Technology
Are Poor Customers Subsidizing Solar Panels For Wealthier Ones?
Lucrative for homeowners and industrial customers who can afford them, solar panels are not without their own issues. The equity issue - whereby the claim is made that poorer customers subsidize the utility costs of wealthier ones, is investigated.
New Video Game Explores Susceptibility of Smart Cities
The fact that cities are becoming more technologically reliant and interconnected is good, right? But, what happens if the controls of the "smart city" fall into the wrong hands? A new video game explores such a scenario, writes Nate Berg.
Introducing the Text Hall Meeting
A free platform that promises to "bring citizen feedback into the digital age" is being employed to help shape Philadelphia's comprehensive plan, reports Matt Bevilacqua.
States Take the Lead in Implementing Driving Fees
With D.C. abandoning its leadership position in funding road infrastructure improvements, states such as Oregon and Minnesota are going forward with pilot plans to transition to road usage fees.
Green Waves Descend On San Francisco
San Francisco is expanding a program of traffic light synchronization for cyclists, which is patterned after successful applications in Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Portland.
Suggestions for Harnessing the Power of the Crowd
As cash-strapped and technologically savvy governments increasingly look to harness the power of the crowd, William D. Eggers and Rob Hamill offer suggestions for "Five Ways Crowdsourcing Can Transform the Public Sphere."
Geocoding the Health Impacts of Your Neighborhood
Ever wonder what effect the pollution you're exposed to in your neighborhood on a daily basis is having on your family's long-term health? The emerging field of geo-medecine is providing answers, reports Christine MacDonald.
New R&D City Missing One Key Ingredient: People
In New Mexico, construction will begin this summer on a fully functioning 15-square mile new town, designed "to test everything about the future of smart cities, from autonomous cars to new wireless networks," reports Emily Badger.
So We've Got All This Data. Now What?
Ben Hecht offers his insights on what civic leaders should do to capitalize on big data and how efforts in Chicago are turning these ideas into reality.
Egypt's Social Media Takes On New Foe: Cairo's Traffic
After aiding in the dissolution of Egypt's authoritarian regime, social media is being enlisted to tackle a more formidable obstacle: easing its capital city's traffic, reports Noel King.
Are Smart Phones Spoiling Our Public Spaces
The smart phones that keep us constantly connected to cyberspace may have detrimental effects on our public spaces, writes Emily Badger.
Onward, Singapore: Setting the New Standard for Urban Innovation
Boyd Cohen takes us through a brief tour of the Lion City's many progressive and wildly successful programs, from affordable housing to traffic management and beyond.
Top 10 Websites - 2012
Our annual list of the 10 best planning, design, and development websites represents some of the top online resources for news, information and research on the built environment.
CA's Hydrogen Energy Power Plant Applies For Certification
HECA, the Hydrogen Energy California project, will do much more than burn H2 to produce 300 megawatts of emission-free electricity. This U.S. Dept. of Energy-backed project will store (sequester) carbon underground in Kern County's oil fields.
Designing the Workplace for the New Ecomony
Mike Sheridan looks at the changing types of workspaces being demanded by knowledge-economy businesses. These aren't your parents' cubicle-filled steel and glass boxes.
Google Crowdsources 3-D Tours
Mark Wilson profiles Google Maps' new feature - Photo Tours - which combs the Internet to provide 3-D tours of popular locations around the world.
Dutch Censorship is Drawn with Geometric Aesthetics
Samuel Medina describes how the Dutch use stylistic aesthetics to disguise sections of their satellite images to ward off national threats, as portrayed in Mishka Henner's new book, Dutch Landscapes.
Can Urban Regeneration Be Kickstarted?
Alexandra Lange argues why she thinks the model for crowdfunding made popular by the Kickstarter website "is not a suitable funding platform for a city."
The "Internet of Things" Tracks You from the Screen to the Sidewalk
Nate Berg muses over the shifting boundary between public and private, as technology follows us from the Internet into the physical world.
The High-Tech Urban Experience, Now Standardized
The seven largest metros in the nation are teaming up to unify the technologies that are revolutionizing life in the city, Steve Towns reports.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
