Infrastructure
A broad category of content focused on infrastructure-related topics in cities.
Examples: the built environment, building management systems, smart lighting, airports, street design
Bridging Divided Cities, a Challenge to Policy-Makers and City Planners
For the last 200 years humankind has been going through a fundamental social and demographic change: the emergence of a planet of towns and cities. This densification of human and economic relations had to be supported with increasing connectivity and mobility...
Schools Save Millions with Solar + Storage
The 125,000 public schools in the U.S., kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12), spend $8 billion annually on energy. School districts are installing energy efficiency, solar, and energy storage to reduce energy cost, freeing more money for better education. Schools...
SCE Replaces Nukes and Gas with Renewables + Storage
Southern California Edison (SCE) serves 15 million people in Southern California. SCE’s power generators and over 12,000 employees keep on the lights and charge 100,000 electric vehicles. SCE delivers reliable electricity in the face of enormous challenges. Two large...
Connecting Staten Island’s Waterfront to Its Community in a Time of Rapid Change
Staten Island’s North Shore is changing at an incredible pace; yet how do we ensure that the creative and cultural sectors have a role in and are connected to this transformation? A 630-foot tall observation wheel will mark the Staten Island waterfront and tower above...
Urban Innovator of the Week: Terence Patterson
Terence Patterson, President and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission, used to be Jerry Maguire. Originally from Memphis, he earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard, and then worked for three years for the Walt Disney Company doing corporate finance. After three...
Voters Support of Municipal Bond Packages Nationwide – Opening Up Huge Contracting Opportunities for Private-Sector Contractors
Deteriorating transportation and water infrastructure, the need for affordable housing, school district overcrowding, transportation and public safety needs along with aging government facilities nearing the end of life expectancy brought out large numbers of voters...
Resilient Cities and the Community Stakeholder Leadership Model: How a City Influenced Today’s ‘Meta-Companies’
Companies are giving their employees a voice, and it’s paying off. Profit margins, market shares, and survival rates almost always improve for companies that treat their employees as stakeholders with a seat at the table, helping inform or maybe influence meaningful...
Tesla and SolarCity: Harbingers of Future Mobility and Energy
In Leonardo DiCaprio’s new documentary film, “Before the Flood,” DiCaprio walks the floor of Tesla’s new Gigafactory while he talks with Elon Musk about the future of energy and mobility. Elon Musk is a brilliant visionary. As CEO of Tesla, he has made a reality of...
Western Electricity from “Cali phobia” to Cooperation
The 80-foot wide display showed California renewables at 41 percent of total generation as I watched for 20 minutes during a warm September morning. I was at the nerve center of California’s grid – CAISO (California Independent Systems Operator). CAISO is a...
Breaking the Divestment Cycle: Predicting Abandonment and Fostering Neighborhood Revitalization in Baltimore
Since the 1970’s, a certain urban pessimism has pervaded both academic research and public policy on Baltimore. Nothing, it seemed, could be done to stem the tide of divestment. Policy conversations focused on ‘right-sizing’ and even ‘mothballing’ the urban landscape....
Money Matters: Who Pays for the Smart City?
The “smarting” of utilities and cities is underway. However, many in the industry would stamp our smart city progress thus far as meh, even though the foundational technical elements are in place.
Smart Systems in the Second Machine Age
Like the Industrial Revolution, an economic and social inflection point is taking place because of technology – but this time it’s digital technology.