Jul 25, 2014
The recent bloom of the peer-to-peer economy (P2P) is changing the running order of our cities, reworking the dense tapestry of socio-economic relations between people and their possessions. Encouraging individuals to transact with each other, enthusiasts claim that initiatives similar to AirBnB are able to connect people directly to what they need or want and…
Jul 17, 2014
Travelers are doing a lousy job at assisting in successful traffic management, often absolving responsibility to others. We need to encourage travelers to take up responsibility, and provide them with the information and tools required to do so. We travelers have been doing a lousy job in terms of our contribution to the successful management…
Jul 11, 2014
The next time you’re traveling in rush hour, ask yourself the question: ‘Why are we all going in the same direction at the same time?’ Even 20 years ago, everybody would have known the answer: We’re all going in the same direction because that’s where work is. It’s not so very long since work only…
Jul 10, 2014
On the final day of the NewCities Summit, those of us opting to join the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) site visit set off with one big question on our minds: just how does the interplay between government and private sector actors shape the fast-growing city of Dallas? Moreover, how does this interplay take place in city…
Jul 09, 2014
The dominant prism through which we have looked at the inevitable and growing relationship between technology and our cities has long been the ‘Smart City’. Here are four reasons why we may need a new paradigm: The ‘Smart City’ Is Apparently Not for Humans Type ‘smart city’ in your search engine. Now go to the…
Jul 08, 2014
A few years ago, my life changed dramatically. My house, with all my belongings, burned down to the ground and I was left with nothing. In the weeks that followed, I had to depend on the people around me. I slept on their couches and borrowed their things. It changed my perspective on human nature.…
Jul 07, 2014
The automobile industry is in its infancy as the first horseless powered cars start appearing on city streets. By far one of the biggest revolutions of the last century, this marks a drastic change people’s mobility. However, like any other revolution, it faced a series of reactions. One of these reactions was the “Red Flag…
Jul 03, 2014
During the closing session of the NewCities Summit in Dallas last month, the Mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth, Mike Rawlings and Betsy Price, both praised Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as a mutually profitable exercise in “coopertition” – an intelligent mix of cooperation and competition. Both mayors are board members of this 40-year old economic…
Jun 23, 2014
For those NewCities Summit attendees who opted to head the 30 miles or so West of Dallas to tour the cluster of institutions that make up Fort Worth’s Cultural District, most were unaware of the fact that Fort Worth’s cultural hub in several ways served as a partial model for what Dallas has recently created.…
Jun 19, 2014
The second day of the NewCities Summit was filled with activity. Thousands of tweets were exchanged during the various panel discussions. A young app developer, inspired by his house burning down, presented a sharing app that, by popular of Summit participant votes, nabbed the New Cities Foundation’s coveted AppMyCity! prize. Later, six mayors, hailing from…
Jun 18, 2014
Welcome to Big D, NewCities! Dallas rolled out what has become its signature, wide-armed welcome for the opening day of the NewCities Summit – the NewCities’ third gathering following last year’s wonderful experience in São Paulo, and two years after its debut in Paris. This year, for its first foray in the United States, the…
Jun 16, 2014
By 2050, more than 70 percent of world’s population is expected to live in cities. Swelling urban populations combined with aging infrastructure and tightening budgets are putting more pressure than ever on municipal leaders to ensure that resources are maximized. Indeed, the indisputable trend of urbanization is presenting a unique set of challenges – as…
