City SDK | Helping cities open their data and giving developers the tools they need

WELCOME TO CITYSDK

CitySDK is creating a toolkit for the development of digital services within cities. The toolkit comprises of open and interoperable digital service interfaces as well as processes, guidelines and usability standards. CitySDK enables a more efficient utlisation of the expertise and know-how of developer communities to be applied in city service development.

The project is working in the areas of participation, mobility and tourism and has 8 cities across Europe as partners: Helsinki, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Manchester, Lamia, Istanbul, Lisbon and Rome.

If you are a city interested in the approach we are taking and would be interested in the interface and toolkit and if you are a developer looking to develop Apps that work in different European cities then get in touch.

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Through trial and error, 'smart cities' are slowly getting smarter

“The ‘smart city’ concept has existed for several years, but only now, with some trial and error, are we seeing the real fruits of these efforts coming to light. While the ambitions of Masdar City have been scaled back somewhat, Amsterdam is forging ahead, piloting a number of schemes to introduce smart technology to the way energy and other resources are managed within the city.”

More on Global Urbanist

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plantedcity:

surp:

The Nature of Cities explores both the nature in are own backyards - Austin and San Diego and the possibilities in projects of cities of the future - Malmo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Freiburg, Amsterdam and Paris.

The film features Sustainable Communities professor Timothy Beatley as he tours these places with City Planners, Landscape Architects, Ecologists and Residents.

Commentary by Richard Louv (Last Child in the Woods) and Dr. Stephen Kellert (Biophilic Design) provide the background for looking at the living possibilities of how we can be in an urban environment integrated with the nature around us.

60 minutes

Produced by Throughline Productions

There is a review here

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The top 20 urban planning successes of all time

A fascinating post just appeared on the Public Servant Blog:  “The top 20 urban planning successes of all time.”  Written by “L.G.,” the list includes the following:

  1. Amsterdam, Netherlands
  2. Billerica Garden Suburb, Massachusetts (“the country’s first garden suburb designed specifically for workers”)
  3. Camden Town, London (“There is no one age group, race, gender or socio-economic group that outnumbers another”)
  4. Chicago Boulevard System
  5. Eugene, Oregon (“plans to be carbon neutral with no waste by 2020”)
  6. Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri
  7. Granville Island, Vancouver (“possibly the most successful urban redevelopment ever seen in North America”)
  8. Greensburg Sustainable Comprehensive Plan
  9. High Line
  10. Lijnbaan in Rotterdam (“the first purpose-built pedestrian street”)  
  11. Lower Garden District, New Orleans (“vehicles do not dominate this neighborhood”)
  12. Marimont, Ohio (“charming historic architecture, lush foliage, award-winning schools and friendly, community-minded residents”)
  13. Nine Square Plan, New Haven, Connecticut (“following the principles of ideal cities gleaned from the Bible”)
  14. Ponce Center City, Puerto Rico
  15. Sanibel Island, Florida (“nine major ecological zones”)
  16. South Livermore Valley Specific Plan, California (“3,229 acres under permanent agricultural easement”)
  17. Taos, Pueblo, New Mexico (“Possibly one of the earliest high-rise towns”)
  18. The Law of the Indies (“instructions for site selection and the layout and construction of new towns”)
  19. The Miami Valley (Ohio) Region’s Fair Share Housing Plan of 1970 (“the first ‘fair share’ housing plan in the nation”)
  20. The Plan of Philadelphia (“the first large American city to utilize the grid street pattern, to provide dedicated land exclusively for open green public squares”)

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“From the freeways of Los Angeles to the canals of Amsterdam, cities are taking the lead in the fight to reduce carbon output. As world leaders squabble over how to cut greenhouse gases, city hall is becoming the best hope for climate action. Given their smaller jurisdictions, local officials can green-light eco-projects faster than nationwide schemes can be implemented. “We’re not going to wait for national politicians, we’re acting right now,” says Toronto Mayor David Miller, who plans to invest more than $1 billion in public transport and eco-friendly air-conditioning systems for buildings by 2017.”

Fighting Carbon Emissions: Cities Take the Lead - BusinessWeek

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Finding parking space within a parking garage

Having trouble to find a parking space within a parking garage?

Especialy in dark or undergound garage, it hard to find a free space for your car.

Would it be nice to escort by a light path of led`s right to the free space. This will save time, full, money and less polution in the air.

This al can be done by led`s, sensors and rfid.

Another advantage is that you, once parked, can tag this space on your mobil to find you car back.

All can be done with less power consuption using solars panels outside the building because the led`s do not consume much

City Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

(but could be everywhere in the world in a growded city)

#gdchallenge Ed Landman

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“A great city, as Rene Descartes wrote of 17th century Amsterdam, should be “an inventory of the possible,” a place of imagination that attracts ambitious migrants, families and entrepreneurs.
 ”

http://www.newgeography.com/content/00957-why-the-livable-cities-rankings-are-wrong (via vanessafabiano)

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“Ubicomp [ubiquitous computing] isn’t just part of our cities of the future. Its devices and services are already here. Think of the use of prepaid smart cards for use of public transport or the tags displayed in our cars to help regulate congestion charge pricing or the way in which corporations track and move goods around the world. These systems will expand geometrically over the next decade building the blocks for our future cities. The question is: what will we choose to build? A City of Control or a City of Trust?”

Rob van Kranenburg, Institute of Networked Cultures (via smarterplanet)

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