Agile urbanism, slow technology and participation
Uncertainty, globalization, technification, liquidity, acceleration…, opportunities, goods, information and capital moving at the speed of light worldwide and around the clock. And a degree of urbanization as never known before, as if the answers to the remarkable challenges posed by all those elements together were circled around a single word: cities.
Jane Jacobs’ predictions about Detroit
Jane Jacobs thought intensely about Detroit. Almost a decade after her death, the shadow of Jane Jacobs keeps growing as architects, urban planners and city makers discover (and worship) her acute understanding of how cities work. We owe Jane Jacobs the exploit of placing humans at the center of urbanism, in a time where cities were...
Cities in globalization. Resilient and open source cities
Western societies, especially in southern Europe, are facing a double crisis: on the one hand, an abrupt economic downturn that, as a consequence of the austerity agenda adopted by the European Union to fight it, has not only been technically aggravated, but has produced the collateral effect of undermining the confidence of the people in their institutions. And cities are prepared and, in some extent they are already performing as such, to be a key actor in this double process of reconstructing our democracies and revitalizing our economies.
10 keys for planning an innovation district
Whereas you are studying the subject of innovation districts, or just interested in how these new districts are launched, implemented and managed, you might find useful a quick review of what we think are 10 important elements to for planning a succesful innovation district. This post was inspired by former seminars within the network of...
New Century Cities workshop. Zaragoza Nov, 8th-10th 2012
From MIT’s web site (adapted): “New Century Cities (NCC) is a joint research initiative among MIT’s Center for Real Estate, City Design and Development in Urban Studies and Planning, and the Smart Cities Group/Media Lab which focuses on a new generation of development projects. These very large-scale projects are...
How-to Wi-Fi your city (in 10 steps)
Wi-Fi must not be the best wireless broadband protocol ever, but it’s the most accesible and used. Ever. Okay. So you work for a city, directly or indirectly, and wonder what it takes to create a consistent, sustainable public Wi-Fi network in your place. You have the responsibility to do it or to promote it. …...
