Images for Planners: More Resources

Some time ago I noted a number of terrific image resources for urban planners. This blog highlights some additional sources.

2 minute read

February 1, 2010, 4:25 PM PST

By Ann Forsyth

Some time ago I noted a number of terrific image resources
for urban planners.
This blog highlights some additional sources.

First of all, last year some of the undergraduate students in my class on Global Cities collaborated in
finding sources for images on that subject. The links to web sites are online
but a bit buried under "Student Links" halfway down this page.
The students found sites of well known organizations such as National
Geographic and the World Bank (for photos, not just charts),
and others you may not have heard of like Saudi
Aramco World.

Also worth a look is Visualizing Economics, a site with thought-provoking graphs and charts. The "most popular" links on
the right side navigation bar are typically worth a look. Charts are also classsifed by topic-for
instance resources about the very wealthy.

In a similar vein with a focus on international development,
health, and globalization, Gapminder shows what it
is possible for Swedish statisticans to to do with flash animations and time on their hands on long cold nights. You can see founder, Hans Rosling, in action on video and then
try it yourself with online and downloadable animations. His most famous video
is at now a few years old. You might want to check out what he said at the U.S State Department in Washington DC
last year.

YouTube is coming to be
better source for planning information so if you don't want to burn fossil fuels
to see some important planning places you can visit virtually. Type "Kibera," the
name of one of the largest squatter settlements in Africa
and toward the top is a compelling video, "The Women of Kibera," produced by
Amnesty International. Type "Poundbury," the name of a mixed-income development
sponsored by Britain's
Prince Charles, and several quite well-produced
videos appear. I've had much more luck searching YouTubewith specific personal and place names
than merely putting in more general terms like city or planning.

Finally, in terms of my previous list of image resources, while all the entries contain really interesting items, I do find myself returning to the blog Strange Maps, a site that can be relied on to provoke.

Video Images Charts Graphs

Ann Forsyth

Trained in planning and architecture, Ann Forsyth is a professor of urban planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. From 2007-2012 she was a professor of city and regional planning at Cornell. She taught previously at at the University of Minnesota, directing the Metropolitan Design Center (2002-2007), Harvard (1999-2002), and the University of Massachusetts (1993-1999) where she was co-director of a small community design center, the Urban Places Project. She has held short-term positions at Columbia, Macquarie, and Sydney Universities.

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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