blog & work June 25, 2007
Posted by juan in : Global Culture, social networks, Local Culture, Global Citizen, Cosmopolitan, Cities, Map, (beta) , add a commentI used to live two parallel lives: working as a technologist on a digital agency by day and writing for this blog by night. For more than a year I managed to keep them separate, but blogging was an exercise of introspection and through it I learned of many things that I was passionate about. Over time I realized that to be truly happy I had to find a way to align my newly found passions with my areas of expertise. Last week I joined a small company that will allow me to do exactly that.
While I intend to maintain this blog as an exercise on free-thinking, therefore somehow independent from the activity of the company, the fact is that I will be creating technologies that allow global citizens to tap the true power of the web to express their culture and in the process redefine the mechanisms by which travellers immerse themselves in local cultures, facilitating the spread of cosmopolitanism.
This blog will continue to explore the notion of a global culture and perhaps provide the foundation on which technology is justifiable. It will not be a vehicle for releasing any information pertinent to the endeavors of my new company nor will represent the position of the company on the matters discussed here. Any and all points of view are mine alone.
Anyone who plans to get rich by blogging is delusional. One year of advertising revenue on this blog: $90. Discovering your passions and committing to them: priceless.
top digital cities June 19, 2007
Posted by juan in : Statistics, Cities , 1 comment so farThe Age from Australia has ranked the top Tech capitals of the world, based on a combination of factors such as cost and availability of broadband connectivity, wireless internet access, technology adoption, government support, education and technology culture.
- SeoulSouth Korea
- SingaporeSingapore
- TokyoJapan
- Hong KongChina
- StockholmSweden
- San Francisco & Silicon ValleyUnited States
- TallinnEstonia
- New YorkUnited States
- BeijingChina
- New Songdo CitySouth Korea
Wonder where your city ranks among these? Consider the following facts:
Broadband is available in four out of five Seoul households and costs just $40 a month for speeds up to 100Mbps. Nine out of 10 residents also have mobile phones. […] Digital mobile TV broadcasting, or Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, was launched in South Korea in 2005 and nearly 2 million Koreans now use the service to watch TV on their phones while riding trains and buses.Last December the Singapore Government said it would roll out free wireless broadband across the island and more than 400,000 Singaporeans already have registered for the service. The government also plans to deliver wired broadband speeds of up 1Gbps by 2012.
Japan had nearly 8 million fibre-to-the-home broadband subscribers in December 2006 and, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, 75 per cent of Japanese residents enjoy 100Mbps fibre-optic broadband at $30 a month.
Via GigaOM
P.S. As I’m readjusting myself to the new rhythm of fatherhood, you’ll find posts to be austere for the next couple of weeks.
digital cities network June 10, 2007
Posted by juan in : social networks, Cities , add a commentSpearheaded by San Francisco, a group of cities have created a global Digital City Network with the following objectives:
Broker international relationships between educational, business, and community-based digital media organizations; Create new business to business ventures between jurisdictions; Support the growth and innovation of existing digital media businesses; Develop new cutting-edge digital media companies in each location; Encourage private and public investment in advanced digital technologies and linkages between jurisdictions; Expand workforce development and education opportunities in digital media; Provide technical support for digital media incubators and business accelerators; Develop strategies to respond to the rapid changes in new media technologies; Inform shareholders about emerging digital media issues, innovations and best practices
The short list of cities invited to participate in the network were chosen for their forward looking approach to supporting the development of the information and technology industries:
- San Francisco - United States,
- Toronto - Canada,
- Paris - France,
- Prague - Czech Republic,
- Dublin - Ireland,
- Madras - India,
- Guadalajara - Mexico,
- Skopje - Macedonia and
- Singapore
Thanks to Dave for the heads up.
zerofootprint toronto May 20, 2007
Posted by juan in : Tools, social networks, Global Warming, Cities, Community , add a commentAs mentioned earlier this week, Toronto’s Mayor launched the project Zerofootprint Toronto:
A dynamic hybrid of environmental footprint calculator and a web-based social network, Zerofootprint Toronto is designed to help citizens reduce their environmental footprint significantly. The new tool graphically illustrates to users the impact every aspect of their daily lives has on the environment while allowing them to network with like-minded friends, neighbours and co-workers to create a virtual eco-community. [It] combines state-of-the-art business intelligence software and the best environmental engineering science to calculate, analyze and visualize the environmental impact of decisions around transportation, food, heating, cooling and lighting homes and offices, shopping, water use and waste production.
