TOPIC: CITIES (31)

Farming the City

http://farmingthecity.net

CITIES' Farming the City pilot project has been running in Amsterdam since November 2010, bringing city dwellers to explore inspirational ways of producing, storing, cooking, preserving, distributing and sharing food. 

Block Avenue

http://www.blockavenue.com

BlockAvenue is a platform to help people better understand location by leveraging existing geo-data and social networks to create trust.

Cities Alliance

http://www.citiesalliance.org/ca/about-cities-alliance

The Cities Alliance is a global partnership for urban poverty reduction and the promotion of the role of cities in sustainable development.

MESH Cities

http://www.meshcities.com

MESH Cities explores the wireless systems empowered, 21st Century city through the eyes of its super-users. These are the people who are embracing the new communications and infrastructure tools that will determine the ultimate livability of the modern city. The growing ubiquity of high-speed wireless connections allows people to experience the city in ways never before possible. More than that, they can contribute their ideas about how to make our cities more accommodating and responsive .

Stereopublic

http://www.stereopublic.net

Stereopublic: crowdsourcing the quiet is a participatory art project that asks you to navigate your city for quiet spaces, share them with your social networks, take audio and visual snapshots, experience audio tours and request original compositions made using your recordings.

Citizinvestor

http://www.citizinvestor.com

Citizinvestor allows citizens to invest in the local government projects they care about most. 
Local governments submit pre-approved projects to citizinvestor.com. The cost of the project has already been set and department approved, the only thing lacking is the funding. Citizens then find the projects they care about most and invest financially in those projects. Once a project is 100% pledged, the project is built! Citizens don’t pay a dime unless the project is funded in full. This ensures that there’s little risk to the local government entity and little risk to the citizen.

Beacon Food Forest

http://www.beaconfoodforest.org

A Food Forest is a gardening technique or land management system that mimics a woodland ecosystem but substitutes in edible trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals.  Fruit and nut trees are the upper level, while below are berry shrubs, edible perennials and annuals.  Companions or beneficial plants are included to attract insects for natural pest management while some plants are soil amenders providing nitrogen and mulch.  Together they create relationships to form a forest garden ecosystem able to produce high yields of food with less maintenance.

Chicago Trees Initiative

http://www.chicagotrees.net

The Chicago Trees Initiative is a city-wide, public-private effort to plant, care for and advocate for trees. This means many more trees will be planted in our great city, which is already known for its green urban spaces. And more important, existing trees will have better care – the best strategy for meeting our urban forest canopy goal. Every Chicago resident – and indeed, anyone who cares about trees has an important role to play. The goal invites all of us to be involved in planting and caring for trees on public and private land throughout the city.

Sustainable Cities International

http://sustainablecities.net/

Founded in 1993, Sustainable Cities International is a registered not-for-profit organization based in Vancouver, Canada. Our mission is to co-create with cities around the world, to catalyze action on urban sustainability. We are a think-tank and a do-tank!
 

Outer Urban Projects

http://outerurbanprojects.org

Outer Urban Projects (OUP) is a bold not for profit performing arts organisation that collaborates with young people and their communities in Melbourne’s culturally diverse, artistically starved, ‘hardcore’ outer northern suburbs. OUP specialises in producing and presenting high calibre arts projects that seamlessly combine street, cultural, contemporary and classical forms. OUP is driven by the vibrant cultural mix and stories of the outer northern suburbs and the racial, social and class inequities that challenge our young people.

PARK(ing) Day

http://parkingday.org

PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.

CNU

http://www.cnu.org/

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the leading organization promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.

Walkonomics

http://www.walkonomics.com

Walkonomics aims to rate the pedestrian-friendliness of every street in the world.  By enabling ordinary people and local communities to add a rating of any street, it is hoped that a realistic walkability score will be created for each street.  Where available, public datasets are also used to add ratings and provide more quantitative reviews.  By harnessing the power of 'crowd-sourcing', social media and open data, Walkonomics aims to become a self-organising system where users correct any inaccuracies or errors in street reviews.
In addition to this, Walkonomics also provides an interactive online space, where local people, government and business can suggest, discuss and create walkability improvements for our streets, neighbourhoods and cities.

Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)

http://www.icic.org

The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City is a nonprofit research and strategy organization and the leading authority on U.S. inner city economies and the businesses that thrive there. Founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, ICIC strengthens inner city economies by providing businesses, governments and investors with the most comprehensive and actionable information in the field about urban market opportunities.

Dear City

http://dearcity.org

Dear City is a simple concept allowing a citizen to leave (anonymous) messages to the city he or she lives in. This web-based framework creates a social cluster of opinions that express the thoughts of the man on the street. Dear City becomes a documentation of contemporary life and its ups and downs. We believe change is achieved through all levels of communication.