The Year's Best in Big Data

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.

1 minute read

December 19, 2012, 1:00 PM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Hubway Data Visualization

Ari Ofsevit / AriOfsevit.com

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.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012 in The Atlantic Cities

Sweeping view of Portland, Oregon with Mt. Hood in background against sunset sky.

Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary

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Aerial view of green roofs with plants in Sydney, Australia.

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Cobblestone street with streetcar line, row of vintage streetlights on left, and colorful restaurant and shop awnings on right on River Street in Savannah, Georgia.

Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts

From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.

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Aerial View of Chuckanut Drive and the Blanchard Bridge in the Skagit Valley.

Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding

The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.

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Historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles with large "Pan American Lofts" sign on side of building.

Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly

The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.

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View from above of swan-shaped paddleboats with lights on around artesian fountain in Echo Park Lake with downtown Los Angeles skylien in background at twilight.

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