urban cartography

We Heart It: "visual bookmarking for everyone"

We Heart It is "visual bookmarking for everyone" - basically, Del.icio.us for images, as opposed to pages. Unlike their elitist cousin Ffffound, WHI is free, everyone is invited and it's very, very easy to use. Signing up prompts you to add a tiny little "heart" link to your browser's bookmark bar, which you simply hit on any page with an image you want to save for later. You can then tag images, if you like; plenty of people have already tagged maps, and it's a great way to look for inspiration in a particular area.

Radical Urban Theory

Radical Urban Theory is a site I should have known about. Articles, book reviews, new research abstracts, etc. Authors include Matt Jalbert, George Katodrytis, Mike Davis and more. Some of Mike Davis' articles are (as always) particularly good - House of Cards ("too many people in the wrong place, celebrating waste as a way of life") and When the Rivers Ran Dry ("we may be the most reckless and suicidal overconsumers of water in world history") are worth reading right now.

Freakstreets

Freakstreets is a minor Google Map hack that keeps track of especially strange street names all over North America. Most of the humor is sophomoric - Gay Way, Peepee Falls Street, Stoner Ave, Jackass Hill Road. But there are also such tragedies as the corner of Lonesome & Hardup. I'd love to have the Big Mama Drive sign ... and what were they thinking when they named Shades of Death Road, or Sole Addiction Avenue?

PARK(ing)

Stewf, a friend of UC's in San Francisco, sent us a link to this site recently, and I found it just enchanting. What he had to say:

This urban planning group installed turf, tree, and bench in a parking
space in our neighborhood. Passersby and users fed the meter. Why?
Instant park. Green space in a part of the city that's missing it.

Think you want to take part? Just follow the handy do-it-yourself instructions. With these simple transformations, the Rebar group shows us how any regular parking spot can function as a PARK(ing) spot, and how desperately such slivers of green are needed in the urban landscape.

Katrina Aid

sez Planetizen TechTalk >  GISCorps is looking for GIS professionals to volunteer for emergency and relief efforts in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina. | Other ways to help out > Architecture for Humanity | Architects can get involved and resources are available at this Archinect site. 

assorted linkages and news

1. mapping del.icio.us: vox delicii color codes mindshares.
2. augmented maps: a system to augment printed maps with digital graphical information and user interface components. this was featured in New Scientist and via FutureFeeder.
3. more feedage from FF: a visual analysis of how cities can mold and shape climate forces. read
4. Cracks in the Pavement: Gifts in the Urban Landscape  is a multi-phased, interactive project that calls attention to the “in-between” spaces encountered throughout everyday life.

Finally, a few words to note the passing of an enormously influential artist, or should I say ... psychogeographer, Constant Nieuwenhuys. One could probably not overstate the weight of Constant's contribution to the imagining of cities. His art was a prophetic look at today's networked, postindustrial  megalopolis, but we still have a long way to go in order to achieve the individual freedom that he envisioned for it. It's too bad that English-language news sites haven't given Constant his due space at the time of his death (hello Guardian, BBC, NY Times...). [for more information, see Space and Culture: The Ludic City]

found: Global Guerillas

An interesting meditation on and journal of social change, Global Guerillas documents examples supporting the authors' thesis that we are beginning the first truly global world war: one where attacks are as much on social and physical / technological networks as much as individuals themselves, and where our increasing reliance on technology will cause lives well behind the front lines to be much more disrupted than they were by ration cards during the second World War.

A Look at the Other Side

Ever wondered what's behind those private community gates? Take a stroll down to Los Angeles and look for yourself using the viewing platforms installed at various housing developments by Heavy Trash:

What is Heavy Trash? An anonymous arts organization of architects, designers and urban planners, Heavy Trash creates large, disposable art objects that draw community and media attention to urban issues. By explaining a particular urban problem and suggesting a solution, Heavy Trash seeks to provoke dialogue among the residents of Los Angeles.

[via Beyond Brilliance, Beyond Stupidity]

Open BBC

backstage.bbc.co.uk invites web developers to appropriate BBC content fed through RSS and come up with innovative news presentations.

Well,  news quickly got in bed with maps, specifically the Google maps, and now they're spawning (like so). The crop of map hacks now allows sports fans to get local headlines for teams they follow, access traffic jam cams, get news by county, and much more. See backstage news, o'reilly and smartmobs.

cartoblogwatch

Recently found, digested & placed here for your edification:

• Chandu Thota works on the MapPoint project at Microsoft and has a weblog discussing the .Net / MapPoint web service nexus. He is a self-described "mapping geek" and is so up on the current GIS tech that he may soon disappear completely.
• Import Cartography explores "cartography, geography, information systems, python and zope."
• Mapping Hacks is run by Schuyler Erle, Rich Gibson and Jo Walsh (not Joe Walsh). They have a new book, aw yeah.
• You probably already know Directions magazine, but if not, there you go.

found: Sprol

from the site:

Sprol is a planetary sightseeing blog.  Visit some of the worst places in the world via satellite imagery. Our mission is to use the powers of space imaging to show people the visual macroscopic effects of our decisions and behavior. Since previous generations have not had the advantage of this viewpoint it is our responsibility to use it wisely.

McDonald's Goes Local

Project for Public Spaces announces in its April 1st, 2005 online newsletter, that McDonald's is indeed making the a shift to a more community-based fast food organization:

In an abrupt departure from current practice, the McDonald's Corporation [NYSE:MCD] announced today that its 30,000 franchises will now acquire all their produce from local farmers markets. The shift is expected to generate demand for new farmers markets wherever there is a McDonald's restaurant.

The switch to local suppliers is the first phase of McDonald's new strategic plan, which will be ushered in with the marketing catchphrase "Go Local!"

Oh, and by the way, happy April Fools' Day. If you haven't traversed the PPS website in its entirety, I highly recommend doing so now, and then donating to keep the organization on its path to Placemaking. Thanks to Shin-pei Tsay from PPS.

Mapping Health

The International Journal of Health Geographics is an fascinating online journal that harbors  articles on the myriad ways the health profession uses GIS and geographic data to illustrate patterns of disease and illness around the globe.

Looking for a Walkable Community

This thread on Metafilter invites neighborhood/city suggestions for a returning, previously-expat American. This person is looking for "a small, walkable, thriving community without too much sprawl." Any additional suggestions here?

The Blogging of Planning

Abhijeet Chavan has a great article on Planetizen regarding the rise of weblogs. There is a good list of resources here that we might all find useful. Unfortunately he didn't mention UC (or my weblog).

Categorical Brilliance

Since 2002, Nick Aster has provided both the good news along with the revolting regarding urban transportation, planning, and other topics in his double weblog Beyond Brilliance/Beyond Stupidity.

Things that are great should be praised and encouraged, whereas idiotic things should be criticised and learnt from. So I decided to do both at the same time for a little balance. Even so, the good should always outweigh the bad, so you may find the brilliance column to be more full.

Can't argue with that.

Toponymy

Nick Helmer's Toponymy is always entertaining. His weblog is named, of course, after the study of place names. Nick's busy, though, and doesn't have time to post too much; recent interesting bits have been on Kalkaskia, Illinois and micronations.