flâneur

Travis Gilbert

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on the atlas — 32

highlights — 55

  • Indeed, the philosophical shift signaled by the new plan, with its emphasis on wind and rain and birds and bees rather than data and more data, seems like a pragmatic response to the demands of the present moment and the near future.
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • Sure, the tech industry has made life more productive over the past two decades, but has it made it better?
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • Renderings of the new plans for Quayside—call it Quayside 2.0—released earlier this year show trees and greenery sprouting from every possible balcony and outcropping, with nary an autonomous vehicle or drone in site
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • “There was a hubris to the way that they thought that they could solve all the problems in house,” says the MaRS Discovery District’s Ryan, whose job is to promote “innovation for the benefit of all.”
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • New York and Rome and Cairo (and Toronto) are not great cities because they’re efficient: people are attracted to the messiness, to the compelling and serendipitous interactions within a wildly diverse mix of people living in close proximity. But proponents of the smart city embraced instead the idea of the city as something to be quantified and controlled.
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • Critics say it tends to overlook the importance of human beings in the quest for technological solutions. Even when the architectural renderings were fabulous, the idea of the smart city has always had problems. The phrase itself suggests that existing cities are lacking in brain power, even though they have—throughout human history—been incubators for culture, ideas, and intellect.
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • In the US it’s life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” says Alex Ryan, a senior vice president of partnership solutions for the MaRS Discovery District, a Toronto nonprofit founded by a consortium of public and private funders and billed as North America’s largest urban innovation hub. “In Canada it’s peace, order, and good government. Canadians don’t expect the private sector to come in and save us from government, because we have high trust in government.” With its very top-down approach, Sidewalk failed to comprehend Toronto’s civic culture. Almost every person I spoke with about the …
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • Instead, Sidewalk Labs’ two-and-a-half-year struggle to build a neighborhood “from the internet up” failed to make the case for why anyone might want to live in it.
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • But controversy ensued almost from the moment in October 2017 that Waterfront Toronto, a governmental agency overseeing the redevelopment of 2,000 acres along the lake shore, announced that Sidewalk had submitted the winning proposal. Sidewalk’s big idea was flashy new tech. This unassuming section of Toronto was going to become a hub for an optimized urban experience featuring robo-taxis, heated sidewalks, autonomous garbage collection, and an extensive digital layer to monitor everything from street crossings to park bench usage.
    Pocket - Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
  • Halfway through Invisible Cities, Kublai Khan remarks to Marco Polo that he has described many cities but never his home town.
    The Future of Cities | The Walrus
  • Looking back, the first wave of urban migration took place in what are today’s more developed countries, especially in Europe and North America.
    Urbanization and the Megacity - World Population
  • His method of analytically breaking down problems into smaller components, and solving and organizing them in a logical fashion has become an essential characteristic of modern scientific thought.
    An Introduction to Complexity Theory | by Jun Park | Medium
  • How do street network configurations organize and order urban space in cities around the world?
    Urban spatial order: street network orientation, configuration, and entropy | Applied Network Science | Full Text
  • ith roughly a million people moving into cities every 24 hours worldwide.
    History of the city
  • For each of the freemen who came to settle the new colony, Oglethorpe awarded 50 acres of land. This included a house lot in the city of Savannah, a five-acre garden lot outside of the city, and a 45-acre farm lot beyond the garden lots. The colonists usually lived on the city lot, thereby taking advantage of the safety of the city, and they worked their garden and farm lots for food and other resources.
    Oglethorpe and Savannah’s City Plan – Georgia Historical Society
  • The plan was important militarily because it would make the city easier to defend from the Spanish to the south and against potentially hostile Indians. Oglethorpe laid out the city around a series of squares and laid out the streets in a grid pattern. Each square had a small community of colonists living around it and had separate lots dedicated to community buildings
    Oglethorpe and Savannah’s City Plan – Georgia Historical Society
  • The historical record is not entirely clear on who designed Savannah’s city plan and what inspired it, but it is clear that Oglethorpe led the effort to take the design from plan to reality.
