Mobile Apps

An App Made for Urban Explorers

The Likeways app offers a "Space Recommender System" that aims to return serendipity to the process of navigating a city.

February 28, 2016 - CityLab

Mobile Apps Provide the Ultimate Guide to Los Angeles

Get this guide for 21 apps and services for enjoying the city of Los Angeles to its fullest, whether you're a resident or a visitor.

February 17, 2016 - Netted

Metro Map

The Go LA App Offers a One-Stop Shop for Transportation Choices

A public-private partnership between Xerox and the city of Los Angeles rolls out a new mobile trip-planning app to the public today. Now it's on the city's residents to use this new power wisely.

January 27, 2016 - James Brasuell

One App Combines Bikeshare Info for 110 Cities

The trip planning app Moovit this week announced a big upgrade, bringing together bikeshare info from cities around the world into one place.

January 17, 2016 - Geektime

An App for Navigating While Walking

A new app called Walc makes navigating while walking easier to do. Even more ambitiously, Walc aims to make it easier to make the choice to walk, rather than drive.

December 18, 2015 - Fast Coexist

Like Amazon, but for Gas

Never go to a gas station again. We're not talking about transit—we're talking about an app that sends people to your car to fill it up with gas with no service charge.

November 25, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Still Waiting on the Universal Fare Card for U.S. Transit Systems

Some people dream of jet packs, others dream of using a smartphone to navigate between transit systems and modes without needing to stop to buy a new fare card.

August 12, 2015 - CityLab

Rainbow

Make Your City a Treasure Hunt

Do you remember going on a treasure hunt as a child? Treasure hunts are becoming increasingly popular with adults, as well as children. Technology has enabled mobile treasure hunts with cities across the world hosting hunts.

July 10, 2015 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Compass

What Information Do Citizens Need In Tech-Enhanced Cities?

Search engines and mobile apps are becoming increasingly localized and personalized, providing recommendations based on who and where we are. These changes have the potential to impact our cities by encouraging people to broaden their experiences.

July 9, 2015 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Strava Proposal

Fitness Apps Are the New Planning Tool

Many smartphone users have a fitness app that they use to track their routes and progress on fitness goals. The data in these apps is a gold mine for planners, helping lead to better infrastructure investments.

April 3, 2015 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Three Challenges for Multi-Modal Trip Planning Apps

A recent post on Mobility Lab explains some of the challenges developers encounter when creating the multi-modal trip planner apps of our dreams.

March 10, 2015 - Mobility Lab

New Mobile App Alerts Drivers to People on Bikes

A free app, still very nascent in its adoption, alerts drivers to the presence of bikers.

March 3, 2015 - The Chicago Bicycle Advocate

Urban Engines App a Navigation Game Changer

A navigation app that aggregates transportation modes and works offline? Do tell.

February 21, 2015 - Engadget

Lyft

New Index Ranks Cities by their Transportation Apps

In some cities, it can feel like a new era of transportation—with new options like real-time bus arrival data, on-demand cars-for-hire, and more, all available through a smart phone. Which cities are out in front of the new world?

February 7, 2015 - Frontier Group

Snowplow

Pittsburgh Launches GPS-Enabled Snow Plow Tracker

Pittsburgh has a new web-based portal for residents to track snow removal operations as they happen. It's the latest example of a city allowing public access to the details of city operations during snowstorms.

January 22, 2015 - CityLab

A New Buzzword for Changing Cities: 'Trust'

Christopher Swope writes of the emergence of the word "trust" in the buzzy lexicon of urbanism.

October 8, 2014 - Citiscope

Mobile Apps to Inspire Walking

Bill Lindeke examines a few examples of mobile technology that encourage citizens to ditch their cars and walk. Could these technologies inspire the cultural side of the equation needed for widespread adoption of walkability?

September 29, 2014 - MinnPost

Does the Evolution of Smartphones Come at the Expense of 'Spatial Thinking'?

Are smartphones supplementing the capacity of humans to think spatially, such that future generations might lose fundamental cognitive abilities?

September 9, 2014 - CityLab

Strava Proposal

The Power of Public-Private Partnerships: Mobile Phone Apps and Municipalities

Private, crowdsourced mobile phone applications addressing urban mobility collect troves of data on how cities flow. So how can municipalities tap into these databases to accurately understand the movement of their citizens?

August 25, 2014 - Ma'ayan Dembo

Mobile App Helps Battle Graffiti in Philadelphia

Philadelphia's Community Life Improvement Program is using Esri's Collector mobile app to empower their data collection in management. Prior to Collector, the anti-graffiti effort was driven by Excel.

August 12, 2014 - Technical.ly Philly

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Call for Speakers

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Top Books

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The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

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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.