Rethinking Cities: Introduction
- Posted by: GOOD , Oliver Munday
- on September 25, 2009 at 5:00 am
Currently, more than half the world’s population lives in cities. And the complex collection of systems that make up a city’s infrastructure have evolved, creating new and efficient ways to sustain and support a significant concentration of people. But inside all cities are problem areas that can be optimized and made smarter—improving the function of the metropolis and the lives of its citizens.
These pieces spotlight eight cities around the world that benefited by the introduction of novel technologies, from cameras that improve traffic flow in Singapore to a process that generates heat and electricity simultaneously in Chicago. These are just a few examples of what cities are doing to investigate how their systems function and devise ways to make them work better. It’s this kind of innovation and daring that we are examining at GOOD.IS/cities, a website where you can find infographics on city systems, stories on how they can be improved, and video documentaries about solutions in action. By transforming our urban centers, we can improve the lives of the majority of people on the planet, and inspire even more innovation in how our cities serve their residents.
ENERGY Intelligent Utility Network: Copenhagen, Denmark
TRAFFIC Intelligent Transport Systems Center: Singapore
EDUCATION Helping Involve Parents: New York City
PUBLIC SAFETY Crime Prediction Software: Richmond, Virginia
OIL AND GAS Cogeneration: Chicago
HEALTH CARE Intermountain Healthcare: Salt Lake City, Utah
GOVERNMENT E-Government: Albuquerque, New Mexico
A collaboration between GOOD and Oliver Munday.
DISCUSSION: 4 Comments
This is an interesting concept and lots of good information
who designed the image?
http://www.olivermunday.com/
I wish my nation, the United States, would offer other nations the opportunity to expand their foreign embassies here into small (100K – 250K) sovereign cities. I see this as a solution to a great many of the problems facing the world today, from looking to relocate more of the worlds population to more efficient infrastructures to broadening our awareness of the world’s cultures. We are probably the only nation with enough expatriates from every other nation to actually make something like this work. Nothing else could better ensure our foreign policy would, forever after, be constructive.