    Oglethorpe and Savannah’s City Plan – Georgia Historical Society
  • Throughout history, people have been drawn to cities as centers of trade, culture, education, and economic opportunity, but the resulting urban population growth has not always been steady. Indeed, urbanization is a relatively recent phenomenon; until recent years, the vast majority of people lived in rural areas. For instance, more than 90 percent of the global population lived in rural areas in 1800 C.E. The United States Census Bureau indicates that more than 94 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas in 1800; by 1900, this number had dropped to 60 percent.
    The History of Cities | National Geographic Society
  • Consider, for example, the following catechism by George Heilmeier—a former director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), who also engineered the liquid crystal displays (LCDs) that are part of modern-day visual technologies. His approach to innovation is to employ a checklist-like template suitable for a project with well-defined goals and customers. What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon. How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice? What’s new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?…
    The Three Essential Properties of the Engineering Mind-Set
  • Most operating system shells are not direct interfaces to the underlying kernel, even if a shell communicates with the user via peripheral devices attached to the computer directly. Shells are actually special applications that use the kernel API in just the same way as it is used by other application programs. A shell manages the user– system interaction by prompting users for input, interpreting their input, and then handling output from the underlying operating system (much like a read–eval–print loop, REPL).[3] Since the operating system shell is actually an application, it may easily be r…
    Shell (computing)
  • In computing, a shell is a computer program which exposes an operating system's services to a human user or other programs. In general, operating system shells use either a command-line interface (CLI) or graphical user interface (GUI), depending on a computer's role and particular operation. It is named a shell because it is the outermost layer around the operating system.[1][2]
    Shell (computing)
  • Throughout 1956, most members of the lab were assembling and tuning the equipment, and "pure scientists" Hoerni and Noyce carried out individual applied research.[20] Shockley refused to hire technical staff, believing that his scientists should be able to handle all technological processes.
    Traitorous eight
  • In 1974, General Motors gave the institute a directive to cut the program by a third, which meant reducing the student body by 1,000 students. That was the writing on the wall about GM’s involvement with GMI, Noonan said. By 1981, a GM task force recommended the company drop GMI within two years. Although there were ideas to phase out GMI or transition it into either the University of Michigan or Michigan State University, GMI President William B. Cottingham and Trustee William McKinnon made a presentation to GM leaders to make the institution its own school. General Motors Vice President Davi…
    1919 to 2019: The Evolution of Kettering University
  • If by “ghetto” you mean the poorest portion of a US city and you realize that those areas are to the southeast, the simplest explanations are wind direction and water flow. Wind direction: because the winds we experience poleward of 30° N are “Westerlies” - both from the southwest and the northwest - eastern sections of most cities are “downwind” of the rest of the city. So what, you say? Well, consider a city with no indoor toilets, no sewage system, thousands of horses for hauling everything, coal-fired factories and trains belching forth noxious fumes, and hundreds of plants both large and …
    Why is the north and west side of cities typically the 'good' side of town (more affluent, less crime, or fewer minorities) while the east and south are the 'bad' side? - Quora
  • Brad, as always an astute analysis. I'd also offer a couple of additional ideas for consideration - 1) there are parts of East Baltimore that are equally impoverished. With the collapse of the industrial economy, working class communities on both sides of town were significantly affected. However, the east side has 2) - water! With the collapse of manufacturing, the waterfront that had been a working waterfront became an attractive amenity - Fells Point, Canton, etc. and the spillover effect for a couple of blocks beyond has improved communities that are 'waterfront adjacent' West Baltimore do…
