Urban Planning Blog

Couple of colleagues in a Sustainable Urbanism class had proposed floating homes as a potential solution for homes in New Orleans. This floating villa designed by Swedish architect, Staffan Strindberg, currently situated in the town of Kalmar on the east coast of Sweden may be a tad fancy for residents of New Orleans especially for those whose houses got washed away. But definitely a technology worth exploring, right?

GROW, a project that develops innovative solutions on green technologies draws inspiration from ivy growing on the side of a building - resulting in a hybrid energy delivery device of leafy, fluttering solar shingles that provide power via both sun and wind. I would love a day when roof shingles that use solar power are just as cheap as regular shingles.

Dubai is home not only to most construction cranes building skyscapers but also to the world’s first zero emissions 322 meter tall structure. The Burj Al-Taqa Energy Tower will “use sun, wind, and water to create all of its own energy.”

It is almost common belief that well-lit areas reduce crime but is it really so? An article in New Yorker on light pollution mentions couple of points that depart from this perception. “In the early seventies, the public-school system in San Antonio, Texas, began leaving many of its school buildings, parking lots, and other property dark at night and found that the no-lights policy not only reduced energy costs but also dramatically cut vandalism.”

In fact, bright lights that we see light up deserted areas only provide a false illusion and crime in fact would be more effectively controlled if ’smart lighting’ i.e. controlled by infrared motion sensors.

Thanks to advances in web technology and GIS mapping, cities are making crime information easily available to its citizens. Previously, I had reported on Los Angeles county’s web tool on crime mapping that used Google Maps. Developers at Stamen Design, a technology and design studio based in San Francisco has taken a page from this experiment and developed its own ‘crimespotting’ web-based visualization tool for the city of Oakland:

If you hear sirens in your neighborhood, you should know why. Crimespotting makes this possible with interactive maps, e-mail updates, and RSS feeds of crimes in areas that you care about.

I love Stamen Design’s work and remain impressed with their other design experiments like Trulia and Cabspotting.

As much as I am against wasting energy, I am not entirely comfortable with secret government monitoring. The city of Haringey, UK hired a spy plane to fly overhead and identify which households are wasting the most energy. They used this information and mapped it. Further more, to play the guilt card, they put this information online [via Techdirt]. Trying to ’shame’ people into conservation has honestly never worked but it definitely does freak them out and make them not trust anything the government says or does.

It cannot get any easier for pot lovers. And I’m not talking about fans of pottery. After that amazing interactive map listing LA County homicides, SF Weekly has compiled a map of local pot clubs where you can purchase medical marijuana (what else do you use it for, eh?).

You still need a doctor’s prescription to get it officially, you say? Well, fret not. NORML has compiled a list of area’s most weed-friendly physicians. Did I hear you say, ssssshhhh! [via]

WIRED and LivingHomes—a pioneer in green, prefabricated development— will open the doors to the first ever WIRED Home, a showcase of the best in sustainability, technology and design.

“Galactic Suite,” the first hotel planned in space, expects to open for business in 2012 and would allow guests to travel around the world in 80 minutes.

…takes the antiquated parking meter into the 21st century kicking and screaming. But don’t expect your city to replace the old ones.

In a bearish market, you still want to shave off couple of thousand dollars off your home purchase. In my previous post, I highlighted the infusion of information disseminating tools on the Internet that helps you make wise decision. Redfin is one such web service/tool that helps you save money. Kevin Kelly blogging at Cool Tools reviewed Redfin:

Redfin has a great online real estate website which we quickly found is one of the easier ones to use, with nice virtual walk thrus of each home, and good comparison data for the neighborhood. (The site is a joy to navigate, and we’d use it even if we did not get a rebate.) Then you, in the role of buyer and self-agent, do all the footwork of finding, visiting the various homes, checking out the disclosures, etc., and finally choosing which property you want. You are your own real estate agent up to this point. When you are ready to make on offer on a home, you do so online via Redfin, completing the necessary forms on the web. Then a human Redfin employee will take you through the final paperwork and signatures, and eventually visit the house with you. At the close of the deal they will rebate 2/3rds of their buyer agent commission paid by the seller, or 2% of the sale price, which in some areas of the country will mean at least ten thousand dollars.

I have not bought a home here in the United States (yet) but I’m sure many of you have or are close to buying one soon. Let me know if you try out this tool and if it helps you save money. Unfortunately, it seems that the service is available only in few select cities. But expect it to spread to more as it gets more popular.

Related: Moving the Search from Renters to Landlords.

Remodeling your home and can’t afford a decorator? Try out Floorplanner. The online software runs in Flash and lets your drag-and-drop objects to your layout. A free account should suffice although premium options are available too.

Social Explorer presents census data from 1940 to the present in an interesting interactive manner [zoomable maps too]. Check out the easy-to-use report maker that lets you list essential data in selected tracts and compare it to broader geographical regions [via Cyburbia].

Google has been sending GPS kits to India that enable locals to make more detailed maps of their area. After the data has been uploaded and then verified against other participant’s data it becomes a part of the map.

Constructing a cantilever structure is one of the most difficult things for a structural engineers to do. Remember the thumb-rule - for every foot cantilevered, you must anchor it at the support to a depth of 1.5 feet. For an architect, cantilevers are beautiful things and can literally extend capabilities of their building while remaining beautiful. They offer limitless opportunites but are beyond the technical capabilities of architects to maximize their utility completely. This struggle between the structural engineer and the architect has always been fraught with compromises and hence mediocrity in design. That’s why it is a refreshing change to see structures that push the envelope and exist in defiance to all logic:

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