Category: Government

What Government Data Should be Transparent?

At an event I attended in March, Massachusetts’ Chief Information Officer Ann Marguiles raised a simple yet profound issue. Although they’re committed to open data, the Commonwealth was still to figure out which datasets to post online through their new data portal mass.gov/data. Plenty of transparency advocates would say the answer should be “all of […]

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Urban Planning as Computer Game in Boston’s Chinatown

Computer games like Sim City and Grand Theft Auto feature expansive, photorealistic urban environments and compelling storylines that engross players for hours. In contrast, public meetings about planning issues feature dry, technical information presented through static presentations and reports. It’s little wonder these meetings generally attract the “usual suspects,” with the skills and patience to […]

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Social Media in Urban Planning

On Monday I participated in a presentation on Social Media in Planning at the American Planning Association’s annual convention in New Orleans. At the session, my co-presenters and I discussed example projects spanning community-based planning, transportation, and professional development. Afterwards, the attendees broke into small groups to discuss their own experience and thoughts about using […]

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Engaging Community … Through Technology

This semester at MIT I am taking a class titled “Engaging Community: Models and Methods for Designers and Planners.” It is co-taught by Ceasar McDowell, and Anne Spirn. The course is organized around several “approaches” to working with communities: advocacy, participatory design, consensus building, community organizing, and capacity and knowledge building. Many of the class […]

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RSVP Now for Government 2.0 Camp New England

Registration just opened for Gov 2.0 Camp New England, a one-day unconference I’m helping to plan. It will be held Saturday, March 6th at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Harvard Square. The others involved in planning are Yasmin Fodil (KSG), Laurel Ruma (O’Reilly Media) and Sarah Bourne and Jessica Weiss (Commonwealth of MA). […]

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