    In most cities (due to wind patterns) the east side is poorer and the west side is nicer. How did Baltimore end up with a west side that is more impoverished than anywhere else in the city? - Quora
  • Like the others, I have doubts about your meteorological theory of poverty. But I do know some history of west Baltimore that could be helpful. While many Baltimore neighborhoods are economically stressed (due to broader patterns of suburbanization, white flight, and deindustrialization) there are two major historical factors that are unique to West Baltimore in particular: 1. Blockbusting. Blockbusting was a predatory form of real estate investing that took advantage of racial bias in segregated neighborhoods. As detailed in Ed Orser's excellent book, "Blockbusting in Baltimore", in the 1950s…
    In most cities (due to wind patterns) the east side is poorer and the west side is nicer. How did Baltimore end up with a west side that is more impoverished than anywhere else in the city? - Quora
  • I agree with Steve. I think there are multiple issues with your question. First of all, I am fairly sure that wind patterns have nothing to do with which areas of a city are nicer/more well-off. I think that terrain features, employers, and cultural attractions are far more important than wind patterns. You see this in Baltimore and elsewhere. Let's take "elsewhere" as an example first. I'd like to use Salt Lake City as my example, because I am reasonably familiar with it and because it is a good counterexample to your theory. The nicer areas are primarily on the east side of SLC. The not as n…
    In most cities (due to wind patterns) the east side is poorer and the west side is nicer. How did Baltimore end up with a west side that is more impoverished than anywhere else in the city? - Quora
  • “East Side” Manhattan has always been considered a more “wealthy -upscale” side of than the “West Side” - - -after all it was not named “East Side Story”.
    Why do the west sides of cities tend to be more affluent than the east sides? - Quora
  • The only way this could be true would be sheer coincidence - and it's just not true. In general terms, the most salubrious part of a city will be one closest to its specific amenities/features and/or furtherest away from its less appealing parts. The affluent parts of Melbourne and Sydney, for example, are among the most expensive real estate now in the world, and are both located squarely in the Eastern parts of each city. In both cases, proximity to the coast/beaches played a big role (both being on the East coast of Australia).
    Why do the west sides of cities tend to be more affluent than the east sides? - Quora
  • Meanwhile Singapore's earliest docks (Keppel & Tanjong Pagar_) don't have much housing - being in the downtown, the government moved the people out to suburban areas (to free up more downtown land for commerce/business purposes I think), except for a few that were re-housed in the handful of downtown public housing mixed-used developments (e.g. Chinatown/ _Hong Lim / Tanjong Pagar Complex), but in the 21st century we're seen a return of downtown housing, though typically quite expensive e.g. Wallich (formerly Clearmont) Residence, Icon, The Sail. The newer docks of Brani & Pasir Panjang don't …
    Why The East Sides of Cities Are Poorer Than The West - Cheddar Explains - YouTube
  • This makes sense in Rotterdam, Netherlands I think. East is rich, west is poor. The river flows from east to west. Thanks!
    Why The East Sides of Cities Are Poorer Than The West - Cheddar Explains - YouTube
  • I suspect there are as many exceptions as there are cities that fit the rule. Often the poorest part of cities grew up around the docks, and the docks tended to be downstream of the city. Industry located close to the docks which gave the bonus of waste flowing downstream and away from a city. I suspect sewage and waste flowing from London along the Thames made Richmond more desirable than Barking a long, long time before the first chimney.
    Why The East Sides of Cities Are Poorer Than The West - Cheddar Explains - YouTube
  • as prevailing winds in the U.S. and Europe typically blow from west to east.
    The incredible reason east sides of cities are poorer than west sides - MarketWatch
  • The east sides of New York, London and Paris are noticeably and famously poorer than their western sides. And it turns out there’s a reason for that.
