civic

The too-smart city

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:43:50 +1000

The smart city has become a buzzword in urban planning and university engineering departments, and a topic of breathless coverage in science and business magazines. But as political leaders, engineers, and environmentalists join the smart-city bandwagon, a growing chorus of thinkers from social sciences, architecture, urban planning, and design are starting to sound a note of caution. Though they share enthusiasm for what a smart city could do, they also point out that smart-city programs could - with little public oversight - put us on track to an oversanitized, high-surveillance, serendipity-free urban future that not everyone thinks is ideal.

Good article with great insights on some of the problems I have with the mainstream idea of smart cities and the role of technologies in urban living.

urbanalysis: ajammc: Zarina Hashmi’s rendering of the map of...

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:20:24 +1000

urbanalysis:

ajammc:

Zarina Hashmi’s rendering of the map of Beirut

what a grid pattern !

massurban: The Atlantic Cities: “Does Having Lots of Local...

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:53:24 +1000

massurban:

The Atlantic Cities:

“Does Having Lots of Local Governments Help or Hurt Economic Development?

Richard Florida. May 6, 2013

Americans are far more likely to like their local government than that at the state or federal level, a recent Pew Research Center report finds. But can some places have too many local governments?

Urban planners and good government types have long been concerned with what they see as the growth and proliferation of local agencies across counties and metro areas. They even coined a word for it — “political fragmentation” — which they argue generates duplication and inefficiency in the delivery of local services. The ultimate consequences include higher tax burdens, increased fiscal stress on local governments, and reduced levels of economic growth.

Some advocate consolidating government agencies across cities, counties, and metro areas — a phenomenon sometimes referred to as “metropolitan government.” Metro government has already been instituted in a number of metro areas including Indianapolis, Nashville, Kansas City, Louisville, and Jacksonville. Calls for government consolidation have only risen in light of the increasing budget woes and fiscal stress that have followed the economic crisis.”

Photo: jabiru/Shutterstock

not just a US problem though Although we don’t have the silly overlap of local and state and federal police forces so much the fragmentation of Sydney into so many local governments is one of the things encouraging NIMBYism in my opinion

Video

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:52:00 +1000

"Geography, that now very unfashionable subject, is the second-best education for a planner, after..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:48:03 +1000

“Geography, that now very unfashionable subject, is the second-best education for a planner, after travel.”

- Andrés Duany

urbanxdesign: Successional urbanism: the six Transect zones and...

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:39:12 +1000

urbanxdesign:

Successional urbanism: the six Transect zones and the successional nature of urbanism.

Image by Eusebio Azcue, courtesy Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company.

Source: http://terrain.org/2013/interview/andres-duany/

New freeways cure congestion: time to put the myth to bed

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:01:21 +1000

New freeways cure congestion: time to put the myth to bed:

Although the national budget is now apparently $12 billion in debt, a welter of state governments are pressing the federal government for support to build new freeways.

This just needs to be repeated so many times oh my gosh

Also trust a farmer to be the one with the most sensible, logical and smart comment

Life in the City Is Essentially One Giant Math Problem (Smithsonian)

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:00:14 +1000

Life in the City Is Essentially One Giant Math Problem (Smithsonian):

urbnist:

Experts in the emerging field of quantitative urbanism believe that many aspects of modern cities can be reduced to mathematical formulas

I’m wary of reduction to formulas and predictive models, but the act of putting these things together does at the very least expand our understanding of the relative impact and importance of the inputs used by the formulas and models. In that sense, I believe these things are a worthy exercise, but to the extent that they are still reductionist I hope they do not become regarded as the end all be all.

if you can make it through the stifling breathlessness of the author finding out things that we already know (except now they’re proved by maths yaya!!!!) this article seems to suggest that it anything worth understanding about cities is done by reducing it to mathematic formulas. One example which I found particularly grating was the idea that after finding out about trafiic and parking space one wouldn’t go to a sporting game. This fails to recognise the enjoyment that comes from being at a live game in a stadium filled by thousands of other people, something a maths formula can’t prove. The whole philosophical drive behind the urbanism of the last two decades is that there are some things that cannot be measured, no matter how much data you have. This is why modernist urbanism is a failed concept: the most efficient way of doing something is not always the best.

isomorphismes: Population distribution of the United States in...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:22:53 +1000

isomorphismes:

Population distribution of the United States in units of Canadas.

