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Global media thinker, writer, author of the weblog My Heart’s in Accra and co- founder of the revolutionary online community Global Voices Ethan Zuckerman gives a TED talk on the importance of seeking out global information in order to be better able to think about global issues.

“The infrastructures of a globalized world lead us to believe that we’re living in a flat, Friedmanesque world. From London, Bangalore’s just one hop away, and Suva’s just a hop further. Once we stop looking at the infrastructure – the roads, the air routes, the shipping lanes, the cables – and start looking at the flows of traffic, it becomes very clear that some parts of the world are far more connected than others. Globalization is unequally distributed. London and New York are a whole lot closer than Johannesburg and Rio”

(via worldchanging)

A recent report published by CABE, the UK government’s advisor on architecture, urban design and public space, Community Green: using local spaces to tackle inequality and improve health reveals how improving urban green spaces represents an important and cost-effective opportunity for people to transform their local neighbourhoods and can significantly contribute to better health (physical and mental) and the general wellbeing of residents in inner-city areas.

Community green is the largest study of its kind in England and relatively little research investigating income and race inequalities in relation to urban green space provision has been carried out elsewhere to date.

Interestingly, the study shows that although more and more people are using parks there is evidence of race and income inequalities in access to inner-city green areas. Research carried out in six deprived and ethnically diverse areas of England investigates how green space, ethnicity or deprivation, and health are related.

The report states: ‘providing good-quality local green space is a hugely effective way to tackle inequality. People living in deprived urban areas see green space as a key service alongside housing, health, education and policing – one of the essentials in making a neighbourhood liveable.’ However, due to the fact that green areas in deprived neighbourhoods are often unsafe or poorly maintained there are widely underused, infact the study found that only 1% of people living in social housing reported using the green space on their estate.

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What: Call for Mobility Pilots for an intelligent and inter-modal transport system
Where: Copenhagen
Who: Living Labs Global & City of Copenhagen
When: Deadline for submissions Aug 31; Results Sept 15; Pilot Start Nov 15 2010
Pilot duration: 1-6 months

The City of Copenhagen and Living Labs Global, a non-profit association based in Copenhagen (Denmark) with the objective to promote innovation in services and mobility in cities, have launched a call for Mobility Pilots inviting companies and organisations from around the world to present innovative mobility solutions that help to achieve the goal of integrating bicycles fully into a new intelligent and inter-modal transport system for the city.

Copenhagen already boasts a cycling majority - 55% of the city’s residents move around by bike - for this reason the main focus of the initiative is to find innovative solutions to evaluate the impact of new systems, policies, technologies or planning tools to achieve the goal of an attractive and fully integrated inter-modal transport system, incorporating the large percentage of bicycle usage. Three solutions will be selected as pilots by the City of Copenhagen.

Pilot projects are invited to address, but do not need to be limited to, the following themes:

✪ Can bike paths be smarter and indicate dangers such as frost, indicate congestion or incorporate sensors to monitor activities and respond to usage needs and link to traffic light systems offering green waves for cyclists?
✪ Can technology in bicycles such as health sensors, location information, theft protection, entertainment and fitness monitors be applied for entertainment, wellbeing, security and other purposes?
✪ Can mobile services link bicycles and riders to social networks, provide news and updates, to pre-book bikes or reserve parking, to plan routes and other activities?
✪ Can we integrate bicycle rides to get to destinations with other modes of public transport to give more inter-modal options for commuters?
✪ Can we improve bicycle parking around key intersections and meeting points?
✪ Can the health and well-being impact of bicycles be maximised and monitored in the city?
✪ How can we improve security and safety in relation to bicycles?
✪ Can we invent intelligent or smarter clothing to deal with different weather conditions and at the same time integrate into daily activities?
✪ Can bicycles replace “service vehicles” for craftsmen in the inner city?
✪ What can Copenhagen do for bicycle tourism?

The first results of pilot projects will be presented at the Copenhagen | Barcelona Summit on Service Innovation in Copenhagen on November 25th, 2010 to an audience of 150 professionals from cities and innovative companies around the world.

For full info. & how to submit click here

In view of the financial crisis and the unique challenges facing 21st century society cities are acknowledging the need of governmental assistance and the help of the private sector to foster successful and responsible urban development, innovation and global competitiveness. Forming private/public partnerships requires the interaction and collaboration between key individuals in both sectors; The Urban Investment Network, an independant network developed by The Urban Land Institute (ULI) and its Founding Partners facilitates precisely this.

The ULI Urban Investment Network facilitates dialogue between leaders who seek to improve their ability to collaborate in order to increase opportunities to bridge investment gaps and improve the living conditions within cities through sustainable economical and environmental development.

In the lastest report by the ULI Urban Investment Network: Leveraging Public Land to Attract Urban Investment, Greg Clark, Alexandra Notay and Gareth Evans present the conclusions of the ULI Investment Network workshop that explored the experiences of the seven cities in using public land to promote urban investment.

The seven city project case studies included in the report, which differ according to their context and needs are: HafenCity, Hamburg; 22@Barcelona, Barcelona; Project Edinburgh, Edinburgh Integrated Province Planning, Istanbul; The Ground Lease System, Amsterdam; The Ile-de-France Region, Paris; The Olympic Park Legacy Company, London.

Each of these projects, although different in their approaches, used public land to attract investment drawing lessons that may serve for other cities and bringing unique insight to bear on how cities can benefit from public/private partnerships in this context. The report also outlines 10 principles for using public land to leverage urban investment, exploring ways that cities may use their land beyond simply selling it.

To view the report click here