Category Archives: Post #2: From Policy to Recommendation

Dreams of Food, Robot Boats, and Other Phenomena

Experimentation is the root of knowledge; carrying nutritious information from the soil of the universe to the blooming, green leaves of the layered neural tissue of our cerebral cortex. Yummy. Before we can drink of this delicious nectar, however, we must first conjure up some insane and baseless ideas for the experiment to test. To this end, I have sat for some time in some number of spaces and seduced the mysterious magician – the ghost in the machine – to work her mysterious magic. She has obliged, but it’s a mixed bag.

1. Lobster Drone

Greenfield writes that, “interventions like [IBM’s] are, for the most part, a matter of incremental enhancement – of off-the-shelf products acquired through existing procurement channels, serviced via conventional contracts, tacked onto [pre-existing] spatial and institutional arrangements.”[1] Well, Mr. Greenfield, prepare to have your mind whisked to a pulp and pulled out through your nose like an Egyptian Pharoah undergoing mummification.

The autonomous lobster drone is a delivery boat (or fleet of boats) that carries packages to the many islands around Portland – and it is so new it will have to be built entirely from scratch. Okay, not entirely, you’ll want to use arduino or something – but what the heck does Greenfield want? Tell you what, we’ll source the arduino boards from local hacker communions. Is there such a thing? There should be. Moving on.

Taco-Copter: the biggest SF tech hipster fad since twitter

Why is this a good idea? Despite all of the incredible benefits of commercial drones (they are affordable robots built to do our bidding for god’s sake), they face two big non-technological hurdles, 1) they are called drones and they sound scary, and 2) the Federal Aviation Administration has, for good reason, banned the use of commercial drones, and the use of any autonomous aircraft over Class B airspace (i.e. major urban areas). The boat being dressed up as a lobster solves the first problem – but really, we need to have different words for war drones and lobster fishing drones. Being a boat means that it will not be subject to the same ill-fate as Taco-Copter, though I read that they might actually be launching soon (please Steve Jobs’s ghost, let this be my one more thing!). I’m sure there’s a ton of legal issues with autonomous boats too, but almost no one has been working on this so I think we can probably pull a Tesla and just start letting people order them up and see what happens. And I’m not sure if we are supposed to have all of our ideas be things that the city would implement, but this reeks of private sector gig. And lobster. And butter. I’m hungry.

2. Grow Box – Food As A (City) Service

Sofware is eating the world, but what is the world eating? Food. Lots, and lots of it all the time. Rather than teach software to eat food too, Grow Box teaches software to grow food. The idea is to design and manufacture smart hydroponic grow-boxes that fit a few different lifestyles: a large one for people with garages, a smaller one that doubles as a bookshelf for appartment dwellers, and maybe a big flat one that you can put under your bed. Unlike traditional urban gardening, this is not about spending your Sunday picking tomatoes and designing anti-bird defense systems. This is about fresh, cheap, local produce for everyone.

The grow box does all of the planting and even decides what to plant and when based on what other grow boxes nearby are growing. Your only job is to harvest the produce when it is ready, and to not eat too much of it while you do. The grow box always overplants, so it is okay to take some of what you reap, but most of it has to be left outside in your share box. The share box is picked up and your produce gets distributed out to the rest of the Grow Box members in the area – you will get a new share box full of produce as well. Initially, most of the produce will come from local farms, but as the program grows the proportion will shift and the total amount of food will climb. The goal is to provide members a healthy amount of fresh produce every day, or every other day.

This sounds a lot like an idea for a crazy startup, but I think it should be funded by the city. I believe that access to fresh produce is essential to living a healthy life and should therefore be a universal right of a modern society. We already provide huge subsidies for industrial farms, why not subsidize a distributed, urban farm?

 

3. Tethered WindMill Wifi Hotspots

This actually is Greenfield’s worst nightmare. Rather than design a new system from the ground up, I am proposing a mashup of pre-existing technologies: Google’s Loon internet weather balloons and Google/Makani’s airborne wind turbines. The airborne wind turbine is a great fit for Portland. It is tethered to the ground, so you don’t have to rip out pre-existing infrastructure or destroy your natural landscape, and it generates more power, more consistently, at lower cost than traditional turbines. Project Loon is building high altitude weather balloons that will form an interconnected web over the earth and transmit to special receivers on the ground, which can then be connected to a standard wifi router. A similar system could be used in Portland, but rather than a weather balloon, the airborne windmill could transmit to the receivers and the tether connecting it to the grid could also be hooked in to whatever kind of crazy networking rig you would need to handle thousands of connections.

While I am sure this is an extremely inefficient way to get free wifi, I would argue that mashups like this are actually a great way to build new technology, and I think Greenfield would actually agree so I will stop strawmanning him.

4. Operation: Get Fit, Get Lit

This is much more than a fantastic slogan. Portland is famous for its delicious food and its soul hardening winters. But all of that food, cold, and darkness leads to a lot of lighting and heating costs, and very little exercise. What if we encouraged fitness by creating a gym where everything you did generated electricity? And what if the sidewalks used the vibrations caused by footsteps to light the streets at night? The technology exists, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

5. City Gondola

Buses are noisy, guzzle gas, and take up lots of space. Trains require massive construction and are incredibly expensive to build and maintain. Gondolas are cheap, scenic, and don’t disrupt pre-existing infrastructure. Portland needs more than lobster and chique restaurants. It needs gondolas.

This is a very cool idea and, upon further reflection, it turns out it isn’t mine. It’s Frog Principal Designer Michael McDaniel’s, and he made a fantastic slideshow to 100% convince you that this would totally definitely work trust me I’m a designer.

 

[1] Adam Greenfield, Against the Smart City (Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader)

Housing Development and Rooftop Terraces

Five smart city recommendations for Portland’s revamping housing market are:
1. Rooftop gardens
2. Solar panels
3. Energy consumption monitors/infographs
4. Low-income housing in all new developments
5. Glass design and colorful, energy efficient lighting

While all of the aforementioned recommendations would have a significant impact on the sustainability and appeal of Portland, I am choosing to focus on the implementation of rooftop gardens for their ability to contribute to the communal, sustainable, and aesthetic spheres of Portland. As we observed on our tours of Portland, there is a depressing shortage of greenery, and while many of the parks could be revamped with easy landscaping fixes, I believe that rooftop gardens would be the most efficient and productive solutions. These gardens would provide each apartment or condominium complex with greenery, fresh produce, an outdoor area for kids and pets, and panoramic views of a beautiful port city lacking such vantage points.

Many apartments and condos already have private decks and outdoor spaces, but the addition of rooftop terraces would provide residents with a communal space that seems to be lacking throughout much of the city. One of Greenfield’s criticism of smart cities is that overspecification “segregates work…from residential clusters and both of these from a designated cultural complex”[1]. In such complexes, however, there would be no divide between residential and cultural complexes. An ideal terrace space would have a space for kids, dogs, and small vegetable gardens. Strategically placed terraces would also be optimal locations for solar panels, which would be ideal for residential sustainability.

In the minutes from Portland City Council’s Meeting last week, a set of guidelines proposed a little over two years ago delineates a series of requirements for features of residential construction. These guidelines say that “rooftop terraces are encouraged to take advantage of views,”[2] and continue to suggest that “from afar, a variable skyline of roof edges, vertical shafts, and signage create interest.”[3] Many of these guidelines focus on the visible appeal of Portland, a city mostly void of a skyline. High rise or multi-story buildings have the capability of adding to these sky lines, especially if they incorporate modern, glass architecture or elements of historic Portland architectural motifs, as the guidelines also suggest. Rooftop gardens add color to the skyline, and stringing lights on trees or having multicolored lighting can greatly improve the ambiance and aesthetic not only on the terrace but of the whole skyline as well.

[1] Adam Greenfield, Against the Smart City (Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader)

[2] Portland Regular City Council Meeting, September 15, 2014, page 190, http://portlandmaine.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/09152014-605

[3] Portland Regular City Council Meeting, September 15, 2014, page 188, http://portlandmaine.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/09152014-605

Sustainable Energy Through Pathways

This, I must sat say, is a tough assignment. Picking five smart city infrastructure suggestions that specifically applies to Portland, ME is not an easy task. At the end, I chose these:

  •  Sidewalks and plazas that create energy as one walks by
  • Industrial outdoor heaters
  • Scenic public waterfront view
  • Free public wifi
  •  Outdoor public theater

(Webster)

The infrastructure idea I will focus on is the kinetic energy absorbing pathways. The above picture is from a company called PaveGen™. These are grounds that would be implemented into popular high kinetic energy locations like roads, sidewalks, pathways, plazas, and even sport fields. Every foot step could produce “enough electricity to keep an LED-powered street lamp lit for 30 seconds.” (Webster) Greenfield would argue  that because the technology is effortless “the behavior of a system offers users little insight into how it actually works. And this opacity leads to trouble when things breaks down. “(Greenfield 50) This technology is taking advantage of Human’s mindless acts and in return is creating electricity. People will not know how it works, but they would be able to understand they create energy from moving, and depending on the ground it can absorb it. On that note I suggest the service be handled by the public sector, because like Greenfield points out, “The notion that cities are machines with work-flows that can be optimized seems more clearly misguided.” (Greenfield 54) Meaning it can not be run like a business effectively. One can not privatize the energy to companies, because it makes no sense for companies to make a profit on what consumers generate, nor can the technology be fully optimized to cut costs.

A computer generated image showing PaveGen slabs installed on a subway staircase

(Webster)

During our field trip, we saw a lot of movement around old port and the by the shipping docks.  According to the areavibes™ website, 10% of workers in Portland, ME walk or bike to work. That is at least 4,577 people who rely on Portland’s walkways to get to and from work. One of the most popular events in Portland is First Friday also known as the Portland Art Walk. The Portland Press Herald says,  “Every month, more than 60 venues participate in the Art Walk, and as many as 3,000 people from Maine, New England and beyond experience the state’s largest monthly free cultural event.”(Letters to the Editor) These are the minimal numbers that will at least be constant through good days.  Lets say every person takes at least 100 steps  to get to and from work and enjoy first friday, that would be enough energy to charge 30,000 smartphones from every first Friday of the month.  

The Portland City is funding two thirds of the renovation of Somerset St where they are elevating the street between Pearl and Elm Street and adjusting the utilities to support increase in pedestrians and vehicles due to new private development (City of Portland). It also addresses flooding issues in Bayside (City of Portland). These new development can include PaveGen™ technologies; the problem is that this project is increasing the city of Portland’s debt by 70,000 (City of Portland). Increasing their debt even more is another debate. I would propose the increase in sustainable energy is worth it and will pay off in the future.

Cit of Portland, ME. City Council. Agenda Regular City Council September 15, 2014. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. <http://portlandmaine.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/09152014-605>.

Greenfield, Adam. 2013. Selections from Against the Smart City. 1.3 edition. Do projects.

“Letters to the Editor: Art Walk, a Beloved Tradition, Turns 13 – The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.” The Portland Press Herald. Maine Today Media, 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.

Webster, George. “Green Sidewalk Makes Electricity — One Footstep at a Time.” CNN. Cable News Network, 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

 

SMART HOUSING: PORTLAND

My suggestions are a series of five related Website/SmartPhone App initiatives:

  1. PORTLAND HOUSING PROJECT
    1. Users can search options for Portland housing on three tabs: affordable housing, transitional housing and shelters.
    2. Postings are in real-time: shelters, for example, should update number of open beds available for each particular night.
    3. Listings should include address, contact information, and an inlaid Google maps diagram to find housing quickly and easily.
  2. RENT PORTLAND
    1. Landlords can post listings to rent residential units not listed as “affordable housing”; should be aimed at housing rentals for minimum two months.
    2. Includes information about the place, location (with map), information about amenities, and contact information for landlord.
    3. City officials can screen asking price to make sure landlords ask for reasonable rent prices (?)
    4. Similar to other rental platforms such as airbnb.com, renters can write reviews and post praises/complaints for landlords and vise versa. (Reviews should only be posted once the lease contract has been terminated.)
  3. ENSURE QUALITY OF LIFE
    1. Involves the production and distribution of free home sensors to monitor air and water quality in your home.
    2. App/website should include:

i.     Information about the importance of clean air and water

ii.     A way to mail-order a free household sensor, and/or information about where to pick one up

iii.     A way to schedule an appointment for a city health official to come in person to evaluate air and water quality in your home, should the sensor indicate an unhealthy environment

  1. GREEN HOUSING
    1. Involves the production and distribution of (a) subsidized home sensors to monitor energy efficiency in your home, and (b) subsidize energy efficient light bulbs, home appliances, products/services for improving insulation, etc.
    2. App/website should include:

i.     Information about the importance of conserving energy, and steps you can take to reduce your own consumption

ii.     A way to mail-order a subsidized household sensor or energy-efficient products, and/or information about where to pick one up

iii.     A way to schedule an appointment to have a city-approved official come to insulate your home

  1. CROWDSOURCING FOR AN INTEGRATED HOUSING SYSTEM
    1. Ask the public to contribute to city initiatives to design affordable housing units and to plan their neighborhood location so as to best integrate them into the rest of the Portland community.
    2. Create a website with:

i.     A place to submit your design

ii.     A place to see other people’s submissions and comment on them

iii.     Forums for discussion

In his book Against the Smart City, Adam Greenfield reminds us that smart cities assume an objectivity and unity that is impossible in a real city. He argues that smart cities do not support diversity, but instead assume a singular definition of what is “good.”1 In accordance with his ideas, I propose that Portland move towards a Smart City model that does not reduce the number of choices people have, but instead enhances their ability to access these choices. The best Smart City technology will therefore provide people access to more autonomy and human support, rather than replace social interactions with detached digital ones. Greenfield also points out that technical systems are destined to break, and that no algorithm will ever allow a city to run perfectly. The best Smart City technology will therefore facilitate a checks-and-balances system where human users can continuously assess and adjust city systems.

My first two suggestions involve the creation of linked website/apps to allow people to more easily find housing options in Portland. The first app would be aimed at low-income users looking for shelters or affordable or transitional housing; the second would be aimed at newcomers looking to settle in Portland who do not need subsidized housing. It was evident during our field trip that Portland is an up-and-coming city; places to live are in high demand. It is important to protect both low-income residents and newcomers, as these social groups are likely the most vulnerable to be taken advantage of by dishonest or irresponsible landlords. These apps/websites will allow users to access more housing choices, and the public nature of the information will ensure that the landlord-renter relationship is maintained in a fair and professional way.

Low-income housing is critical for any diverse and vibrant city. According to the India Street Sustainable Neighborhood Plan (Order 43-14/15),2 reviewed by the Portland City Council on September 3, 2014, housing diversity is crucial to maintaining the population diversity that it so prides itself on. The Plan states, “The India Street neighborhood has always hosted a diverse resident population. The neighborhood plan should encourage and maintain that diversity of residents (age, race, ethnicity, gender, family size, income, etc) [19].” As the city contemplates the construction of new affordable housing units in the area (for example, on the corner of Franklin and Middle Streets), they also consider destroying old ones: “Munjoy South Townhouses is a low-income housing development…[that] may be redeveloped in the future. It is not known whether future development on this site will remain affordable housing and what form and density it will take. [11]” These are decisions that will greatly affect Portland residents; in order to more directly involve the residents, I suggest a Crowdsourcing webpage in which users can discuss the best affordable housing plans and the best way to maintaining a vibrant community through housing diversity.

 

References Cited

1 Greenfield, Adam. 2013. Selections from Against the Smart City. 1.3 edition.

2 Portand City Council. 2014. India Street Sustainable Neighborhood Plan. Final Draft, August 2014. Accessed on Sept 24, 2014 at http://www.portlandmaine.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/6471.

Smart Solutions for Public Spaces in Portland – Emma Chow

1. Create an app for tourists with walking tour routes that feature historic sites/buildings, parks, and public events that day/week

2. Install free wifi in public parks/squares and track the number of people who use each place

3. Place tracking devices on furniture in public spaces so it does not need to be locked up or removed every day

4. Create an app that features outdoor events/festivals and highlights places with outdoor dining options

5. Commission college art students to create modern solar powered light-art installations that automatically turn on when it becomes dark

The top smart initiatives to improve Portland’s public spaces from this initial list are: installing free Wi-Fi in public parks/squares, creating an app for outdoor events and dining options, and installing illuminated public art powered by solar. By making Wi-Fi accessible in public spaces, it attracts people to the place and gives people the freedom of performing activities normally done indoors, outside. When Wi-Fi is combined with good seating options, people have the ability to bring their laptop and do work outside, have meetings, or watch a TV show. The majority of people have smartphones that are set to automatically connect to open Wi-Fi networks. Wi-Fi can also be leveraged as a means for tracking the usage of public spaces by recording how many people are connected to the Wi-Fi and how long they stay. Portland is home to many start-ups, and people in creative industries often have the freedom to work remotely at home or in cafes — why not use Wi-Fi to bring these people outdoors and enjoy their public spaces?

Portland hosts a monthly art walk as well as several outdoor festivals during the summer months, but it needs to increase the frequency of events/festivals, and transform its streets and parks from an occasional tourist attraction to a place for regular enjoyment for locals. Events can include street food festivals, outdoor movie screenings in the park, or free art for kids on the weekend in a square. Once events are planned, they need to be publicized. The best way to do this is through an app that will inform Portland residents, as well as visitors, of upcoming outdoor events/festivals. These should be year-round. The app can also feature outdoor dining options, which are a growing trend in Portland, as indicated by the multiple applications for outdoor dining licenses in July (1). Another example of an event is closing down streets on certain evenings throughout the warmer months and setting out tables so all the diners can eat outdoors as pedestrians wander through.

Finally, public spaces will be much better utilized if there is better lighting. Well-lit places not only create a more inviting atmosphere at night, but also improves safety since people cannot hide amongst the shadows. Lighting is especially important in places in Maine where the sun sets very early during the fall and winter months. Portland has such great potential for commissioning MECA, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, and U Maine students to create great public art installations in the form of lighting. These art installations can inject places with interest and culture during the day and then illuminate automatically once the sun goes down, thanks to solar-powered technologies. The installations can change according to the season and illumination can even be displayed in various colors. If passed by the Portland City Council, $63,000 of future bond funds will be dedicated to public art (1) — lighting initiatives would be a great way of allocating of funds.

Unlike Smart Cities like Songdo (2), Portland is not starting from scratch. Therefore, it needs to integrate technology with current systems and the history of its place in a way that best benefits people’s daily lives. Portland has so much potential to create dynamic public spaces that will energize its city life. Technology should be infused into the development of these places so they  not only function well for people, but also informs people about them via  apps, etc..

(1) The Portland City Council, “Agenda: Regular City Council Meeting July 21, 2014,” City of Portland, July 21, 2014, http://portlandmaine.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/07212014-479

(2) Adam Greenfield, “Against the Smart City,” Do Projects, 1.3 Edition, October 1, 2013.

 

 

Improving Public Transportation and Access

5 Recommendations for the City of Portland relevant to infrastructure:

1. The parking situation in downtown Portland is not great, especially during the winter when snow removal blocks off portions of streets. Could we come up with a way to improve upon parking?

2. The public transportation system stinks; the buses run sporadically and there is little to no signage or mention of how the system works.

3. Can we create some kind of infrastructure (combined with tourist attractions) that will make tourism in winter more accessible?

4. There seems to be a large divide between the local suburbs (or even just more residential areas of the actual city of Portland) and the downtown area. Can we adjust the transportation system between these areas to help link them to downtown Portland?

5. Maps placed around Portland would be very helpful to orient tourists (and even residents) to Portland geography. There are very few maps around the downtown area and the ones that exist are specifically in Old Port; maps placed in areas of Portland would be beneficial to people navigating the city by foot or bike who do not have GPS access.

When I walked around downtown Portland last Sunday for the field trip, the most surprising lack of infrastructure to me was the absence of a practical public transportation system. We walked around Portland for approximately 3 hours and saw so few buses pass by that we did not realize there was a public transportation system. Professor Gieseking even gave us an example of how spotty the bus service is in Portland; she explained how the bus is supposed to run every 30 minutes to the airport, but often is late or does not show up at all. While I do believe that Portland is quite a walkable city, the lack of a functional public transportation system makes it difficult for residents and visitors to access different parts of the city. I also believe that a better transportation system in downtown Portland as well as the greater Portland area would, to a certain degree, alleviate issues with seasonal access to Portland.

If Portland were more accessible to people without cars, I believe it would become a larger tourism hub in New England. I realized this from my experiences in Portland as a Bowdoin student last year; I found it difficult to go to Portland without using Bowdoin’s shuttle/taxi agreement because I did not have a car on campus. The Amtrak Downeaster and the Concord Coach Lines bus do not stop in downtown Portland, making it very difficult for people to access the city without either having a car or spending exorbitant amounts of money on taxis. I believe that if there were more ways for people to access the downtown area from neighboring suburbs or even from farther away, Portland would have less of an issue with seasonal tourism.

What I find very interesting about public transportation in Portland is that it is not an issue discussed in City Council meetings. I have browsed all of the minutes and agendas from meetings in the last three months, and none has mentioned public transportation. The July meetings mentioned the “Portland Area Transportation System,” but on closer look, the discussions in this category were only about funding for road repair and traffic lights {1}. It seems slightly ridiculous to me that representatives in Portland can be unhappy about things like the lack of winter tourism when they have not figured out ways to make the city more accessible at all times of the year. I do not think Portland is necessarily ready to become a “smart” city along the lines of cities discussed in Adam Greenfield’s “Against the smart city” because it not only lacks the financial support to overhaul its technology but it also has a certain New England charm that could and most likely would be compromised by large-scale changes. While Portland could probably use a transportation app and a new bus map (see below) to help residents and tourists with transportation around Portland, I am not sure if Portland could benefit from a major change in transportation infrastructure, as a major change could potentially reshape the city and people’s perceptions of Portland. This made me think about how even though I am in support of certain aspects of smart infrastructure, I do agree with some of Greenfield’s points. Greenfield discusses how implementing smart technology in cities is often assuming that “there is one and only one universal and transcendently correct solution to each identified individual or collective human need” {2}. Humans are not perfect and cannot live in an entirely regulated world. I believe that drastically changing something like the public transportation system in Portland into a specific, technologically smart system would be trying to achieve a robotic, futuristic perfection that does not exist in the culture of Portland. However, I do think that creating tangible change through a transportation app and a phased-in reworking of the transportation system would be highly beneficial to residents and visitors of Portland.

While from the map it seems that Portland has a wide-reaching bus system, maps are nowhere to be found around downtown Portland and buses are rarely seen passing by {3}.

{1} Portland City Council. “Regular City Council Meeting Agenda.” Portland City Agenda Center. http://portlandmaine.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/07212014-479?html=true (accessed September 24, 2014).

{2} Greenfield, Adam. Against the smart city. New York City: Do projects, 2013. Kindle loc. 432.

{3} “Main Map.” Greater Portland Transit District. http://gpmetrobus.net/index.php/main-map (accessed September 24, 2014).

5 Ideas For a Better Smart City

Rapid technological progress over the past 20-30 years has made us  very dependent on the computers that are in our backpacks, pockets and even wrists. As humans got more used to using technology in everyday life, some of the humans came up with the idea of a Smart Cities that are built upon technologies that we love so much. But, what exactly is a smart city and what role do humans play in it, if any at all.

There are couple of Smart City projects around the world: Masdar City in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates or the Korean New Songdo. Adam Greenfield, in his book “Against the Smart City” describes the developers of these cities in a following way: It’s that their developers appear to lack any feel for the ways in which cities actually generate value for the people who live in them[1]. And it is hard to disagree with Greenfield. I came across this video featuring Masdar City – an empty city populated solely by robots.

After watching this video, I asked myself a question: Would I want to live in a city like Masdar? where everything is automated and there is nothing for humans to do except for enjoy the ultimate lifestyle and work experience[2]. Cities like Masdar or New Songdo will probably not be populated by anyone who is alive today, because such a drastic change of lifestyle is hard. However, there are ways in which technology can be applied to existing cities without sucking sole out of them and converting them to dense settlements[3], where only robots can hear you scream.

1. Buses That Arrive On Time
Portland, ME Bus Stop

Availability, reliability and performance of public transportation is crucial to the city and its performance.

2. More & Better Parks
Lincoln Park

During a two hour walk in Portland, I only noticed 3 or 4 parks and most of them were decrepit, had benches in awkward places and grass was not cut evenly. This creates a very uninviting and repelling atmosphere. Location of the park also matters;

3. Maps, Schedules, Everything – Digital & Easily Accessible

Tbilisi Bus Stop

This a photo of a smart bus stop in Tbilisi, Georgia. The screen displays bus ETA, air temperature and time in Georgian and English which really makes it easier for tourists to get around. The screen also acts as a wifi hotspot. As there are bus stops all around the city, it automatically became covered by a publicly available wifi network. Portland could also implement this kind of system; an app that provides access to schedules and city maps could also be developed.

4. More, Easily Available Public Spaces

Anything from stairs in front of the building to the communal tennis court can count as a public space, so there is no photo for this one. It is extremely important for city dwellers to have places to take a break from the rhythm of the city. Developing such areas will create basis for a happier and healthier population.

5. Data Collection For A Good Cause
Power of Crowdsourcing
Data collection does not necessarily involve CCTV cameras and sensors that feed data to a closed, centralized system. Data collection can be a process open to the public. In fact, Open Data is even better because it creates opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship. I think Portland could really benefit from an open-source crowdsourced data collection platform, where citizens could upload photos and geolocations of places that need fixing or renovation.


Some of the ideas above have to seem no connection with each other; however, there is one thing uniting them: all of them can be implemented using the same technology that powers smart cities like Masdar or New Songdo without devaluing humans in the city ecosystem.

The best thing about these ideas is that implementing any one of them will spark the development of the other by rising public demand. A more reliable public transportation system will encourage people to leave their cars at home and go for walks (knowing they will not have to walk all the way back – they will be able to take a bus!). More people going for walks will encourage development and growth of public spaces which will create opportunities for outdoor performances and street artists.

However, implementing a crowdsourced open data collection platform excites me the most. This data could be used to figure out where to place parks and where to put bus lines; tracking the location of people in parks would enable planners to place benches in relevant places. The openness of this data, would enable 3rd party developers to create even better apps to power the city life through applications that could be targeted at people living in specific locations or of a specific demographic.

Opportunities are limitless, we just need to implement technology without removing life from the city.

————————————————————————————-

Citations

1. Greenfield, Adam (2013-12-20). Against the smart city (The city is here for you to use) (Kindle Locations 306-307). Do projects. Kindle Edition.

2. Greenfield, Adam (2013-12-20). Against the smart city (The city is here for you to use) (Kindle Location 86). Do projects. Kindle Edition.

3. Greenfield, Adam (2013-12-20). Against the smart city (The city is here for you to use) (Kindle Location 47). Do projects. Kindle Edition.

Public Signage: educate the public to make Portland smarter!

  1. Less decrepit parks
    • Lighting, park maintenance (sidewalks, plant health)
    • Playground in the park (with seating nearby!)
    • Give people other reasons to linger in the park a little while— public Wi-Fi, a plaque or sign to read about the city’s history or the kind of trees that grow there (for example)
  2. Encourage informal use of public spaces for dining (this goes with #1)
    • Put in seating, water fountains, even tables
    • This idea from the Portland City Council Meeting Agenda
  3. Public Wi-Fi in public spaces
  4. Signage for a smart city movement, with barcodes, too
  5. More greenery

 

To me, #4 is the possibility most worth explaining further. What I mean by signage for the smart city is that smart city works that are put into play should be documented and displayed in some way for the public to understand and appreciate. It would not be possible for every development, but a sign denoting Public Wi-Fi would not only promote use, it would raise awareness of the presence and possibility of the smart city project for Portland, and present a good opportunity for educating interested citizens. I think public signage for a smart city is totally within the range of possibility for the city of Portland, and also to the great benefit of the general public. Scannable barcodes make this a project that would connect Portland to its populous virtually and locally.

In Against the Smart City, Adam Greenfield implies the menace that ubiquitous technology seems to pose to the city. While his sense of menace may over-privilege the fear and uncertainty that accompanies any such rapid development in human history, Greenfield is not wrong to speak of the depth of the change. He writes, “Our encounter with this extended technical armature has begun to alter the fundamental terms city life has been founded on, in many cases for centuries.” The world’s cities do not exist in the same world (technological or otherwise) that they did a century ago, or even much more recently. Less than a decade ago, there was not a single city in the U.S. that offered free citywide Wi-Fi. (Sunnyvale, CA was the first in 2005.) Now, over 75 cities in the U.S. offer free municipal Wi-Fi to part or all of their cities, each with the ultimate goal of making Internet access a universal service. Many other cities have the same goal and projects in process. Changes to today’s cities are big, they are fast, and for many they are tinged with the gut-wrenching sense that the world that is progressing faster than is actually comfortable.

Keep the people in the loop. Town agendas are inaccessible and unlikely to be read. Put barcodes on smart city update signs so that people can learn more about the smart city changes. It is their city—let them know, day to day, what is happening to it, especially if those changes are smart changes. The most incredible thing about the Internet, and the advent of smart technology, is the agency it gives any person in the world who can use it. Pointing out the well-sewn seams of a technological movement aimed at “seamlessness” (Greenfield) can do a lot of good not only for popular support of the smart city and for creating educated “smart citizens”, but for people’s pride in their city and its further development. Pointing out the changes overtly also helps to hold the right people accountable, thereby helping to keep the smart city movement one that is rooted in the best interests of the city’s people.

 

Greenfield, Adam. 2013. Against the Smart City. 1.3 edition. Do projects.

*** I read this on the Kindle app for iPhone, which only told me that this quote (“Our encounter…”) was 3% of the way through the text. I have not been able to find a page number. The passage on “seamlessness” is 29% of the way through the text… Oh, the irony.

 

Portland City Council Agenda for a Regular City Council Meeting, Sept. 15, 2014. Order 58-14/15 under Consent Items

Peers for Portland Piers: Public Parks, Palatable Provisions, and Private Pads

  1. Traffic schedule amendments (More bus pickups)
  2. Waterfront access (Pier parks)
  3. Traffic schedule amendments (More public parking/vertical garages)
  4. Public  drinking water/restrooms
  5. Utilization of piers

While I believe public restrooms and drinking water would be beneficial to Old Port (I don’t believe they are necessary in less-touristy neighborhoods), I think retooling traffic assignments and increasing pleasurable waterfront access are more important to the City of Portland. Looking at these changes in terms of excitement factor (because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t get giddy about traffic schedule amendments) I would argue that utilization of the piers by the development of public recreation areas (similar to a park, but with outdoor exercise equipment, physical challenges, etc), private housing (similar to the condos already present on the piers), and  restaurants/entertainment venues (similar to DiMillos) would have the most direct impact on the city, specifically the Old Port. I am imagining transforming one, or preferably several, of the run-down, seemingly abandoned piers into a greenspace intended to allow access to the waterfront, provide pleasurable public space for visitors and citizens, and enhance the value of surrounding buildings. This project has already been tested in small scale in Portland at Moontide Park, beside the new Ocean Gateway Pier near Hancock and Thames Streets. I experienced this park this summer at the Shipyard Half-Marathon after-party, where there was a concert, beer garden, and other great activities in the pleasant greenspace. A second, larger scale example is Race Street Pier in Philadephia, PA. (http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/race-street-pier/)

Race Street Pier

Doesn’t that look like an inviting greenspace?! Now, imagine adding outdoor exercise equipment, in an effort similar to one from Ben Butterworth Parkway in my hometown of Moline, Illinois. Check out: http://www.genesishealth.com/healthinfo/healthbeat/ , the hospital system sponsoring the exercise program in my town.

Upon investigating the City Council’s minutes, I have found nothing discussing the development of the seemingly abandoned piers we walked through on our field trip. I did find an interesting change to the Traffic Schedule that amended a “Bus Zone” and “No Parking” zone to a “Two Hour Metered Parking” and “Bus Zone”.¹ I suppose that translates into additional parking spots for the city, but there was probably a reason the no parking zone was necessary (reasons aren’t mentioned in the document). Not surprisingly, the motion was passed unanimously, as most of the topics in the City Council meeting are.² (It seems the only divisive topics are protection of existing parks and the school system. Perhaps the development of new parks may also be highly contested?)

In the beginning of Against the Smart City, Greenfield directly states that the way “city dwellers collectively understand, approach and use the environment around us” is rapidly changing.³ Why don’t we embrace this sentiment and advocate for the redevelopment of the piers? Even though there have been issues in the past with new condos on the water, we now know the allure and value of those properties. Following the examples of Race Street Pier, Moon Tide park, and Ben Butterworth Parkway, we know the project is feasible. Next, we should investigate the legal, financial, and governmental blockades. Ultimately, I believe it is worthwhile to investigate the development of the piers as public greenspaces, as well as food, entertainment, and housing options.

 

 

¹http://me-portland.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/647?fileID=2766

²http://portlandmaine.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/06162014-438

³Greenfield, Adam. 2013. Selections from Against the Smart City. 1.3 edition. Do projects.

Catwalks Between Buildings

Ideas:
1. gigabit internet
2. free public wifi
3. cat walks/tunnels to allow people to stay inside and still move around the city (see Duluth)
4. street cars
5. improved bus signage

One of the things i thought was most interesting from the city council meeting discussions were the refrences to joint public and private partnerships. In many cases, the payments for road improvements etc. were actually made by those who would benefit from teh construction and the government both. I feel like we see this in many cities also in public transport. Hong Kong’s subway system for example is privately owned entirely.
I feel like most of the ideas I listed above would have demonstrable impacts on the businesses in the area. For example, most of down town Portland is really nice to walk around during the summer. During the winter however, no one wants to walk outside to walk around the streets and move from building to building. Having a part of the city where each building fed into one another would make it much more popular when it is bitterly cold.

 

 

Portland City Council, September 15 meeting, 127.