Lots of Cars and Trucks, No Traffic Signs or Lights: Chaos or...

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:23:00 +1000

Lots of Cars and Trucks, No Traffic Signs or Lights: Chaos or Calm?

No traffic lights. No traffic signs. No painted lines in the roadway. No curbs. And 26,000 vehicles passing every day through a traditional village center with busy pedestrian traffic.

It’s called “shared space.” Is it insanity, or the most rational way to create a pleasant place where drivers, cyclists, and people on foot all treat each other with respect?

The village of Poynton in the U.K. has undertaken one of the most ambitious experiments to date in this type of street design, whose most prominent advocate was the Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman. Variations on the shared-space model have been implemented in other European cities since the early 1990s, but never before at such a busy junction. Poynton’s city leaders sought the change because the historic hub of their quaint little town had become a grim and unwelcoming place.

“Over the years, the increase in traffic and the steps taken to try to deal with that have changed this place from being the heart of the village into being merely a traffic-signal-controlled wasteland,” said Ben Hamilton-Baillie, the street designer whose firm executed the change, before the work began.

The project didn’t come cheap, costing about $6 million. Engineers completely reconfigured the intersection at the center of town, replacing a traffic light with two “roundels” that cars must negotiate without the guidance of traffic signs. Pavements of varying colors and textures are the only signal as to which type of road user belongs where.

It was a controversial move for the community of some 14,000 people, which lies about 11 miles from Manchester in the northwestern part of England. Now, a year after construction wrapped up, a video called “Poynton Regenerated” makes the case that the shared space scheme maintains a smooth flow of traffic while simultaneously making the village center a more attractive and safer place for pedestrians, leading to increased economic activity downtown.The film, which documents conditions before and after the change, is made by Martin Cassini, himself an avowed foe of traffic lights and signs and advocate of the shared space concept. So consider the source, and be aware that the shared space concept has come under criticism in the Netherlands, where it originated, for being unfriendly to cyclists. Local online forums in the Poynton area have seen their share of negative commentary as well, much of it from people who predicted an increase in collisions and injuries before the plan was fully implemented.

But in at least one other U.K. community where a shared-space scheme has been in place for several years, dire predictions of rampant crashes have proved unfounded. The town of Ashford has seen its roads become measurably safer since the implementation of its traffic transformation, according to the Financial Times:

In the three years before the scheme opened in November 2008, there were 17 accidents involving injury on this stretch of ring road. Since its creation, there have been just four, and Kent police have reported only one serious collision, when a pedestrian sustained a broken ankle.

In the “Regenerating Poynton” video, several people who admit to having been skeptical of the plan say that after it was put in place, they came to see it as a dramatic improvement. A local city councilor says that the main street no longer seems like a dying place, as it had for years before the change. Some 88 percent of businesses in the area are reporting an increase in foot traffic, and real estate agents say they’re seeing new interest in buying property in the area.

The social interactions that result from shared space — eye contact, waves of thanks, and the like — are one of the main selling points for advocates.

“Shared space is a term that simply describes a shift in thinking away from the regulated highway towards using the natural skills that humans are blessed with to negotiate movement and allow the normal civilities of life to continue,” says road designer Hamilton-Baillie. “I think what Poynton has demonstrated is that it is possible to create a continuous-flow, low-speed environment, still cope with pedestrian crossing movements, and, most importantly, recreate a space, a place outside the church in Fountain Place, that is part of the town — and no longer merely an appendage to the highway.”

