Smart Cities
Does the 'Playable City' Improve the 'Smart City'?
Conceived as a counterpoint to the "smart city," the "playable city" would think beyond efficiency and utility in applying technology to the urban experience.
Interfacing Urban Intelligence
Shannon Mattern argues that as we enter the era of so-called “smart” cities, we need to consider the point of engagement where citizens interface with the city’s operating system.
For Sale: Data on 90 Million Bike Rides and 20 Million Runs
The same week that the New York Police Department released a boat load of data about traffic collisions comes news that exercise app Strava will sell its data on the how, where, and when bikers and runners use streets.
The Hudson Yards 'Quantified Community' Experiment
Undergirding the massive mix of uses and investments called Hudson Yards is an ambitious plan to gather and analyze data provided by the 65,000 people a day who make use of the facility.
Policy First; Then Technology
Civic leaders chime in on how policy should guide technology and smart cities initiatives.
Big Data’s Victory Over Anonymity
A writer laments the advances made by data collection in cities—once a location where people could maintain or seek anonymity.
3 Reasons We Should Pay Attention to Medellín
Medellín has been called the most innovative city in the world, and recently hosted the World Urban Forum WUF7 to huge acclaim. It has taken back the city's public realm, found simple solutions to complex problems, and emphasized a "City for Life."
The Technology of Walkability
A recent article explores the promise—and potential pitfalls—of new technology to support the growing popularity of urban pedestrianism.
Boston Mayor Plugs Into Big Data
New Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has installed a large data dashboard in his office to track the performance of everything from city services, hot line call volume, and social media sentiment.
How Smart Cities Encourage Citizen Engagement
The extent to which cities will build data collection systems into the infrastructure—or how much we’ll voluntarily gather and share information from our smartphones—has yet to be determined. Here is a survey of what some cities have launched so far.
The Dark Side of Big Data
In a long read for Metropolis Magazine, Alex Marshall describes the implications of the “Smart City” movement, including the risk of turning over massive data collection operations to large corporations.
For or Against Smart Cities: Where Should Planners Stand?
Are we using technology to plan for utopias? Or are we luddites who are ignoring an inevitable future? Should we be for our against smart cities? Two recent books take on this debate.
It's Street Furniture; It's a Smart Device
Street furniture like benches, garbage cans, and bike racks are found in every city. But not all street furniture is created equal—new technology is redefining street furniture as the smart devices that run efficient cities.
North America's 10 Smartest Cities
A year after he unveiled his list of North America's top "Smart Cities" based on a new metric meant to bring clarity and measurability to the discussion, Boyd Cohen is back with a refined methodology and a new ranking.
Solutionism in Urban Data Science
Shannon Mattern surveys the new wave of urban data science projects and argues that practitioners are trending toward an obsession with data-for-data’s-sake and an idolization of method.
What if the Smart Cities of the Future Are Full of Bugs?
In an excerpt on Places from his new book, Smart Cities, urban forecaster Anthony Townsend considers the inevitable glitches.
Technology Gives Form and Face to a Forgotten Place
In an excerpt from his new book, Anthony Townsend explains how a volunteer effort is combining consumer technologies with open source GIS to chart one of Africa’s largest and most notorious slums.
Top 10 Civic-Minded Companies
A ranking of the 10 most civic-minded companies holds some surprises -- mainly that the list is dominated by financial services firms.
Are We There Yet? A Status Update on the Cities of the Future
PlanIT Valley, Masdar City, Songdo - the names of these bold visions elicit past promises of a smart and sustainable future. Eric Jaffe rounds up the latest news on the progress of the world's new urban utopias.
Urban Design in the New Soft City
Carl Skelton argues that the public needs new tools of citizenship to participate fully in the digital cities of the near future.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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.
