Week 3- Krieger's "Urban Tomography"

The article “Urban Tomography” featured in the Journal of Urban Technology by Martin H. Krieger, Moo-Ryong Ra, Jeongyeup Paek, Ramesh Govindan, and Jennifer Evans-Cowley discusses the technology and application of urban tomography. In short, urban tomography is a new use of mobile smartphones to most accurately portray city life. Many smartphone users take video at the same time, which creates a plethora of information that is then automatically archived to record places in time. These “slices” of urban life provide important research information, and can also allow community members to document their own lives. We can learn a lot from these videos, or tomograms, like what a typical perspective is of a community member in a certain area. The flows of the tomograms are also big indicators of what life is really like. Comparing different data from various areas can tell us a lot about everyday life in each area.

In a post about urban tomography by Markus Jeschaunig on the website http://www.archiable.com/201104/110408_urban_tomography.html, Jeschaunig displays his urban tomograms in an exhibit. Watching the video clip at the bottom of the site titled “Urban Tomography Graz” really helped me understand more about urban tomography. For instance, watching people walk on a concrete storefront in one of the tomograms really gives the viewer a feel for what the area is like. These clips can be used for more than just technical research- they can play a big role in helping people connect by understanding different lifestyles.

Urban tomography still has some challenges to address, such as privacy issues and the organization of such a massive amount of data. However, as discussed in the article “Urban Tomography,” this technology has come a long way. The tools have improved and become more widespread. An increasing number of people worldwide now own smartphones and these phones have the capability for higher quality videos, greater reliability, and security. Researchers in the field can gather endless amounts of useful data about urban life in a variety of areas. But most importantly, these tomograms can also share valuable information with the everyday viewer. They can foster a deeper and more widespread connection between people from all different places.

Jeschaunig, Markus. "Urban Tomography." Archiable - Platform for Architecture Students. 8 Apr. 2011. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. .

Krieger, Martin H. , Ra, Moo-Ryong , Paek, Jeongyeup , Govindan, Ramesh and Evans-Cowley, Jennifer(2010) 'Urban Tomography', Journal of Urban Technology, 17: 2, 21 — 36

Week 2 - Kevin Lynch's "The Image of the Environment"

The reading “The Image of the Environment” from Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City asserts that a city is made up of its moving parts – the people – as much as its physical attributes. It is a self-aware entity, being composed of how its inhabitants use and view the city. Lynch posits that a city’s image is defined by its “legibility”, or how the city’s organization affects how people form memorable patterns that facilitate how the city is experienced.  The city is built with structures that are uniquely identifiable and allow people to create their own meanings from this urban environment.

Martijn de Waal corroborates Lynch’s ideas on the idea that the city is built on its organization in the navigator’s mind in his column at http://www.themobilecity.nl/2009/03/29/semantic-wayfinding-mental-maps-and-the-keyhole-problem-of-gps-navigation/#more-440. He states that people use semantic wayfinding, a process of using notable memories of city features for navigation. Waal points out the fault in modern day GPS technology being a lack of these semantic points. While GPS was not a factor for Lynch at the time of his writing The Image of the City, he does note that mapmaking is not a two-dimensional process, but one that relies on the three-dimensional aspect of visiting certain places and forming meaning.

Among Lynch’s ideas on how the city is perceived by its inhabitants, was the concept that the city designer had the freedom to structure the city in his own vision. The designer is not able to select how his city will be interpreted, but he is able to guide the eyes of the people. In his article at http://www.rudi.net/node/22332, Alastair Donald defends the suburbs against claims that they portray moral corruptibility and lack mobility. He quotes Lynch saying that designers should have the “criterion of choice” when it comes to city planning, and that devising a suburb with accessible transportation would be a welcome challenge to any city planner.

Donald, A. (n.d.). Moving beyond the suburbs. RUDI - Resource for Urban Design Information | Resource for Urban Design Information. Retrieved January 31, 2012, from http://www.rudi.net/node/22332

Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the environment. The image of the city (pp. 1-13). Cambridge [Mass.: Technology Press ; MIT Press ; Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Waal, M. d. (n.d.). Semantic Wayfinding, mental maps and the keyhole problem of GPS-navigation. The Mobile City | Mobile Media and Urban Design. Retrieved January 31, 2012, from http://www.themobilecity.nl/2009/03/29/semantic-wayfinding-mental-maps-and-the-keyhole-problem-of-gps-navigation/#more-440

Week 1

 

City regeneration means to recreate urban areas so they become more efficient and practical. Jane Jacobs writes about the complexities of city planning, and the difficulties in predicting the final functions of a planned space. She uses simple examples, such as a street or a park, to demonstrate the range of effects a single construct can have on one space. She also notes that although reconstruction plans are meant to better serve people, they may also adversely affect nature.

The site shown below links to a list of news articles released in the early 2000’s related to city regeneration plans in Baltimore, MD. The articles help highlight some of the intricacies involved in urban planning. Topics presented cover serious environmental issues, some of the many financial and litigation aspects of building, as well public opinions. Many of the ideas in these articles are the same as those presented in every city in the world.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/keyword/urban-renewal-plan