the most of their surroundings. New changes to the Google Maps app will add new functionality for those purposes.

This Start-Up Takes (Some) of the Hassle Out of Renting
Entrepreneur Tyrone Poole's Oregon start-up matches prospective tenants with rental units they qualify for, eliminating legwork and application fees.
Pagination
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