big data

An old man crosses a one-way street in the foreground, with both sides of the streets lined with cars facing away from the camera and brick buildings.

Hoboken's Curbs Are Going Digital

Hoboken, New Jersey, is leveraging technology to up its curb management game with a digital streetscape map that will allow real-time demand monitoring.

June 10, 2024 - Government Technology

Electric cars parked curbside and charging on a city street

Tech Trends for Cities and States

Smart cities technology is well behind schedule, but the technology industry hasn’t given up on new digital solutions, self-driving cars, curb management, and AI-powered systems.

January 4, 2023 - Smart Cities Dive

Subway riders in Bangkok wear masks during the pandemic.

A Sustainable Future Requires Smart, Data-Driven Public Transport Networks

Devin de Vries, CEO of WhereIsMyTransport, makes the case for new and improved mobility as a tool for sustainability and equitable economic development.

September 14, 2022 - Devin de Vries

Uber App

Gig Workers Demand Data Transparency

Access to data for gig workers can provide a valuable source of information and bargaining power in a traditionally opaque and risky industry.

December 23, 2021 - Wired

Cool shops along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.

An Expanded Approach to the Analysis of Cities

Even with so much data in the world, cities are a slippery subject. What if an everyday part of life in cities—the "scenes" comprised by businesses, people, and practices of similarly distinct aesthetics—can help our understanding?

November 11, 2021 - Martha Frish

Tennessee

A Big New Crop of Cities Achieves 'What Works Cities' Certification

The Bloomberg Philanthropies certification program has added 16 cities to its growing list of cities committing to the use of data for improving municipal programs and services.

July 19, 2021 - Smart Cities Dive

Smart City Apps and Intelligent Lighting Controls from Current by GE

New Opportunities for Big Data in Pandemic-Era Urban Planning

Big data startups and corporations are collecting information that can help planners make informed decisions about how to facilitate social distancing. Will planners center data-driven decisions in other planning processes?

July 6, 2020 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

San Diego metropolitan Transit System

Unreliable Data, Contract Issues Slow San Diego's Smart Streetlights Program

A public-private partnership between the city of San Diego and GE Current to develop a smart streetlights program started in 2017 has not lived up to expectations three years and $300 million dollars later.

May 11, 2020 - Voice of San Diego

Smartphone car

'We Live in Cities of the Cloud': Transformation of the Urban World in the On-Demand Age

On-demand technology has vastly transformed cities by changing everything from the way we shop and travel to how markets target and serve us.

January 9, 2020 - CityLab

United States from Space

Study: It's Not Hard to Connect Anonymous Data to Specific Individuals

People have had to take it on faith that data anoymization was adequate to the task of protecting privacy of individuals. Recent research suggests such faith was misplaced.

July 27, 2019 - CNBC

Personal Mobility

The State of Mobility as a Service Platforms

With so many new mobility options available in cities, mobility as a service (MaaS) platforms have a lot of work to do for a lot of people. Development is still catching up to the scope of the endeavor.

July 6, 2019 - Smart Cities Dive

Zurich

The Problem With All Those 'Livability' Rankings

Why is it that smallish cities in western Europe always score so well? Perhaps the underlying assumptions behind ostensibly data-driven "livability" rankings cater to a certain audience and leave most of us out.

July 3, 2019 - CityLab

Manhattan

Promised Data-Driven Infrastructure On Hold at Hudson Yards

When the Manhattan megadevelopment got its start, big data was a major part of Hudson Yards' marketing pitch. Now it's "probably the last thing we'll get to."

February 24, 2019 - Metropolis Magazine

Ontario, Canada

A More Complete Picture of the 'Smart City' Plans in Toronto

The game changing redevelopment proposed by Sidewalk Labs for the Toronto waterfront district of Quayside took new shape recently after the company presented an updated draft of its plan.

December 11, 2018 - Curbed

Smart City Apps and Intelligent Lighting Controls from Current by GE

San Diego Adding 4,200 IoT Sensors to City Streets

Details emerged this week of a massive "Internet of Things" (IoT) project in San Diego, California.

November 17, 2018 - Smart Cities Dive

Busy Downtown

How Social Physics Explains About the World

Big data has ushered in a new era of Social Physics.

April 25, 2018 - BBC - The Big Idea

Servers

Sidewalk Labs Launches 'Operating System' for Urban Data

The 'Coord' platform will give mobility companies a centralized place to access and use local data on parking, curb space, tolls, and the like.

February 10, 2018 - Wired

Downtown Columbus

'Smart Columbus Operation System' Looking for Developers

"Smart City" plans for the city of Columbus are taking shape.

February 7, 2018 - Smart Cities Dive

Grid Bike Share

Next From China: Bikeshare Without the Station

Led by the companies Mobike and Ofo, so-called "dockless" bike sharing is all the rage in Chinese cities. Unlocked by app, the bikes can be left anywhere for the next user to pick up. There have been some hiccups.

July 28, 2017 - CNN Tech

Smart Infrastructure

Engineers Are Testing an Intelligent Pipeline Infrastructure

Sensing capabilities and advanced building materials are redefining the resilience of infrastructure systems of all kinds.

July 11, 2017 - Kayla Matthews

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.