Exclusives

BLOG POST

An <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1258952,00.html">article</a> in the UK <em>Guardian</em> (via <a href="http://aldaily.com/">Arts & Letters Daily</a>) takes a wonderfully suspicious look at the "Bilbao Effect," named after the explosion in interest and tourism Bilbao, Spain got when it build Frank Gehry's <a href="http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/ingles/home.htm">Guggenheim</a>. Regular readers of this blog (all six of you) may have noted some slight skepticism on my part as to the fundamental aesthetic qualities of Mr.

July 19 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

I don't really have anything to say about <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/14/creating.cool.ap/index.html">this</a> CNN.com story except <em>damn!</em> It's gotta hurt to look out at all the bigger, more popular cities, having all the fun and getting all the hottest sister cities, hosting all the coolest awards shows.<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Now officials in some cities and states are looking to reverse the trend -- by marketing themselves as hip places to live and giving college graduates a reason to stay.<br /> <br /> In Michigan, [Governor Jennifer] Granholm has launched the "Cool Cities" initiative, a grants program that she insists is more about economic development than just bringing "lattes and bookstores and nightclubs" to her state.<br /> <br /> Saugatuck, where residents are renovating an old pie factory into a center for the arts, was among the first to receive one of the state's $100,000 grants.</blockquote>

July 14 - Anonymous

FEATURE

High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and Carpool Lanes promote congestion, while benefiting few commuters. Charging tolls rather than using HOV lanes will reduce traffic while bringing in much needed transportation funding.

July 13 - C. Kenneth Orski

BLOG POST

I recently downloaded and played around with a neat 3D modeling tool called <a href="http://www.sketchup.com">Sketchup</a>. @Last Software's SketchUp is a 3D modeling package intended to be used by architects and designers who need to quickly outline 3D ideas, but don't care for the difficulty of a CAD program, or the advanced features of a high-end 3D modeler. <br /> <br /> SketchUp's toolset is fairly simple, offering a Photoshop-like, two-column tool palette. SketchUp has also a very helpful grid guidance system, with multiple colors to guide you through the 3D orientation plans.

July 9 - Ken Snyder

BLOG POST

On the subject of interesting uses for Geographic Information Systems (GIS), I ran across this fascinating site, <a href="http://www.streetgangs.com/maps/">Maps and Territories of Gangs in Los Angeles County</a>, while doing some background reading for a new course I'll be teaching at USC on technology and planning. <br /> <br /> <img src="http://www.streetgangs.com/maps/territory/territory_05.jpg" align="right" alt="Territory Map" />The author, <a href="http://www.streetgangs.com/contact.html">Alex Alonso</a>, who is himself apparently a PhD candidate in USC's <a href="http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/">Geography department</a>

July 9 - Chris Steins

BLOG POST

Good story today in the New York Times on parks, new and old, in Manhattan (here's the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/09/arts/09DUNL.html?pagewanted=1">link</a>, reg. req'd). <br /> <br /> City parks -- urban ecology -- is problematic for me. I'm not totally convinced that cities should have parks (yes, yes, you're yelling at me now: Central Park! Olmstead and Vaux! The Emerald Necklace! Golden Gate Park! Griffith Park! Just relax for a minute, cowboy).<br /> <br /> Among many smart people, <a href="http://architecture.mit.edu/people/profiles/prspirn.html">Anne Whiston Spirn</a>

July 9 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

Via <a href="http://www.smartmobs.com/archives/003430.html">SmartMobs</a>, an interesting piece of forthcoming software called <a href="http://www.civicspacelabs.org/">CivicSpace</a>. According to the site, it's based on DeanSpace, one of the pieces of social networking software that the Dean for President campaign used as an organizing tool. Salient bits from the description:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>CivicSpace is being built with the needs of distributed organizations in mind. It will give you and the supporters within your community a solid framework for organizing and engaging those around you in action. But it also will allow you to plug your community into a network of other communities where you can share your ideas, knowledge, relationships, and organizational information.</blockquote>

July 6 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

I herewith draw your attention to the High Line, an unused, elevated railway that cuts through Manhattan's Meat Packing district. Some good, artsy pictures <a href="http://www.kottke.org/photos/highline0204/index.html">here</a>, the official site of the organization that wants to redevelop the High Line <a href="http://www.thehighline.org/">here</a> and a book with even better artsy pictures (and an essay by brilliant Harvard landscape/urban historian John Stilgoe) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/388243726X/qid=1089163838/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9877415-8018419?v=glance&s=books">here</a>.

July 6 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

We have a <a href="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/archives/2004/06/29/95/">Planning Markup Language</a>. Adam Rogers proposed a "<a href="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/archives/2004/07/01/100/">Real World Markup Language</a>". Why stop at inanimate objects? Enter the "<a href="http://www.humanmarkup.org/">Human Markup Language</a>". <br /> <br /> <code>&lt;world&gt; &lt;/world&gt;</code><br />

July 1 - Abhijeet Chavan

BLOG POST

Chris has been <a href="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/archives/2004/06/29/93/">flacking</a> the idea of metadata specific to urban planning and related fields for a while now (and hey, if you go read that <a href="http://www.planning.org/planningpractice/1999/feb99.htm">article</a> from planning, ignore the lead -- I just re-read it and, well, what can I say except I was just a kid when I wrote it).<br /> <br /> So the basic notion is pretty cool: all the data that an architect, planner, contractor, builder, etc.

