“The real class conflict today, is not the one predicted between a few billionaires and the rest of the [workers]. No, the real class conflict in developing countries is between those with cars and the rest of society….A bicycle lane is a powerful symbol of equality. It shows that a citizen on a $30 bicycle is equally important to one in a $30,000 car” – Enrique Peñalosa
http://thecityfix.com/blog/film-reveals-bogotas-urban-transformation/
Why did cities freeze in the 1970s?
http://jakeseliger.com/2015/12/27/why-did-cities-freeze-in-the-1970s/
“The Rent Is Too Damn High: What To Do About It, And Why It Matters More Than You Think”
By Matthew Yglesias
“…Which brings us back to San Francisco. If memories and functions can flow seamlessly across devices, people, and artefacts, then why can’t we consider an entire city to be a kind of genius? Like the brain, it is using stored information and solving problems. Chief among these is how people can stay alive, and even flourish, under high geographic density. This is a considerable challenge, and one that the city itself solves—in fact, the larger the city, the better it seems to solve its own problems. ”
“…Perhaps increasing the number of technologies, people, and level of communication in a city benefits intelligence in the same way that a larger number of neurons makes possible the great intelligence of human beings.”
“If people are to cities as neurons are to brains, and cities (unlike brains) do not have any known limit to their size, then gigantic cities of the future might produce innovations on a scale that wouldn’t be possible for the cities of today. Faced with pollution, disease, and scarcity, should we be looking to creative environments rather than to individual innovators? Where will we turn to find solutions to the pressing problems of the 21st century? ”
— Jim Davies is an associate professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science at Carleton University in Ottawa, where he is director of the Science of Imagination Laboratory
http://nautil.us/issue/18/genius/san-francisco-is-smarter-than-you-are
“Technology makes the easy things easy and makes the hard things possible.”
“The [BlightStatus] app proposes a new kind of more productive communication between the two groups that moves past angry and frustrated citizens on one end and a paralyzed city on the other.”
“You can sit around and complain about how the city works, you can complain about how your government works, or you can commit to being a change-maker. You can commit to making a difference, and you can get involved.”
https://medium.com/civic-technology/changing-the-frame-from-social-innovation-to-civic-startups-e8ee09c05a91
Deferred in the ‘Burbs
“It’s a City that keeps changing, not a museum for one’s own personal nostalgia.”
“…Now it seems, we are going Medici. Reduce public support, create huge pots of wealth, with reduced tax burden. Then those folks who’ve got increased cash because of reduced tax burden hand out cash to medicine and the arts and poor folk…and they are considered philanthropists.”
http://abeastinajungle.com/sf-election-results/
“These Cities Of The Future Would Be Built Entirely Of Bamboo –
Concrete and glass skyscrapers are so 20th century. “
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3052975/these-cities-of-the-future-would-be-built-entirely-of-bamboo
“Given the choice, the market almost never votes for the building, the monument or the civic development it ends up being so proud of a generation later.”
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/11/the-giant-pander.html
“If all we’re doing with these technologies is finding a quicker way to fix potholes and ignoring the hard issues, we’re not really affecting anything,” he said. “Cities are about those core issues — education, healthcare and safer, better streets. All these point-and-click mechanisms should be aiming to build trust, build networks and really take on the tough problems.”
“For starters, translating the tech-speak of Coders for America into the bureaucratese of civil servants and straining that into the do-gooder language of foundations and environmentalists takes time.”
“Further, investment for social good is miniscule compared to the funds being poured into for-profit technologies by the likes of Google, Facebook and IBM. This space is dominated not by the lords of venture capital but by tinkerers and tech geeks, environmentalists, civil servants and Coders for America. Lastly, innovation is a messy, fits-and-starts business. To keep moving forward, officials and developers mustn’t “get addicted to the quick win,” as Jen Pahlka puts it. Building extensive networks that improve planning and city services, particularly in disadvantaged communities, takes time — and failure. Much of what we’re seeing now is fast, cheap and minimally useful.”
https://nextcity.org/features/view/when-were-all-urban-planners