TOPIC: CITIES (31)

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.com

Walkonomics 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.

Dear City

http://dearcity.org

Dear 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.

Creative Mornings

http://www.creativemornings.com/

CreativeMornings is a monthly breakfast lecture series for creative types held in major cities internationally. Each event is free of charge, and includes a 20 minute talk, plus coffee!

Nextdoor

https://nextdoor.com

Nextdoor is a free and private social network for neighborhoods. On Nextdoor, neighbors create private websites for their neighborhoods where they can ask questions, get to know one another and exchange local advice and recommendations. Nextdoor’s mission is to use the power of technology to create stronger and safer places to call home. The inspiration behind Nextdoor was to give people a social network to connect them to one of the most important communities in their lives - the neighborhood. Nextdoor believes that when neighbors start talking, good things happen.

Citizinvestor

http://www.citizinvestor.com

Citizinvestor 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.

New Urbanism

http://www.newurbanism.org

NEW 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.

Neighborland

https://neighborland.com

On 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.

Pavement to Parks

http://pavementtoparks.org

San Francisco's streets and public rights-of-way make up 25% of the city's land area, more space than all the park area combined. Many of our streets are excessively wide and contain large zones of underutilized space, especially at intersections. San Francisco's "Pavement to Parks" program seeks to temporarily reclaim these unused swathes of land and quickly and inexpensively turn them into new public spaces.

GOOD Ideas for Cities

http://www.good.is/ideas/posts

GOOD Ideas for Cities taps creative problem solvers to tackle real urban challenges and present the solutions at live events across the country.

Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)

http://www.icic.org

The 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.

Chicago Trees Initiative

http://www.chicagotrees.net

The Chicago Trees Initiative is a city-wide, public-private effort to plant, care for and advocate for trees. This means many more trees will be planted in our great city, which is already known for its green urban spaces. And more important, existing trees will have better care – the best strategy for meeting our urban forest canopy goal. Every Chicago resident – and indeed, anyone who cares about trees has an important role to play. The goal invites all of us to be involved in planting and caring for trees on public and private land throughout the city.

Urban Observatory

http://www.urbanobservatory.org

Richard 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.

Outer Urban Projects

http://outerurbanprojects.org

Outer Urban Projects (OUP) is a bold not for profit performing arts organisation that collaborates with young people and their communities in Melbourne’s culturally diverse, artistically starved, ‘hardcore’ outer northern suburbs. OUP specialises in producing and presenting high calibre arts projects that seamlessly combine street, cultural, contemporary and classical forms. OUP is driven by the vibrant cultural mix and stories of the outer northern suburbs and the racial, social and class inequities that challenge our young people.

The Urban Etiquette Project

http://urbanetiquetteproject.blogspot.ca

The 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.