Articles

Crowdsourcing Platform Enables Citizens to Document Crisis Information

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

These days, communities with great ideas are utilizing technology to improve their neighborhoods. Crowdmap is one such pervasive platform that allows users to crowdsource information like citizen protests or crisis information (ie. natural disasters) and view it on a map and timeline.

Stockholm’s Visually Impaired: The Sunny Side of Open Innovation

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Stockholm’s City Council, a member of our Living Labs Global initiative, declared in 1999 its intention to be the most accessible capital city in the world by 2010. To achieve this goal the Easy Access programme was started through the Stockholm Real Estate and Traffic Administration implementing different measures. Initially, investments were made into physical adaptations of pedestrian crossings, bus stops, playgrounds, installing ramps or hearing devices in public buildings.

Tell Us About Your Project That Utilized GIS or Location-Based Services to Engage Citizens

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:48:32 +0000

EngagingCities is raffling off one complimentary registration to the Where Conference 2012. All of our readers are eligible to enter the raffle drawing. All we ask is that you share a story of how you or somebody else successfully used geo-location technology to engage citizens and stakeholders.

Hands-On Resources to Address Opportunities & Possibilities in Location Technology

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Can you imagine today’s world without location-based technology? It’s everywhere—in augmented reality apps for smartphones, GPS systems in our cars, urban transportation systems, and with public participation (ie. Gov 2.0) and visualisation web portals. In the past year, EngagingCities alone has dedicated over twenty posts to the subject of GIS in planning, with a 2012 location-based article series in the works as we speak. This being said, getting a handle on the multitude of planning related geospacial platforms and tools out there isn't easy, especially considering the rapid rate at which this technology is evolving.

Community Led Revitalization And Place Making

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

As demand for quality environments in our cities continues to increase, more attention is being paid to the opportunity presented by urban revitalisation as a sustainable alternative to broad scale urban renewal. Around the world urban revitalisation is being catalysed by housing, cultural, retail, infrastructure and city centre projects that spur on infill development, adaptive re-use and other local investment.

Geodesign Gathers Momentum

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

The term geodesign,once hard to define, is becoming part of the vernacular in the design field. That observation opened this year's GeoDesign Summit, a gathering of professionals interested in using geospatial technologies to arrive at the best and most sustainable design solutions.

The Democratization of Mapmaking: The Result of a Potent Digital Revolution

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:12:40 +0000

We see them every day, popping up on our Twitter feeds, filtered through blogs, or even scattered throughout the New York Times: maps portraying not the usual locations or destinations, but data. From people’s kisses in Toronto, to the concentration of pizza joints in New York, to the number of women who ride bikes, to the likelihood of being killed by a car in any given American city, the list of lenses through which we can now view our cities and neighborhoods goes on, thanks to data-mapping geeks.

NCoC Research: Millenials Emerge as Top Users of the Internet to Participate in Everyday Civic Life

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

These days it seems that a continuous stream of initiatives are established to foster civic engagement across the country. But is the general sentiment toward participating in civic life one of apathy, or is the discussion of politics and the participation in organized community activities steadily rising?

Today Only - Early Registration Discount to RMLUI’S 21st Annual Land Use Conference!

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:59:45 +0000

Don’t miss this deal! Our newest sponsor, RMLUI is offering a $25 discount, but there is only one day left to take advantage! If you need continuing education units, that’s a $900 value for less than half the price, depending upon your classification.

The Complete Package: Four Community Toolkits You Can’t Live Without

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

The web is chock-full of community planning tools, resources, websites, and guides. The biggest challenge sometimes seems to be sorting through them all to find the resources that are truly valuable. Here are our picks for three comprehensive guides and toolkits that every community ought to bookmark. They’ll take you through the whole process of building stronger, more engaged communities, from communicating with the public to making sound decisions and then taking action.

Hester Street Collaborative: Empowering Young Residents to Shape Their Own Environment

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

If you’re walking through New York City’s Chinatown and spot an out-of-the-ordinary cart, you’ll be looking at one of Hester Street Collaborative’s latest projects devoted to using design as a tool for social change.

Getting Technology into the Open: Local Challenges & Global Solutions

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

In 2009 we had an idea, to bring together a group of global cities to share their challenges with the international technology community. Our hypothesis was that a solution to any challenge is out there already, and that by finding it we can learn and avoid re-inventing the wheel. Since then, the Living Labs Global Award has become the world’s most significant call for solutions, in its current edition 21 global cities call for technologies to improve the lives of 110 Million citizens.

