Technology Division Events at APA National 

Division Reception, Awards Ceremony, and Business Meeting

We will be holding the annual business meeting and reception as part of the Joint Division Reception on Monday from 6:00-7:30 pm. The Division will also present its 2009 Awards for Technology in Planning at the reception.  Please join us to congratulate the winners on their outstanding use of technology in planning, connect with fellow members, and enjoy the reception fare!

Minnesota Planners' Use of Technology

Numerous technologies are now emerging with the intent of making participatory planning processes more efficient, informative, and inclusive.  These technologies include, on the high tech end, web-based mapping systems, real time scenario evaluation tools, virtual reality, and computer generated flythroughs.  More accessible technology applications such as project websites, computer edited images, and keypad voting are also becoming more widely used.  While previous research suggests that many planners are using at least basic technologies,* there are still a number of contrainst that may be limiting broader deployment. 

Participation Spotlight: U-PLAN Community Planning Studio

U-PLAN is a community planning studio located on University Avenue in St. Paul. U-PLAN “provides high quality technical services to support the grassroots planning efforts” that are occurring because of an new light rail line.  Over one billion dollars are expected to be invested in this new transportation infrastructure, and the surrounding area expects significant redevelopment as a result.   

U-PLAN is a studio that provides free assistance for those that will be affected, including small business owners and community organizations.  U-PLAN provides mapping and visualization assistance, including impact analysis and Sketch-Up™ visualizations of various options. 

High-Tech High-Touch Training at CNU in Denver!

How can visualization, computer mapping, and collaborative networking  tools increase the effectiveness of charrettes for transforming communities? Learn how to add instant feedback and analysis to your charrettes. In this session (3.75 AICP CM credits) you will gain a practical knowledge of how innovative high-tech planning tools can be applied to a multiple-day charrette.   Bill Lennertz from NCI and Jocelyn Hittle from PlaceMatters will provide a hands-on training with tech tools intertwined with traditional charrette techniques including: keypad polling, scenario planning/impact analysis tools, online collaborative authoring/feedback tools, and innovative visualization and mapping tools.

June 10, 8:30-12:30 

Visit www.charetteinstitute.org to register.

Web Tool Spotlight: Commuter Challenge!

Minneapolis-St. Paul’s regional transit authority, Metro Transit, has come up with an innovative way to encourage citizens to leave their cars at home for their commutes.

The 2009 Commuter Challenge website provides information on all forms of transportation in the Metro region.  The site also allows you to sign up for a “challenge” either just with yourself, or a challenge between friends, office floors, businesses, or families.  The site allows each challenger to keep track of the different ways that they commute, with a running point tally.  The loser of the challenge has to do whatever task or embarrassing act was decided upon.

Collaborative Success: The Twin Cities' Metro Council's Approach to GIS

The Twin Cities are recognized in the planning community as having some of the best regional planning resources and authority in the U.S. Part of the success of the regional authority here, the Metropolitan Council, rests on its extensive GIS database and application of spatial data for planning. 

MetroGIS, the program of the Metropolitan Council that collects and distributes GIS, has over 221 datasets that cover all seven counties in the region.  Their DataFinder web portal allows users to search the database for available data by topics such as Business and Economic Data or Biology and Ecology.

Using the Hyperlocal

The New York Times recently reported on a study that mapped “buzz-worthy” events in New York and Los Angeles.  By mapping the locations of images of parties and other events from Getty Images, a supplier of stock images, the researchers were able to determine which neighborhoods in each city were actually the “hot spots.”

In New York, it turned out to be Lincoln and Rockefeller Centers, whereas in L.A., the trendy events were in Beverly Hills, Hollywood and the Sunset Strip.  While this may not be surprising, this study highlights a trend in urban studies, an increasingly “hyperlocal” scale of research and understanding of how people live, and how cities work.

Interview with Senator Cardin: Maryland's Senator Speaks on Transportation

by Harsh Prakash, Secretary-Treasurer, Technology Division

During this year's Planner's Day on Capitol Hill, I got an opportunity to interview Senator Cardin on changing federal policies that affect planning. This is an excerpt from our interview.  The full interview can be found at the Division’s website.

Harsh : What are some of your main expectations from the next federal surface transportation bill?

Senator: We face three fundamental challenges with the new transportation bill:

New Division Leadership Will Take Office During APA National!

The Division is pleased to announce its new leadership!

Former Vice Chair Jennifer Evans-Cowley, will be taking the post of Chair. Dr. Evans-Cowley is an Associate Professor and Section Head of City and Regional Planning at The Ohio State University. She conducts research on the use of e-government by local governments and the role of technology in enhancing planning efforts.

As Chair of the Technology Division, she hopes to continue many of the efforts currently underway and to promote new opportunities to provide services to members. In particular, she hopes to expand the continuing education programs offered.

New Division Website and Webinars!

In addition to new leadership, the Division is unveiling a new website at APA National.  The website will have additional features, including polls, an events calendar, and easy feedback mechanisms. The site will still be your portal to information on Division events, awards, by-rights sessions, elections, and will link to the electronic newsletter.

The Division welcomes any ideas you might have for ways to further tailor the site to members’ needs and desires.  Please visit the site soon and let us know what you think!

New Editors of Planning & Technology Today and Call for Submissions: Summer Issue

The Division is pleased to announce that Rob Goodspeed and Steve Chiaramonte are the new editors of Planning & Technology Today. They will be taking over for Jocelyn Hittle after her three years of service.

Sustainable Urbanism Training at CNU, June 10th, 2009

Sustainable Urbanism will once again be offered as a partner session at the 17th annual Congress for the New Urbanism Conference in Denver! Participants in the half-day seminar will utilize Doug Farr’s highly acclaimed book, Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature, to learn the techniques and metrics to implement Sustainable Urbanism as a preferred pattern of sustainable growth and land-use over the next generation. Participants will be able to demonstrate an integrated understanding of and approach to smart growth, LEED for Neighborhood Development, sustainable urbanism and the human and natural systems that support the sustainable units of human settlement.

Visit www.farrside.com/events to Register! AICP CM Credits are pending.

The fee for attendees is $185, including a copy of Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature. Registration deadline: June 8, 2009.

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Upcoming Conferences of Interest 

April to October

Real CORP 2009: Cities 3.0, Smart, Sustainable, Integrative
April 22-25, 2009
Sitges, Spain
www.corp.at

American Planning Association National Conference
April 25-29, 2009
Minneapolis, Minnesota
www.planning.org/nationalconference/index.htm