June 2011
78 posts
Watchphotourbanism:
A short tribute to the person sitting next to you on the plane…
New Chinese Cities = Ghost Towns - or not? Two... →
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WatchCharles Leaderbeater’s 2005 TED Talk on innovation still packs a punch.
Given Leadbeater is presently visiting Australia, I was reminded to take another look at his talk. Here are some of the ideas I took away from his talk:
Big organisations [resist innovation as they] reinforce past success.
The past has been about a tension between large “closed” organisations, and emerging...
WatchWhat is Social Innovation?
Here’s an animation from Social Innovation Exchange that provides a perspective. (via About Six - Core Partners | SIX)
Australian Social Innovation eXchange (ASIX)uses this definition:
“Social innovation refers to new strategies, concepts, ideas and organizations that meet social needs of all kinds - from working conditions and education to community...
Remixing Cities →
Charles Leadbeater says that:
“Cities innovate when people mix and mingle, sharing and combining ideas from different vantage points and traditions. That mixing takes place on shared infrastructures and in shared spaces that bring people together…”
Interesting reflections on co-creation and innovation and the potential to transform our cities through the engagement of...
Urban EcoMap →
Urban EcoMap is an interactive decision space that empowers individual citizens to make informed decisions about their daily lives, along with how to participate in the vitality of their communities. We aim to build awareness, fostering a sense of community, and provide actions for citizens to take to enable the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in cities.
I’d like to see more cities on...
Yes, That’s a nice Urban Data Visualization. So... →
For us ‘ownership’ is about bringing about a sense of engagement with urban life and providing citizens with opportunities to (collaboratively) act. How can we design or employ digital media in such a way that they may contribute to such a sense of ‘ownership’?
I’ve often talked about the city as a platform for people to interact. Here Mobile City talks about the city as a platform for data...
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Architecture by Lego - Falling Water →
Yep, you too can build Falling Water, brick by brick. And once the house is completed, sections of the model slide out.
Hmm…I’d like to see textured sandstone Lego blocks to really help convey the materiality of the architecture.
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The Importance of Corners →
Having just finished watching all five seasons of The Wire - all the action happens on the corners.
In this article Charles Wolfe explores the corner as a place of intensive activity and inspiration, and the association with commercial activities such as a corner store, or, as per The Wire, a clutch of hoppers plying their trade.
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Rebranding Newcastle →
Nice one.
Newcastle has a new brand, reflecting its emerging creative and youthful energy emerging out of the Renew Newcastle program and the hard work of the super smart Marcus Westbury.
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Swapping to Collaborative Consumption →
And more on swapping and bartering - building on the concepts of Collaborative Consumption via Pop-Up City.
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Walking the Edit →
“Walking the Edit is an innovative system to “walk a movie” : your recorded walk will be translated into a movie through our iPhone app’.”
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Collaborative Consumption →
Rachel Botsman’s Collaborative Consumption movement gets a run at Grist and in Fast Company.
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Cool Jobs →
John Tolva’s old job looked pretty interesting. But his new role making a difference as Chief Technology Officer for Chicago of Chicago is indeed an honourable job.
John Tolva was the Director of Citizenship & Technology for IBM. He was responsible for developing new social, educational, environmental, and cultural heritage projects that use innovative technologies in partnership...
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Communities Defining Own Districts →
The definition and boundaries of districts is something I’ve often thought about.
In Sydney, it’s not uncommon for council boundaries to straddle main streets - think King Street, Newtown (with Sydney City Council on one side, and Marrickville Council on the other), and think Oxford Street, Paddington (with Sydney City Council on one side, and Woollhara on the other) - which leads to...
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Mind the map! The impact of transit maps on... →
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On Creating Shared Value →
Michael Sadowski, Vice President, SustainAbility writes:
CSV (Creating Shared Value) is an appealing framework because of its apparent simplicity (“society wins when we win”), yet this may lure us into believing that companies won’t have to make value judgments in addressing thorny issues. As SustainAbility’s Board member Peter Zollinger pointed out, “the risk: we fool ourselves into...
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Cities of Opportunity - Sydney Rates Fifth →
PWC have launched their fourth edition of their cities index. With a rich array of criteria, the reader can slice and dice data to and explore cities’ performance against specific indicators.
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Watch“If you believe in yourself, you will know how to ride a bike.”
- From a young boy who has just ridden a bike for the very first time.
Nothing quite like that moment.
And channeling the passion of Jens Voigt.
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Social Intrapreneurs →
I like the idea of being a social intrapreneur: working from the inside, attempting to effect social and environmental change for the better. But isn’t that what most employees aim to do? Isn’t this what we mean when we talk about “meaningful work” and engaged workforces?
via SustainAbility
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‘The Gherkin’
urbanised:
The iconic City office tower is now high-rise housing. Originally converted into luxury flats, the block soon slid down the social scale to become a high-density, multi-occupation tower block. The Gherkin now worries the authorities as a potential slum.
Refugees from equatorial lands have moved north in search of food. They make their homes in the buildings that once drove world...
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CITY BREATHS: Smart cities should be open-source,... →
citybreaths:
The urbanization of intelligent technologies PlanIT Valley, Portugal McKinsey & Company recently published an article by Saskia Sassen, in which she writes about the current hype around smart cities. She reminds planners and scientists what it is all about: “It is the need to…
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WatchFrontlineSMS was a finalist for the 2011 Buckminster Fuller Challenge and shows how simple mobile phone technology can change lives for the better in remote communities and developing countries.
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is an annual international design Challenge awarding $100,000 to support the development and implementation of a strategy that has significant potential to solve ...
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WatchJim Gilliam on sharing and how the internet transforms how we live.
Moving.
Inspiring.
via BoingBoing
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Listening to be a Better Business; Control is not... →
Richard Binhammer from Dell spoke at last week’s Amplify Festival in Sydney on the potential of social media in today’s corporations - and the opportunity to listen, learn, engage and act with communities.
And congratulations to AMP on hosting an impressive festival, principally designed to engage and inspire employees - as well as being open to the public.
Other speakers included...
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Iceland is Crowdsourcing its Constitution →
Social media and tools like wikis have a powerful role in engaging communities in shaping shared goals for the future. City of Melbourne used a wiki to prepare its most recent plan, Future Melbourne.