Shifting Roles for Public Libraries: From Supporting Player to Community Engagement Leader

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:35:43 +0000

When you think of the most democratic place in your neighborhood where resources are universally available, does one government entity immediately come to mind?

Developing Digital Commons for Cities

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

There is a little-known struggle going on right now over how a new series of “top level domains” (TLDs) on the Internet shall be used by cities of the world. TLDs are the suffixes at the end of Web addresses, such as .com, .org and .edu. The international body that oversees TLDs is expected to announce a new series of TLDs in 2012 that would give cities their own TLDs (e.g. .nyc or .paris). The new TLDs could make it easier for people in the same metropolitan areas to find each other and interconnect on the Internet and in physical spaces.

ECOSProject: A Sustainable Future for Chittenden County

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Last year, the community of Chittenden County, Vermont embarked on an important project: ECOS Project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to engage citizens, organizations and municipalities in a conversation about the future of each one of the communities within this Chittenden County region.

Study Reports That Using Citizen-Run Community Websites Can Enhance Public Involvement

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

The results of a survey conducted by Networked Neigbourhoods in 2011 are revealing that local government leaders are paying more attention to neighborhood websites than ever before. The UK consultancy’s survey results shows that local council officers and elected members consider neighborhood websites to be the most useful online channels, above others such as Facebook or Twitter.

Increasing Public Participation in Rural Planning & Community Development

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

A community planner from the “Back 40”, working on a multi-jurisdictional planning process for a small, rural community recently posed this question on Cyburbia. Planner.tk, a local design firm associate and community planner with a passion for 'saving the environment', inquires about how to drum up successful public participation in their county of less than 30,000 people. Insights and ideas came in from fellow Cyburbia members regarding useful techniques in community development as well as unique challenges faced by planners focused on rural areas.

Civic Commons Marketplace Offers New Perspective on Which Engagement Software Really Works

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

New apps are coming out every day, but how does a local government find out about the latest technology? How do they gain access to the newest, most innovative ways to improve the lives of their citizens? Civic Commons has recently launched the Civic Commons Marketplace. The marketplace is a database of civic software brought together to help government personnel find the online engagement tech tools to best fit their city’s needs.

2012 Ted Prize Awarded to “The City 2.0”

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

For the first time the Ted Prize has been awarded to an idea rather than a person. The 2012 Ted Prize has been awarded to “The City 2.0.” The Ted Prize winner receives $100,000 and also "One Wish to Change the World." The prize ties in with the TED community's assembly of expertise and resources, and works towards collaborative initiatives that will influence millions.

Harnessing the Power of Story to Shape a City's Future

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Every place tells a story. But, most don’t do it coherently or intentionally. The tricky thing about stories is that even if a city or a downtown doesn’t want to be telling one, it matters not, because they are telling a story anyway. So, how do you quantify a place’s story, and what can you do with it?

OhSoWe: Helping Community Groups Share More, Consume Less, & Save Money

admin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Solutions to the problems associated with over-spending, clutter, and mass consumption just may lie within our own neighborhoods. One easy way to explore exactly how we can share skills and services locally comes to us through the online collaboration platform for neighborhoods, OhSoWe.com.

Online Resources for Community Building and Public Participation

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

We’ve been keeping our eye on "Community Engagement", a LinkedIn group that encompasses discussion on community building, education, public participation, participative democracy and working in partnership. One of the most popular ongoing discussions has revealed some of the group members’ go-to websites for community engagement in terms of urban planning, support for citizen dialogue, and innovation. Here’s a list of the highlights:

Outreach Mobility Network: Engaging The Local Community About Transportation Needs

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

A need like transportation is everywhere, and it affects everyone. More and more of our community has reached a point of not being able to drive, not having the financial ability for transportation, or not having enough public transit available to them. Understanding that has lead us to meet with community leaders, senior centers and their participants, and people with disabilities to find out exactly what their needs are and how we, as a community, can address those needs.

Designing Geography Part III: The GeoDesign Framework

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Carl Steinitz, professor of landscape architecture at Harvard University, first described how the GeoDesign Framework worked by posing it as a series of six questions relevant to landscape change. The first three questions describe the world as it is and assess its condition (the assessment process). The last three questions describe the world as it could be, evaluating proposed design alternatives and their impacts (the intervention process).