TOPIC: CITIES (31)
Dear City
http://dearcity.orgDear City is a simple concept allowing a citizen to leave (anonymous) messages to the city he or she lives in. This web-based framework creates a social cluster of opinions that express the thoughts of the man on the street. Dear City becomes a documentation of contemporary life and its ups and downs. We believe change is achieved through all levels of communication.
Partners for Livable Communities
http://livable.org/Partners for Livable Communities is a national nonprofit organization working to restore and renew the communities we work and live in. Partners has over thirty years of experience in solving community problems by providing information, leadership and guidance that help communities help themselves. We welcome the opportunity to bring our experience to your community.
New Urbanism
http://www.newurbanism.orgNEW URBANISM promotes the creation and restoration of diverse, walkable, compact, vibrant, mixed-use communities composed of the same components as conventional development, but assembled in a more integrated fashion, in the form of complete communities.
Citizinvestor
http://www.citizinvestor.comCitizinvestor allows citizens to invest in the local government projects they care about most.
Local governments submit pre-approved projects to citizinvestor.com. The cost of the project has already been set and department approved, the only thing lacking is the funding. Citizens then find the projects they care about most and invest financially in those projects. Once a project is 100% pledged, the project is built! Citizens don’t pay a dime unless the project is funded in full. This ensures that there’s little risk to the local government entity and little risk to the citizen.
CNU
http://www.cnu.org/The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the leading organization promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.
Walkonomics
http://www.walkonomics.comWalkonomics aims to rate the pedestrian-friendliness of every street in the world. By enabling ordinary people and local communities to add a rating of any street, it is hoped that a realistic walkability score will be created for each street. Where available, public datasets are also used to add ratings and provide more quantitative reviews. By harnessing the power of 'crowd-sourcing', social media and open data, Walkonomics aims to become a self-organising system where users correct any inaccuracies or errors in street reviews.
In addition to this, Walkonomics also provides an interactive online space, where local people, government and business can suggest, discuss and create walkability improvements for our streets, neighbourhoods and cities.
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)
http://www.icic.orgThe Initiative for a Competitive Inner City is a nonprofit research and strategy organization and the leading authority on U.S. inner city economies and the businesses that thrive there. Founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, ICIC strengthens inner city economies by providing businesses, governments and investors with the most comprehensive and actionable information in the field about urban market opportunities.
Beacon Food Forest
http://www.beaconfoodforest.orgA Food Forest is a gardening technique or land management system that mimics a woodland ecosystem but substitutes in edible trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Fruit and nut trees are the upper level, while below are berry shrubs, edible perennials and annuals. Companions or beneficial plants are included to attract insects for natural pest management while some plants are soil amenders providing nitrogen and mulch. Together they create relationships to form a forest garden ecosystem able to produce high yields of food with less maintenance.
Urban Life International
http://www.ulicanada.org/Urban Life International is an independent research training organization with the desire to foment a better understanding and response to the urban challenge. The urban challenge has been described as the need to transform concrete and steel into communities of health and hope. The people who live in cities are caught in-between segregation and integration, diversity and distinction, and density and privacy. Their quality of life is determined in how they respond to these challenges.
Stereopublic
http://www.stereopublic.netStereopublic: crowdsourcing the quiet is a participatory art project that asks you to navigate your city for quiet spaces, share them with your social networks, take audio and visual snapshots, experience audio tours and request original compositions made using your recordings.
Neighborland
https://neighborland.comOn Neighborland you can share your ideas and insights for your city, support your neighbors’ ideas, and connect with people who share your interests. We are providing residents, neighborhood organizations, economic development groups, and municipalities with a powerfully simple platform to connect and make good things happen.
Urban Observatory
http://www.urbanobservatory.orgRichard Saul Wurman, Radical Media, and Esri bring you the Urban Observatory—a live museum with a data pulse. You'll have access to rich datasets for cities around the world that let you simultaneously view answers to the most important questions impacting today's global cities—and you. Compare and contrast visualized information for a greater understanding of life in the 21st century.
Sustainable Cities International
http://sustainablecities.net/Founded in 1993, Sustainable Cities International is a registered not-for-profit organization based in Vancouver, Canada. Our mission is to co-create with cities around the world, to catalyze action on urban sustainability. We are a think-tank and a do-tank!
The Urban Etiquette Project
http://urbanetiquetteproject.blogspot.caThe Urban Etiquette Project is set of downloadable, printable cards designed to start a conversation about manners, civility and public etiquette in the urban sphere. The project offers cards to point out unfavourable behaviour, as well as citations for acknowledging random acts of kindness.
PARK(ing) Day
http://parkingday.orgPARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.
