big data

Los Angeles Metro and Lyft Considering a Data Sharing Partnership

Metro, the transit agency for Los Angeles County, could be the first to peak under the hood at trip data generated by Lyft.

March 6, 2016 - Los Angeles Times

Facebook Is Mapping the World's Buildings

A mapping project lead by Facebook's Connectivity Lab is gathering data from all over the atmosphere, and beyond, to make a comprehensive map of the world's buildings.

February 24, 2016 - Vox

Data Plus Community: A Winning Formula for Green Infrastructure

These days, Big Data is the topic at hand, but Arup's Vincent Lee says data analysis can only go so far. He uses his work on the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program to illustrate why a "human element" is crucial to finding solutions.

January 22, 2016 - Doggerel

Crowd

It Is Now Next to Impossible to Reside Anonymously in a Big City

It is now next to impossible to reside anonymously in a modern city. Why? Because data anonymization itself is almost impossible without using advanced cryptography. Our every transaction leaves a digital marker that can be mined by anyone...

December 1, 2015 - Cities of the Future

An Online Portal for Making Sense of Toronto Traffic Data

With so many potential sources of data with which to analyze traffic behaviors and real-time conditions, University of Toronto engineers have created an online portal that could one day help drive a system populated with autonomous cars.

October 25, 2015 - U of T Engineering News

Waze Index Ranks Driver Satisfaction

One of the world's most popular navigation apps, Waze, has aggregated the data generated by 50 million users to develop a "Driver's Satisfaction Index." Perhaps surprisingly, auto-oriented Phoenix, Arizona leads all cities on the index.

October 14, 2015 - Waze

Swedish Bikes

Comparing How People in 12 Global Cities Ride Their Bikes

The workout-tracking app Strava provided generous access to its data to allow a compare and contrast exercise in how people ride bikes in 12 of the most famous cities in the world.

October 9, 2015 - Vox

How the 'Internet of Things' Is Changing City Operations

The potential of "Smart Cities" is still very much under negotiation. Data-Smart City Solutions at Harvard University surveyed what cities are doing so far to take advantage of the Internet of things.

September 3, 2015 - Data-Smart City Solutions

United States from Space

How Data Privatization Will Change Planning Practice

Planners will be presented with new challenges and opportunities in a new era of data-enhanced government.

July 20, 2015 - Kendra L. Smith and Kevin C. Desouza

Control Room

Resources for the Emerging Field of Urban Science

As city planners we are increasingly recording, measuring, and organizing city data—a practice known as urban science. Learn about resources across the globe helping to better understand our cities.

July 16, 2015 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Photo of google sign outside of google cafeteria

Why Google's 'Sidewalk Labs' Is Such a Big Deal

Earlier in June, Google announced the creation of an "urban innovation company" called Sidewalk Labs. One writer explains the genesis of the company as well as its potential for the future of how cities operate.

June 25, 2015 - Pacific Standard

The Early History of the 'Smart Cities' Movement—in 1974 Los Angeles

An article in Boom: A Journal of California extends the timeline of "smart cities" and "big data" efforts by a considerable amount—all the way back to the late 1960s.

June 22, 2015 - BOOM: A Journal of California

Control Room

Urban Big Data: Where is the Signal in the Noise?

Amid growing skepticism, an international gathering examines the useful benefits for an age of critical urban challenges.

June 3, 2015 - Michael Mehaffy

New App Shares Connected Car Data to Government, Businesses

This is what "smart cities" technology looks like: A new product called Inrix Insights offers planners and businesses a platform by which to access the data created by the use of connected cars.

May 10, 2015 - ITProPortal

Strava Proposal

Fitness Apps Are the New Planning Tool

Many smartphone users have a fitness app that they use to track their routes and progress on fitness goals. The data in these apps is a gold mine for planners, helping lead to better infrastructure investments.

April 3, 2015 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

A History of 'Urban Dashboards' and their Impact on City Governance

Welcome to the age of "Dashboard Governance"—when a good user interface offers the potential for performance advantages to city management.

March 9, 2015 - Places Journal

Poking around the New York Subway for Germs

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College have spent the last 18 months scouring the New York Subway in the search for a DNA profile of the system. They even created a map of the 15,152 microbes they found.

February 6, 2015 - Science Daily

Private Cellphone Data and the Next Frontier of Urban Planning

A survey of the quickly broadening reach of data about the movement of traffic reveals the next step necessary to achieve congestion nirvana: unfettered access to private cell phone data.

January 28, 2015 - Next City

Uber Partnering with Boston to Establish National Data Sharing Model

After months of speculation and calls for transportation network companies to share data that might be helpful in refining the transportation systems of cities, Uber has announced a partnership with Boston that could do just that.

January 15, 2015 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

'Pop Up' Bus Startup Bridj Expands, Updates App

Bridj, a tech-enabled "pop up" bus service that first hit the road in June of 2014, has expanded of service and launched a new version of its app with significant operational changes.

January 8, 2015 - BetaBoston

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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

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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.