Apr 17, 2014
Is the urban economy the same as the sharing economy? How is the collaborative economy affecting the way we live, work, move and create in cities? Does it have the same meaning in European and American cities? These are some of the ideas discussed in our latest monthly New Cities Summit 2014 Tweet chat. Our…
Apr 17, 2014
Why are art and culture so necessary for a city? Who should pay for it? How can festivals, carnivals and other cultural projects help transform or re-imagine a city? These were some of the questions discussed in our latest monthly NewCities Summit 2014 Tweet chat. Our “Re-imagining Cities through Art & Culture” Tweet chat was…
Mar 25, 2014
A lot of hard work and conviction helped us reach the success we now have, one year after launching Colab.re in March 2013. Looking back, it’s amazing to see that our central idea of creating better cities for citizens, with citizens, is increasingly becoming a reality. When we began our research during the 2012 municipal…
Mar 21, 2014
When people think about smart cities, they usually think about futuristic infrastructures and buildings that automatically adapt to citizens’ needs. Yet I would argue that the most important urban infrastructures are related to mobility, since without it, we wouldn’t be able to move around, goods wouldn’t be delivered, and the city would grind to a…
Mar 17, 2014
Data-backed decisions in our day-to-day lives are becoming more common and are helping us confidently make decisions to improve our lives. Real-time traffic lets us know the best route to take, or suggests we run that errand later so we ultimately don’t waste time, gas… and patience. Apps like Gas Buddy tell us of local…
Mar 13, 2014
We have come a long way since we officially launched PublicStuff in 2010. We strongly believe that collaboration and transparency are the key ingredients for an efficient government, and we have worked hard over the last few years to spread this belief to local governments across the US. As civic leaders learn more about the…
Mar 07, 2014
Public space is a powerful emblem of the urban world, because it units people, ideas and actions with a territory. Parks, city centers and friendly pedestrian streets are the spaces where the rich and the poor, the young and the old can interact. Thus, if we want to have a right to the city, we…
Mar 03, 2014
Tony Hsieh is the Zelig of downtown Las Vegas. Although he ostensibly still runs Zappos, the online shoe and clothing retailer he sold to Amazon in 2009 for nearly a billion dollars, visitors invariably stumble across him hanging out in the courtyard of Zappos’ new headquarters or at one of the many downtown bars he…
Feb 27, 2014
The nation’s road system is vital to U.S. urban areas. Roughly 75 percent of goods, based on value, are transported on roads by truck, 93 percent of workers’ commutes are on roads by private automobiles and public buses, and by far the largest share of non-work and pleasure trips are taken by road. Unfortunately, the…
Feb 26, 2014
New digital technologies are transforming why, where, when, and how people travel to their destinations. In recent years, these technologies have turned transportation from a physical infrastructure business into an information and informatics-based activity. Despite solving issues in some regards, this shift is introducing a number of new challenges for transportation planners, who need a…
Feb 24, 2014
In the last fifteen years, notable developments have occurred within urban mobility and sustainable transportation in the United States and abroad. Owning an SUV is no longer a key element in achieving the American Dream. Paradoxically, being car-free or car-light is becoming more commonplace. Today, every major automobile manufacturer is producing compact electric vehicles (EVs).…
Feb 20, 2014
People do not want to live in cities where the existing mobility models have reached their limits. We are yet to find smart mobility solutions, however, that truly tackle the underlying issue of urban growth versus congestion. True smart mobility goes far beyond apps that present traffic flow. We need to find solutions that reduce…
