Despite all the metropolitan fiscal problems you hear about, many American cities are hitting new highs in education and health.
This is because they’re increasingly relying on huge data sets to design policy. NYPD’s Compstat program honed and enhanced its crime-fighting strategies, and in the past few years, Denver’s use of analytics raised test scores around 20 percent. The data doesn’t do the work itself, though; human workers must orient data evaluation toward a valuable target.
It’s the rosy side of government’s exploitation of new technology.
Tag: Urban Planning
San Francisco’s Aggressive Plan Could Abolish Carbon Emissions
The Bay Area recently passed a climate protection resolution that will slash carbon emissions in the region 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. If successful, the policy could dramatically change the city’s transportation landscape. According to Quartz, “The Bay Area has California’s most extensive public transportation system and its tech-savvy drivers have been earlier adopters of electric cars… But [in order to make this work] the [air district board] will also need to convert more of the region’s bus and truck fleet to carbon-free fuels and electrify diesel-powered ports.” Beyond getting more people in battery-powered cars and electric buses, the agency acts as an incubator for new technologies. “For instance, it’s helping to fund a pilot project to create an electric taxi service to link regional airports in San Francisco to the region’s cities,” according to Forbes. If these progressive measures to slash carbon emissions work in a car-centric city like San Francisco, the policy could serve as a model for the rest of the country.
Here’s a Garden for ‘People With Small Spaces and Limited Time’
One of our nation’s most pressing issues is the production of sustainable and healthy food supplies. A company called Earth Starter has created a solution that makes it incredibly easy for anyone to grow their own vegetables and herbs. Nourishmat is a gardening system “designed for people with small spaces and limited time.” It is essentially a four-by-six-foot tarp with labeled holes cut out, custom-made seed balls, and an option for a built-in irrigation tube. “People need not only an affordable solution, but also education and resources,” says co-founder Phil Weiner, who found that one of the biggest barriers to gardening was in education. In light of that discovery, Earth Starter focuses on working with local schools to create edible schoolyards and neighborhoods. Check out their Kickstarter campaign here.
6 Steps for Building Better Bike Infrastructure
Bike-friendly towns are good for the environment, help keep citizens healthy and benefit the commercial sector. So why isn’t every city doing it? Well, the movement comes with some costs and risks, so it’s not an easy sell with all local governments. But the Transportation Commission of Missouri’s Chamber of Commerce’ may have found a way to advocate for statewide improvements in infrastructure. Check out the six key steps for success that the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation followed, which provide a great example of smart, effective strategy for garnering support from local government.