M. Karlcow responds to OT.

Via Chris Pinchen.

This is not a superhighway.

A nuanced, passionate, comprehensively-researched, fairly incredible piece on urban roadway remediation and systemic flow from John Tolva. Frankly, I'm still absorbing the full richness of it, but even a third of the way through I can tell you this is kind of a jackpot link.

Cassim did a great job of editing my two 1,500-word texts into a single 1,000-word piece. The essential points are intact; the voice is mostly preserved. Enjoy.

Regrettably commerce-oriented, but otherwise absolutely right-on. "Inhabit the city as though it were your house." NB There's no reason why the plug-in services here specified as commercial ventures couldn't be swapped out for free or non-cash-economy alternatives.

Gorgeous. Hopefully this makes it to 34th St by, y'know, 2067 or so. Also: "2nd Ave Sagas" or "2nd Ave's A Gas"?

Via Bruce, and just what it says on the tin.

Road surfacing with built-in photovoltaics and signage. Huh.

A heroic transcription of the talk I gave in Brighton last year. While revealing all my tics and weaknesses as a speaker, it's nonetheless not a bad effort.

Resilience, interconnectedness, "private affluence and public squalor," the wealth of nations and of networks: it's all in there.

This is why I love UO.

Note, particularly, the vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-building strategies.

Daniela Fabricius on Rio's favela archipelago and the various strategies used to return it to the map. Via Mario.

Well, OK, so they need a little help with the graphic design. But the *idea* is right on!

Here's my talk from dConstruct in Brighton a few weeks back. My goodness, I do go on. This is an absolutely sprawling talk! Check the tags for some idea of content.

Via Berkman, an interesting comparison of municipal attitudes toward transit data. (Broadly: East Coast cities see such data as IP to be, urgh, monetized; West Coast cities perhaps unsurprisingly treat it more like a public good.) Will want to start authoring legislation mandating that such data be held in the public trust and made freely and universally available for the common good of all.

A truly pervasive privatized urban infrastructure management concern. If you live in a big city in Asia, North America or Europe, your life is touched by Veolia and you probably don't know it. Disturbing in so many ways, however efficient or competent.

Sorry for all the NYT links. Nico's on top of it this week, though. Looks like top-down planning hasn't quite died. Also: maglev!

Via teh Migurski.

Wonderful, thoughtful, incisive piece here from Kazys, and I bet he's on the money about a lot of this. This CCCPArch thing at Columbia sounds *very* interesting.

Via John Robinson, for Matt Jones: "You can't not make infrastructure." As disgusted by their reality as I am - they're a massive subsidy of the Japanese concrete industry, not an effective erosion-control measure - these are *stunning* pictures of tetrapods, by a variety of folks. Not to be missed.

On peeling back the layers.

"The current relationship between street light and its environment is static and one-dimensional. Similarly, the user/service relationship is characterised by a lack of interaction and imagination. By releasing street lights from their rigid position, they are given the freedom and flexibility to interact with their surroundings and users in new ways." Primarily by bouncing ads off their retinae.

Basically, yes.

"Predictable, yeah, that's the word of the year."

Rewards watching the whole 8:48.

The NYT thinks it sees signs of a turn toward openness in the entrails. That may be significant in itself.

Timid and partial, but a concrete step in the right direction (no pun intended)