July 1 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

Via <a href="http://www.etaiwannews.com/Business/2004/06/30/1088560431.htm">Taiwan News</a>, via <a href="http://www.smartmobs.com/archives/003433.html">Smart Mobs</a>, comes word of a project to build a mobile phone broadband Internet cloud over all of Taiwan by 2008. Salient bits:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>The target is to set up the basic infrastructures to combine cellular phone network service, IT computer platforms, and broadband Internet links with a total 6,000 kilometers of the broadband fixed networks, and 10 "mobile cities" plus 15 "special mobile districts" around Taiwan by 2008, according to Kao Tien-tzu head of telecommunication and information section at the advisory group. <br /> <br /> Kao said the project has now been underway and the government has the goal of taking Taiwan from number 20 to among the top 5 countries in the world for wireless on-line access, while at the same time lowering the charged service fees to up to 80 percent to be competitive with the top ten most inexpensive national rates in the world. </blockquote>

July 1 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute has a (extraordinarily slow-loading) report out (in Swedish but with an abstract that comes very close to being in English) on tram and bus use. <a href="http://www.vti.se/pdf/reports/M948.pdf">Here's</a> the PDF of the report, but in a TechTalk public service, here's the salient bit, with a couple teeny edits, from the abstract:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>...public transport makes much more efficient use of the street area than car traffic. Trams are more than twice as efficient as buses, when the number of passengers carried is considered. IN the period 1986-1996 the European cities which based public transport on trams show a bigger growth in the number of passengers carried than do cities which rely on buses.</blockquote>

June 29 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

The <a href="http://www.rehearsal.uiuc.edu/">Environmental Rehearsal Studio</a> at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (<a href="http://www.uiuc.edu/">UIUC</a>) has been working on developing a <strong>Planning Data Model</strong> and a <strong>Planning Markup Language</strong> (<a href="http://www.rehearsal.uiuc.edu/projects/PML/">PML</a>) based on the eXtensible Markup Language (<a href="http://www.w3.org/XML/">XML</a>) and the Geography Markup Language (<a href="http://xml.coverpages.org/ni2004-03-26-a.html">GML</a>) developed by the <a href="http://www.opengis.org/">Open GIS Consortium</a>. <br />

June 29 - Abhijeet Chavan

BLOG POST

Why should architects, planners, and developers be concerned about software interoperability and open standards for data exchange? Communication and the exchange of data between partners in a development project is crucial to the success of the project. Anyone who has been involved in a construction project before knows how many opportunities exist to mis-interpret even the smallest detail on a plan.<br /> <br /> Architect Jonathan Cohen concludes in <a href="http://www.jcarchitects.com/islandsofautomation.html">Islands of Automation</a>

June 29 - Chris Steins

BLOG POST

Thinking more about my Spider-Man <a href="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/archives/2004/06/23/86/">post</a>, as well as the science fiction work of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/002-9877415-8018419">China Mieville</a> -- who has a third book coming out about the steampunk/magic megacity New Corbuzon in August....<br /> <br /> So which made-up cities would you visit? I think I'd like Gotham City better than Metropolis. You get the sense that the bars and restaurants are better in Gotham.

June 25 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

Via <a href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2004/06/24.html#a7868">Scobleizer</a>, a supercool Web-based traffic monitor with <em>live</em> video of intersections. <a href="http://www.smartcorridors.com/index.jsp">SMART Corridors</a>, a joint project of a dozen or so Bay Area regional transit authorities, is supposed to let commuters see where the clogs are. But the surveillance cameras are kinda spooky. If you timed it right and knew which one to click on, you'd see me walking to my bus every morning (quit stalking me!).

June 25 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

Wonderful article on Mike Melvill, the guy who flew the SpaceShipOne into space over Mojave this week, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/23/national/23pilot.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1088182871-HI2ZLuZP7F30D8gtGDJreQ">here</a>. It's by non-reader but talented New York Times writer John Schwartz.

June 25 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

Marvel Comics has announced that it plans to license out Spider-Man, one of its flagship characters, to an Indian comic book company, for a re-made Indian version of the character. Newsarama did a nice write-up on the details that you can read <a href="http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14583">here</a>.<br /> <br /> <img src="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/files//indiaspidey.jpg" alt="India Spider-Man" align="left"/> The really important bits: <br /> <blockquote>...the Indian version of Spider-Man, in the form of young Mumbai resident, Pavitr Prabhakar, gains his powers from ancient mystic instead of Peter Parker who got his powers from a radioactive spider. Green Goblin is also reinvented as Rakshasa, an Indian mythological demon.</blockquote>

June 23 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

The <a href="http://www.seeing-stars.com/TVstudios/ABC.shtml#EntertaimentCenter">ABC Entertainment Center</a> in LA is being <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mystery19jun19,1,7452818.story?coll=la-headlines-california">demolished</a>? Why does no one discuss these things with me? Well, okay, to be fair, <a href="http://blogging.la/">Blogging LA did</a>.<br /> <br /> Man, I loved that place when I was a kid. It wasn't just the futuristic-by-way-of-the-1960s architecture, or the ability to gape up through the tiers of shops and see the aluminum-framed Century City towers.

June 22 - Anonymous

BLOG POST

It's behind schedule, over budget, and, thanks to celebrity architect Frank Gehry, looks more than a little <em>familiar,</em> if you know what I mean. It's soon to open, and thanks to reader (and my cousin) Vanessa Jones, you can see lots of good construction pictures <a href="http://www.landofwee.com/images/millpark/millennium_park.html">here</a>. Thanks, Vee.<br /> <br />

June 22 - Anonymous