Posts Tagged ‘cities’
Real-Time Informatics for a “New Soft City”
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on June 21st, 2010
Source: The City Fix
Image from New Soft City – Keynote presentation by Dan Hill
From “Real-Time Informatics for a “New Soft City” ” by Erica Schlaikjer
What if cities could talk? Or transit systems could tell you how they’re feeling? Sounds crazy, but it’s not that far-fetched. “Urban informatics” could change the way people understand and interact with cities, says Dan Hill, a designer, urbanist and senior consultant at Arup in Sydney. He explains the idea of projecting real-time data onto the physical environment of a city, such as a lamppost or observation tower, in order to enliven public space, improve the mass transit experience, and transform the way citizens relate to their urban surroundings. Data, which exist all around us, would be accessible to everyone, rather than contained on a mobile device, such as an iPhone or laptop.
Just imagine if you could use light projections, e-ink, or LEDs to display a “smart meter” of energy consumption on the outside of your home. What would change? Research shows that friendly neighborhood competition can actually breed energy-saving behavior.
Likewise, imagine if cities provided free wireless Internet connectivity outdoors and in other civic spaces, like atriums, libraries and shopping malls, to encourage people to spend time socializing outside of their personal bubble at work or at home. They would literally interact with the city. Public spaces could become friendlier, safer, cleaner and more attractive. It could improve people’s health and well-being. Read the rest of this entry »
Future Everything Conference: Keynote Addresses
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 12th, 2010
Source: Experientia
From Design Everything, a futures conference by Mark Vanderbeeken:
I finally had a chance to listen to the two excellent keynotes of Design [Future] Everything, the futures conference that took place last month in Manchester, UK.
Ben Cerveny’s keynote explored how, as newly-emerging urban-scale technology infrastructures are implemented, citizens will begin to gain the ability to affect their environment in new ways, using city services the way they would use a digital application in an online environment. Through collaborative interaction with such tools, users of public spaces can configure them for specific temporary functions and even begin to ‘perform’ space together.”
In her keynote, Keri Facer explored the scenarios emerging from the Beyond Current Horizons programme and ask how, as a society, we can learn together as communities to respond to the profound environmental, demographic and technological opportunities challenges we face over the coming two decades.
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Visioning the City: FutureEverything Conference Panel
Posted in Events by Rob Eales on April 20th, 2010
If we could co-create the city we wanted, what would it look like? The Visioning the City panel will explore our collective dreams of urban utopia as well as addressing practical plans to understand and improve city life.
FutureEverything is an award winning, world class organisation using mass participation in creativity and social innovation to bring the future into the present. It has a strong global network and international profile, and is recognised around the world for leading pioneering projects and important international debates. The organisation delivers a range of benefits, including mass engagement, awards, international networks, local advocacy, training and thought leadership, on themes including innovation, technology, art, society and the environment. It is embedded in business support networks, and is central to the innovation ecology in the UK.
The Future Everything Conference is a desination for a world-wide community of inspirational people; an engaging, entertaining and essential event to attend. Exploring the interface between technology, society and culture, the internationally acclaimed FutureEverything Conference is the crucible that allows artists, technologists and future-thinkers to share, innovate and interact. Keynote speakers include Keri Facer, Dame Wendy Hall, Ben Cerveny, Nigel Shadbolt and Darren Wershler.
Taking place at Contact on Oxford Road, Manchester, 13 – 15 May 2010
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Measuring Urban Heat via Cargo Bike
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on September 29th, 2009
Source: Environmental Research Web
Image: amsterdamize
Researchers from Wageningen University, Netherlands, used the warm days in August to map out the urban climate in the cities of Rotterdam and Arnhem. During four time intervals on a 24 hours’ day, mobile traverse measurements were carried out with two cargo bicycles with measurement equipment.
The results may indicate to which extent heat stress may become a problem. Future projections of climate change show that frequency of heat waves will increase substantially in the next decades. Particularly in cities heat stress may become a serious problem due to the so-called Urban Heat Island effect (UHI), the phenomenon where the average temperature in the city is higher than in the surrounding area.
For technical reasons, the researchers use cargo bikes to transport the measurement apparatus. With a cargo bike it is easy to manoeuvre through the narrow streets in the city, while the instruments remain horizontal. The cargo bikes are equipped with a thermometer that registers the temperature, a humidity meter, a sensor for wind direction and wind speed, sensors that measure the amount of sunlight and sensors for the exchange of heat radiation. The measurements were conducted every second. In addition, the route was photographed at fixed intervals from 50 cm above the ground with a fisheye lens pointed upwards. This can be used to determine the percentage of the sky that is “covered” with buildings or greenery as seen from street level. This coverage largely determines the strength of the urban heat island effect. The felt temperature is determined by the air temperature combined with radiation, humidity and wind. The instruments are powered by a solar panel mounted on the baggage carrier.