    The incredible reason east sides of cities are poorer than west sides - MarketWatch
  • converting knowledge into action,
    URP 500 Planning Theory (Campbell): Exam Study Guide
  • What is the difference between substantive and procedural planning theory? Substantive theory focuses on the substance/subject of urban planning: e.g., on city form, design, layout, on what makes a good city, etc. (influenced by architecture, landscape architecture, geography, etc.). Procedural planning theory focuses on planning as a process (of decision-making, of community participation, of converting knowledge into action, of the challenges of plan implementation; etc.) You might consider the difference in how you read the phrase “urban planning” -- is your emphasis on the “urban” or the “…
    URP 500 Planning Theory (Campbell): Exam Study Guide
  • I know this for sure to be true in: Moscow, Buenos Aires, New York, New Orleans and am fairly confident that this was true in every city that experienced growth and development during the 19th century.
    Why do the west sides of cities tend to be more affluent than the east sides? - Quora
  • Now, London is they only city (that I can think of), where the wealthy suburbs were on the west side, and this was because of wind tended to blow factory pollutants away from the west, thus this was the area with the best air quality. However, every other city that came of age developed in a similar way, ie the wealthy were choosing suburbs with the best air quality.
    Why do the west sides of cities tend to be more affluent than the east sides? - Quora
  • In the late 19th century the wealthy always aimed to settle in areas that were far from disamenities- including, but not limited too: factories, ports, railways, markets, canning, meatpacking, and tanning facilities- anything that: Produced a lot of noise and unpleasant odors Attracted large crowds of uncouth people
    Why do the west sides of cities tend to be more affluent than the east sides? - Quora
  • For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it.
    How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates
  • The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex. The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones.
    How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates
  • Congressman Dan Kildee announced a $1 million federal grant to Genesee County in partnership with the City of Flint, to restore the Flint River Riverfront.
    City of Flint to receive grants for policing, mental health, riverfront restoration - Flint Beat
  • The ReCAST program in Flint is intended to “assist high-risk youth and families in the City of Flint impacted by the Flint Water Emergency,” and promote resilience and equity.
    City of Flint to receive grants for policing, mental health, riverfront restoration - Flint Beat
  • The City of Flint also received a Resiliency in Communities after Stress and Trauma (ReCAST) grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) out of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This grant is in the amount of $1 million, and is renewable for up to four years, for a total of $5 million, according to the grant resolution document.
    City of Flint to receive grants for policing, mental health, riverfront restoration - Flint Beat
  • One June 22, 2020, the Flint City Council voted to enter a three-year agreement with Rehmann Robson, an auditing firm, to complete the ACFR. According to the resolution, the purpose of this report is to be “transparent about the use of taxpayers’ money, and to give the public a detailed accounting of all expenditures.”
    City of Flint to receive grants for policing, mental health, riverfront restoration - Flint Beat
  • riverfront restoration.
    City of Flint to receive grants for policing, mental health, riverfront restoration - Flint Beat
  • Economics is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth in human society,
    What Is Economics?
  • It is almost like there is some universal law of nature that dictates that the more fractal, the more fine grained, the more edged and bordered a habitat is, the more diverse and the more of a wealth of life it can afford to harbor. A sort of glorious living version of the Coastline Paradox1.
    The City as an Eco System - WrathOfGnon’s Newsletter
  • 40 Downtown Flint Gameplan There is more than enough parking Downtown for the current demand. However, there is a shortage of predictably-accessible, appealing, and public parking space. Existing parking must be made easier to find, more predictably available, and more welcoming to use. Strategic pricing and policy changes can help incentivize use of currently available parking. Flexible space must be planned for future parking to account for new demand
    Final_Version_Flint_DDA_Plan_Condensed.pdf
  • Based upon data from the University of Michigan Flint Department of Public Safety and the City of Flint Police Department, the planning team mapped the reported Downtown Crime from February of 2017-February 2018. For each quarter of the year, the team mapped addresses in Figure 3 where multiple crimes were reported in an attempt to identify patterns or “hotspots” that can influence future planning. The resulting diagram depicts both violent and non-violent reported crimes in groupings by number of reported incidents. The analysis yields the following insights: ƒ The southeast quarter of Downto…
    Final_Version_Flint_DDA_Plan_Condensed.pdf