Chris has been flacking the idea of metadata specific to urban planning and related fields for a while now (and hey, if you go read that article 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). So the basic notion is pretty cool: all the data that an architect, planner, contractor, builder, etc.
Chris has been flacking the idea of metadata specific to urban planning and related fields for a while now (and hey, if you go read that article 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).
So the basic notion is pretty cool: all the data that an architect, planner, contractor, builder, etc. might run into or want about a building or a region would be tagged the same way. When our worker from the related professions taps into a tablet PC, or looks at a wall or a floor through augmented-reality goggles or whatever, he or she would get an x-ray vision look at what's behind that wall. Or be able to find out what the pipes were made out of, or how much juice the junction box can put out. Whatever.
But as I've embarked on the glorious journey of fixing up an old house, I've been thinking: the problem isn't necessarily with getting everyone onboard the same metadata standard (though that'd be good, too -- don't fire me, Chris). The problem is that the actual data might be old, wrong, or just plain suck. I mean, who do you think's going to be entering all that data and all those tags? Probably some outsource-oid on a continent 6,000 miles away from the actual building. You're going to have a very pretty of a picture of the crawlspace behind a wall, and the picture might not have anything to do with what's actually there.
Don't panic. I have a solution: Real World Markup Language.
Using some technology to be named later -- Radio Frequency ID tags, maybe, or machine-readable bar codes like UPCs -- every object in the world would be tagged with its own metadata at the source of its manufacture. Since this'd be a standard, all those objects would be compatible with each other for the reader. So your AR goggles would read 35 feet of copper cylinder about an inch in diameter as "plumbing" (I should be so lucky -- do you have any idea how much copper pipe costs?).
As RWML spreads, the entire built environment would turn into a kind of virtual Richard Scarry book, with everything labelled, if you're looking at it in the right way. Sheetrock or lathe-and-plaster? Diamond or quartz? Real or silicone-enhanced? Hairplug or toupee?
I hereby place the idea in the commons, for the public good. Go get 'em, you engineers!

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

Austin Launches $2M Homelessness Prevention Fund
A new grant program from the city’s Homeless Strategy Office will fund rental assistance and supportive services.

Alabama School Forestry Initiative Brings Trees to Schoolyards
Trees can improve physical and mental health for students and commnity members.

NYC Outdoor Dining Could Get a Re-Do
The city council is considering making the al fresco dining program year-round to address cost concerns from small businesses.
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.
Ada County Highway District
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
