Data collection and analysis promise to make our cities better, and more efficient, places to live. Though many cities are expanding their digital integration, several obstacles remain to realizing the full potential of the urban data revolution.
Tod Newcombe looks at the "growing trend in government towards more data and better uses for it," and the obstacles holding back more widespread adoption. "State and local governments will spend $58 billion on information technology in 2013, according to the market analyst firm Gartner. And while the ongoing fiscal problems have slowed IT investments, the use of technology and automation in states and localities will continue to grow, particularly where big data and analytics are concerned."
"So are we at a tipping point, where a new golden age of city innovation is about to burst forth? Well, not quite," says Newcombe. He identifies obstacles such as the failure of mid- and small-sized cities to embrace the trend and data governance issues as obstacles to greater data integration.
Read the full story: Cities Ramp Up Data Projects
The State of Mobility as a Service Platforms
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A Better Way to Compare Cities
An online tool released three weeks ago by the Chicago Federal Reserve allows a more nuanced comparison between peer cities.
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.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
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Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority