{"id":364,"date":"2014-09-25T18:44:45","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T23:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/?p=364"},"modified":"2014-10-01T11:32:22","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T16:32:22","slug":"public-space-suggestions-interactive-walking-tours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/public-space\/public-space-suggestions-interactive-walking-tours\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Space Suggestions: Interactive Walking Tours"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Smart City Suggestions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reconfiguring traffic space as public space:\u00a0 Using longitudinal data about traffic patterns (I don\u2019t know if this exists yet), the city could open and close streets to allow for more public space.\u00a0 If certain streets get very little traffic, they could be repurposed as plazas.\u00a0 I know they did this in many major squares in Manhattan and it really improved both traffic and the quality of the area.\u00a0 The September 15<sup>th<\/sup> City Council Meeting made reference to the opening and closing of streets temporarily for festivals, it would be cool to seem them do this full time (City of Portland, 24).<\/li>\n<li>Interactive public art:\u00a0 It would be really interesting to see Portland\u2019s public spaces integrate more public art, particularly interactive or \u201csmart\u201d art.\u00a0 We all remember the sad little fountain on our walking tour, wouldn\u2019t it be great if the fountain could sense movement and put on special shows as people walked by?\u00a0 Or a sidewalk that played music to the beat you were walking?<\/li>\n<li>Indoor public spaces:\u00a0 Portland needs more indoor public spaces and atriums that would give a place for people to relax and socialize in the winter months.\u00a0 Thinking of a \u201csmart\u201d indoor public space made me think of Songdo\u2019s smart buildings.\u00a0 These buildings could be designed as low environmental impact, with special temperature control mechanisms (maybe even those fancy shades).\u00a0 It could also be a central information hub, with screens giving information on the weather, transportation, traffic and world news.<\/li>\n<li>Interactive history tours:\u00a0 Many students suggested that they wanted more information about the history of the city and historic landmarks.\u00a0 Similar to the interactive public art idea, it would be great to have interactive history tours.\u00a0 Screens dispersed throughout the city could give you information about the site, show historical pictures, and tell stories.\u00a0 This could be similar to the bricks project we saw during the walking tour, except they could constantly update, with people submitting their own stories.<\/li>\n<li>A public space events app: An app advertising events could make public spaces less of a placeholder and more of a destination.\u00a0 Public spaces could host concerts, public theater, children\u2019s workshops, and sponsored events from local organizations.\u00a0 This would help these spaces gain a reputation as vibrant locales.\u00a0 The app could also feature more day-to-day information, like which food trucks will be in which square when.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I think the most exciting suggestion would be the interactive history tours.\u00a0 The kiosks could support of a host of activities \u2013 facts, photos, and serve as a platform to share stories and experiences.\u00a0 It gives Portland a sense of places, teaching residents and tourists about the history of the area.\u00a0 It fosters a sense of community and acts as a virtual artwork through the sharing of stories.\u00a0 It would also help brand Portland as a cutting edge \u201csmart\u201d city.\u00a0 In relation to public space, it incentivizes spending time on the sidewalks, and treats the street as not just a thoroughfare to walk but a place to spend time in, appreciate and interact with.<\/p>\n<p>Greenfield&#8217;s notion that the smart city is built in generic space and time made me realize how important the location and history of a city really is (Greenfield*).\u00a0 While a new smart city may be placed anywhere, generic versatility would totally neglect Portland\u2019s unique charm.\u00a0 That is why I think learning about the constantly-updating history of the city is so important when experiencing it.\u00a0 Greenfield\u2019s critique of smart cities as \u201cpretending\u201d to \u201cperfect knowledge that are nowhere achievable\u201d made my shy away from suggestions that were too far reaching.\u00a0 Greenfield states: that algorithms used to design smart cities suggest \u201cthere is one and only one universal and transcendently correct solution to each identified individual or collective human need,\u201d and that this can stifle diversity or malfunction (Greenfield).\u00a0 The kiosks don\u2019t carry this risk because they are about fostering the creative and human aspects of the city.\u00a0 The September 15<sup>th<\/sup> City Council Meeting did not address any creative aspects of the city \u2013 it was only concerned with permits, development and maintenance of infrastructure.\u00a0 I would be nice to change this.<\/p>\n<p>On a completely unrelated note, why\/how are they able to publically publish the criminal records of a man trying to get a liquor license for his restaurant? (City of Portland, 49)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Greenfield, Adam. 2013.\u00a0<em>Against the Smart City<\/em>. 1.3 edition. Do projects.<br \/>\n* I couldn&#8217;t get page numbers on the Kindle.<\/li>\n<li>City of Portland. <em>Regular City Council Meeting: September 15<sup>th<\/sup>, 2014<\/em>. Portland, ME: September 15<sup>th<\/sup>, 2014.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smart City Suggestions: Reconfiguring traffic space as public space:\u00a0 Using longitudinal data about traffic patterns (I don\u2019t know if this exists yet), the city could open and close streets to allow for more public space.\u00a0 If certain streets get very little traffic, they could be repurposed as plazas.\u00a0 I know they did this in many &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/public-space\/public-space-suggestions-interactive-walking-tours\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Public Space Suggestions: Interactive Walking Tours<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post-2-from-policy-to-recommendation","category-public-space"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p50q0U-5S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}