Read the full article.
Source: Environmental Research Web
Resilient Cities Conference
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on September 21st, 2009
Source: PostCarbon Institute
Image: EcoCompactCity
Three of Post Carbon’s urban experts will feature in a special PostCarbon Institute evening event at the Resilient Cities: Urban Strategies for Transition Times conference October 20-22 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The conference, featuring Paul Hawken, Majora Carter, and many other internationally-recognized speakers, will focus on how cities and urban regions in North America can prosper in the face of growing sustainability challenges. Participants will advance their thinking on three key subjects:
- best current practices for managing sustainable urban systems;
- capturing opportunities in the green economy; and
- strategies for building widespread sustainability collaborations.
The Post Carbon panel –a “shoulder event” the evening of Tuesday, October 20th–will be an honest conversation on what cities truly face in a world of growth limits, and what citizens and leaders can realistically do to cultivate local resilience. It features Bill Rees (Our Ecological Footprint), Anthony Perl (Transport Revolutions), and Warren Karlenzig (How Green is Your City?), and will be moderated by PCI Program Director Daniel Lerch (Post Carbon Cities).
“Resilient Cities” is organized by Gaining Ground in association with Smart Growth BC and the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics. Register for the conference.
Rivers and Cities: Smart design
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 17th, 2009
Source: Sustainable Design blog
Image: Sasha via picasa
The Dreisam river runs straight through a large portion of Freiburg, in Germany. It is diverted throughout the town for a variety of purposes. The river, which had been artificially constructed away from its original flow in the late 1800’s, is surrounded by greenery and excellent bicycle and pedestrian pathways. The city has an unusual system of gutters (called Bächle) that run throughout its centre. These Bächle, once used to provide water to fight fires and feed livestock, are constantly flowing with water diverted from the Dreisam. These Bächle were never used for sewage, as such usage could lead to harsh penalties, even in the Middle Ages. During the summer, the running water provides natural cooling of the air, and offers a pleasant, gurgling sound.
The river contributes to drainage for the city helping the water flow through parts of the city easily (no flooding due to diversion). People along side the river use it for irrigating their plants, crops, and gardens. There are many areas for recreation such as swimming, biking, walking, exercise for people and their pets, and a calm place to sit. It is also a prime area for artists to perform graffiti and “rock art” giving them creative spots away from buildings and downtown.
Cars and Cities
Posted in Models by Devin Maeztri on March 13th, 2009
The section below is republished with permission from the Going Solar Transport Newsletter #101, 10 March 2009, compiled by Stephen Ingrouille. Going Solar newsletter provides an excellent commentary on sustainable transport issues.
“Only a few months after his election in the summer of 2000, [the Mayor of London Ken] Livingstone began courting Robert R. Kiley, a former C.I.A. official, business leader and transit expert, who as head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York in the 1980′s was credited with resurrecting the city’s graffiti-scarred subway system, now considered one of the best in the world. Kiley, given the new title of London’s transport commissioner, brought with him another former top New York transit official, Jay Walder, who had become an expert on road pricing at Harvard and in Singapore, where a smaller but much more costly congestion-charging system in place for more than 25 years has cut car ownership to 1 in 10 city residents.
A Tale of Two Cities
Posted in Movements by guido_7 on February 11th, 2009
Assume a robust global deal on climate and the world’s cities will have to transform their infrastructure, economies and societies in little more than a generation.
Assume uncontrolled emissions growth and they face growing impact from a less hospitable and more volatile climate.
Either way – big changes are on the way. Few cities’ leaders grasp the scale of the challenge, especially in developing countries, where towns and cities will have an additional 1.5bn residents to cope with by 2030.
This new think piece has been prepared as part of the British Council’s Climate and Cities programme working with Global Dashboard . Download the pdf (which has full references).
Call for proposals: Addressing the climate vulnerabilities of urban Africa
Posted in Uncategorized by fedwards on October 2nd, 2008
To better prepare Africa’s urban settlements for climate variability and change, the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) program invites combined research and capacity building proposals that address the vulnerabilities of Africa’s urban centres to climate change, and will help urban stakeholders work together in developing adaptation options.
This call for proposals is co-funded by CCAA and IDRC’s Urban Poverty and Environment program. The application and project development process is led by CCAA.
Full details on this call can be found at: www.idrc.ca/ccaa-urbancall. Completed applications, accompanied by full proposals, must be submitted no later than midnight, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), November 30, 2008 to: ccaa-urbancall @idrc.ca
The Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) research and capacity development program is jointly funded by IDRC and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).