This paper resulted from an interdisciplinary research project at the University of Michigan focused on data sources and techniques for analyzing neighborhood effects on urban health. Here’s the abstract: An established body of research has used secondary data sources (such as proprietary business databases) to demonstrate the importance of the neighborhood food environment for multiple […]
Building Michigan’s Civic Tech Community
When I first heard about the Michigan Citizen Interaction Design project at Michigan’s School of Information, I knew I wanted to collaborate with the people behind it. The project is an experiment in civic technology and engaged learning, and involves teams of SI students working in partnership with the city of Jackson, Michigan to create […]
Announcement Planning & Technology Conference
I’m helping plan this conference at MIT in April. We opened registration and announced the call for papers today. REGISTRATION INFORMATION & CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS AND PAPERS PLANNINGTECH@DUSP 2011 Friday, April 8, 2011 11:30 AM – 6:00 PM Location: MIT Building 9 DESCRIPTION New technologies are transforming how we communicate, expanding access to data and […]
Planetizen Post: ‘A Twitter in the City’
“Will the red-hot microblogging platform Twitter change the way we live in our cities, how we call for help in an emergency, or even help rally a group to topple the city’s government? Or is it a frivolous technology that simply atomizes our thoughts and relationships into 140-character bits?” Read more: A Twitter in the […]
Urban Planning on the Web and Usability
In my master’s final paper I described how to adapt five basic criteria for public participation in urban planning to the Internet. The fifth criteria was information, defined as “provide more information in a clearly understood form, free of distortion and technical jargon.” For providing information over the Internet, the most important concept is usability. […]
Tools for e-Democracy in Urban Planning
My master’s final paper covers the history of public participation in American urban planning, participation theory, and the general approach that should guide using the Internet for urban planning, among other topics. However, it deliberately avoids the subject of what specific Internet tools could be used. This was intentional, as the technology is rapidly evolving. […]
Is PostPoints Worth It?
The Washington Post company recently launched a rewards program called PostPoints. The launch included strange television ads featuring people exchanging anthropomorphized blue point chips for things like pizza. I recently signed up to see how the program worked and whether I too could get some free pizza out of it. Since I am not a […]