“It has a very calming effect,” says one resident in the film. “And I think we’re all being kinder to one another, motorists and pedestrians alike.
”

nycbikecommuter: gplongwood: Things that aren’t normally done...

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:06:16 +1000

nycbikecommuter:

gplongwood:

Things that aren’t normally done on a road bike…

This is craziness and awesomeness all wrapped up in one video.

Sooo cool:-)

So strong.

owah

a hype-beast guy came into my work today on a Reid fixie with a flip flop hub and got me to change...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:17:00 +1000

a hype-beast guy came into my work today on a Reid fixie with a flip flop hub and got me to change the tube

do it yourself please were my thoughts

inlikewiththecity: A ‘Whom Do You Hang With?’ Map Of America

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:27:27 +1000

inlikewiththecity:

A ‘Whom Do You Hang With?’ Map Of America

Another Advantage Of Greener Neighborhoods: Less Crime

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:20:02 +1000

Another Advantage Of Greener Neighborhoods: Less Crime :

missmerin:

New research from Philadelphia shows that urban vegetation actually deters crime, the opposite of what most urban planners say.

Super councils touted for Sydney

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:28:00 +1000

Super councils touted for Sydney:

Sydney would be managed by 15 “super councils” under a suite of amalgamations recommended by an independent panel.

just made a submission (in favour) on this. feels good man

Rules for Successful Transportation Planning

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:08:38 +1000

Rules for Successful Transportation Planning:

citymaus:

stroadtoboulevard:

George Anderson, Chair of the Nanaimo Transportation Committee, has kindly asked me to share my thoughts on the Transportation Plan.

Here are some rules-of-thumb to help judge any Transportation Plan.

Modal choice is induced by the built environment; it is not an intrinsic personal trait.

The best transportation plan is a land use plan.

Make sure roads are roads, and streets are streets.

Focus on intersections.

Safer streets do not require expensive infrastructure.

In transit, frequency is freedom.

Think of cyclists as pedestrians with wheels

Modal choice is induced by the built environment; it is not an intrinsic personal trait.

You might hear that ‘people like to drive’. We all like to drive: on the open road, in a fun car. This doesn’t mean you should design your city around driving. When you design a city around driving, most people aren’t cruising a sportscar around empty streets: they’re sitting in congestion in station wagons or cheap sedans.

Those same people will happily park their cars and walk or cycle around when they visit Victoria or Vancouver, or Paris or Amsterdam. And on the flipside, when a French or Dutch tourist visits Nanaimo, he rents a car: there’s nothing about being Dutch that makes you cycle, it’s simply the natural reaction to the built environment they live in.

Note one very important consequence of this: induced demand. Your engineers should not measure today’s car traffic and speeds, and design streets primarily to accommodate them, or some linear forecast of volumes from today. Instead, you will get the traffic that you design for: the more car space you provide, the more cars you will get. The more bike, pedestrian and transit space you provide, the more of those you’ll get.

The built environment is set by public policy: streets are a state monopoly; and development on private lots is strictly regulated. Your transportation plan is about the former (but the latter is also just as important).

EXCELLENT post! continued here.

climateadaptation: blah-city: China’s car dream sours -...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:55:34 +1000

climateadaptation:

blah-city:

China’s car dream sours - turning in BMWs for bicycles.

Great piece by the Financial Times.

275 Annandale St, Annandale NSW 2038 to Sydney NSW - Google Maps

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:54:11 +1000

275 Annandale St, Annandale NSW 2038 to Sydney NSW - Google Maps:

something i’m thinking about for July, August this year

O'Farrell comes out for same-sex marriage

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:23:10 +1000

O'Farrell comes out for same-sex marriage:

Barry O’Farrell has declared his strong support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia and challenged the federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, to allow a conscience vote on the issue.

YES!!

What happened to the environmental movement?

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:33:06 +1000

What happened to the environmental movement?:

Today’s environmental movement is vastly bigger, richer, and better connected than it was in 1970. It’s also vastly less successful. What went wrong?