Historically, data sources for urban planning have remained relatively stable. Planners relied on a collection of well-known government-produced datasets to do their work, including statistics and geographic layers from federal, state and local sources. Produced by regulatory processes or occasional surveys, the strengths and limitations of these sources are well known to planners and many citizens. However all this is beginning to change. Not only has the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey introduced a bewildering variety of data products, all with margins of error, three interrelated categories of new data are growing rapidly: crowdsourced, private, and "big" data.
Data
Putting Alternative Fuel Stations on the Map
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Energy released an interactive map displaying thousands of alternative fuel stations around the nation.
TheCityFix.com
The Environmental Impact of New Cars
The new "Eco-Drive Index" offers a mode of comparing the average monthly environmental impact by an individual U.S. driver who has purchased a new vehicle that month.
TheCityFix.com
How Taxi Data Can Help Solve Public Transit Problems
Data on taxi pick-up and drop-off points can be a useful tool to better understand urban mobility, and how taxis can function as an aspect of public transportation, according to this post.
Urbanophile
Data and Maps Aiding Police
Geomapping data is helping police in cities address problem areas, improve unsafe intersections and improve overall efficiency.
Governing
D.C. Transit Data Now Available on Google Maps
Google announces the addition of D.C.'s Metro and bus routes to their online and mobile maps, including connections to other commuter transit systems.
TheCityFix.com
In Manhattan, Shopping and Driving Don't Mix
The New York City Department of Transportation's yearly statistical smorgasbord adds a new tool: neighborhood travel profiles showing how people arrived in eight neighborhoods. In many of them, the number of drivers was in the single digits.
Streetsblog
Mapping the Nation's Well-Being
Who's the happiest and healthiest of them all? The New York Times posts an interactive map of the national Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
New York Times
Enumerating the Effects of Eco-Driving
Three California schools are seeking to quantify the effects of efficiency-conscious driving in a study to establish a baseline for drivers' behavior.
TheCityFix
Postal Service as Mobile Urban Data Collector
The U.S. Postal Service operates a massive fleet of trucks and vans throughout the country. Michael Ravnitzky argues that this fleet could be easily modified to collect data about the places the vehicles go.
The New York Times
Five Technologies That Matter For Cities
Mobile broadband, government-sponsored cloud computing, smart devices - these are a few of the technologies that cities should be thinking about for the future, says the Institute for the Future in a new report.
Fast Company
Debunking Misconceptions About Metro Area Domestic Migration
On his blog, Aaron Renn has done an analysis of 2008 tax return data from metropolitan areas to show where domestic migration is happening. Some of his findings are a bit surprising.
The Urbanophile
The Big Picture for 311 Data
Steven Johnson examines how officials in New York and other cities can leverage information collected from public call centers to build better cities.
Wired
Evidence-Based Urban Planning
In a field such as planning that is rich with quantifiable data, why there so little focus on evidence rather than opinion?, wonders researcher Martin Laplante.
The American Parks Database
A new report from the Trust for Public Lands provides detailed and comprehensive data on city park systems in the U.S.
NRDC Switchboard
Turning Cities into Software
Many have called for "urban operating systems" to streamline how cities work, but few ideas have really taken hold. One small start-up, however, is making strides in developing that concept.
Fast Company
Britain's WiFi Networks Mapped
Search giant Google has mapped the location of every WiFi network in Britain. Some say the collection of this information is a violation of privacy.
Telegraph
The Data-Driven Key to Unlocking New York's Congestion
Wired profiles Charles Komanoff, who's hoping to use his immense spreadsheet of New York City traffic data to clear the city's congestion.
Wired
Stats Systems to See Upgrade in Federal Budget
This post from The New Republic explains how the federal budget includes plans to upgrade some of the varied parts that track statistics in the country.
The New Republic
What Can Taxi Data Tell Us About NYC Streets?
New York City has GPS data from tens of thousands of taxis and is beginning to mine that information to improve its streets. We talked to some transportation experts for their ideas on how to use it.
Streetsblog
Planetizen picks
Contribute
- The Benefits of Creating Hybrid Zoning Codes
- The Appeal of In-Town Big Box
- The Growing Appeal of Drinking From the Toilet
- How and Why Does an Architect Become Famous?
- Could Good Design Have Prevented the Housing Crisis?
- NY Times Defends the Port Authority
- Expanding the Hong Kong Subway, One Blast at a Time
- Can An Electric Bike Replace A Car?
- The Growing Popularity of Women-Only Mass Transit
- Putting the Bloom Back on the Rose Bowl
Information Sources in Planning: Principles -- Michael Dudley
Optimal Transport Policy For An Uncertain Future -- Todd Litman
Faculty Using Web 2.0 to Show Images -- Ann Forsyth
Information Sources in Planning: Introduction -- Michael Dudley
Liveblog: ULI Rose Center Kansas City Study Visit -- Jess Zimbabwe
Volunteerism Plays Critical Role in Reaching World’s Millennium Development Goals
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
Feb 10, 2012
Web Seminar: Economic Development in a Digital World: Home-Based Businesses and Virtual Workers
International Economic Development Council
Feb 08, 2012
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