If you want to explore what this tool may look like, take a look at the flash demo already available online. Although it is still crude, notice how comparing your footprint against those in yours and other cities is a major feature, while the calculators are rather simple, making it easy for the bulk of the population to participate. There are no features indicating the social networking aspect of the tool, but according to the press release users will be able to form groups around best practices in order to reduce their footprint.
opencities May 16, 2007
Posted by juan in : Global Citizen, Cities, Community , add a commentIt takes a few passionate citizens to make a difference in a city. And it only takes a few cities to make a difference in the world. So it is very encouraging to see events like Open Cities being organized with a grassroots approach -applying all the good lessons that have created thriving technology communities using the barcamp model- with the ideal of findings ways to create better, more open cities:
Inspired by the open source software movement, people around the world are increasingly embracing open business, culture and education. Open Cities are places that accelerate this process, encouraging investment, implementing policies, creating spaces and holding eents that encourage all that is ‘open’. In doing so, they thrive economically while at the same time producing a new generation of artists, teachers and inventors who understand the power of the collective. They are hubs in the global growth of open societies and economies.
The first instance of this idea, dubbed Open Cities Toronto 2007 is taking place in Toronto, Canada as is aimed at creating a model for others to repeat. It is taking place on June 23rd and 24th and already gathering an impressive list of influential thinkers.
As I mentioned in my last post, the Mayors from some of the largest cities are meeting to exchange ideas on how to battle climate change. This is, however, only one of many problems that need to be solved and I believe a forum like Open Cities will connect the right people to make a difference. If my theory about a community of global citizens is correct, the richess of the debate will increase with more participants that have experienced life in some of the other major cities around the world. This should be no problem in a city like Toronto.
c40 climate summit May 13, 2007
Posted by juan in : Global Warming, Cities , 3 commentsNext week the Mayors from 40 of the world’s largest cities will gather in New York to review progress, share best practices, identify collaboration opportunities and set action plans to fight climate change. The C40 Large Cities Climate Summit program will include topics such as Beating Congestion, Decentralized Energy, Efficient Water Supply, Climate Change in the context of Economic Development, Green Buildings, Waste Management & Low Carbon Economies.
In big city I had pointed out how the action of the largest cities is what really matters when dealing with global problems. 10% of the world’s population live in 100 of the largest cities alone. Through management of their infrastructure, landfills, treatment plans, legislation of local land use policies to drive development in the right direction, regulation of automobiles and their energy plants, the overall impact they can exercise is significant.
The delegates attending will represent (bold indicates among 10 largest cities in the world):
Melbourne, Sydney (Australia)
Dhaka (Bangladesh)
Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Toronto (Canada)
Beijing, Shanghai (China)
Bogota (Colombia)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Cairo (Egypt)
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
Paris (France)
Berlin (Germany)
Delhi, Mumbai (India)
Jakarta (Indonesia)
Rome (Italy)
Tokyo (Japan)
Mexico City (Mexico)
Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Lagos (Nigeria)
Karachi (Pakistan)
Lima (Peru)
Warsaw (Poland)
Moscow (Russia)
Johannesburg (South Africa)
Seoul (South Korea)
Barcelona, Madrid (Spain)
Stockholm (Sweden)
Bangkok (Thailand)
Istanbul (Turkey)
London (United Kingdom)
Austin, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland (United States)
the economist on cities (part 2) May 8, 2007
Posted by juan in : Migration, Developing World, Cities , add a commentContinuing with the annotation of the special report on cities by The Economist. If you haven’t, please read part 1 first.
- Failures at the top: concludes that the single most important factor contributing to the success of a modern city is its government. All great cities, or cities that have gone through important renewal were characterized by influential thinkers taking the lead with passion.
In the 1980s Chicago lost companies, jobs and people, and seemed destined to languish in gradual decline in much the same way as Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh. But energetic government led by a mayor, Richard Daley, whose ambitions start and end with his home town, has truned the city round.
My post on big city refers to the efforts of Mayors in some of the largest cities around the world, but I believe in the ability of the common citizen to commit her energy to improving our city life. If you don’t believe it, just check the manifesto for global cities in which I account of a small group of bloggers in Pittsburgh contributing great ideas to turn their city round.
- In place of God: explores the soul of a city, an elusive concept that some refer as its culture. An important renaissance is taking place across some of the largest cities driven by the rebirth of their cultural institutions and a new emphasis on developing city cores as opposed to endless sprawl. One thing is certain: many cities around the world are converging into a life style that seems perfect for a few players. The idle class talks about the all-too-comfortable life style that so many aspire to reach and that contributes very little to develop society beyond its ability to consume. Definitely one of the important ideas of this blog.
Also, checkout the 2007 citygeist for a fun look at what some of the most cosmopolitan cities are doing to renew their soul. - The reinvention test: the top ten cities in 2006 were Zurich & Geneva (Switzerland), Vancouver (Canada), Vienna (Austria), Auckland (New Zealand), Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich (Germany), Bern (Switzerland) and Sydney (Australia). But I have explored other methods to determine the degree to which a nation succeeds through its influence in world affairs, leading to a different ranking: check it out in airports & tourists.
- Et in suburbia ego?: presents the debate between suburbia and downtown with equal amount of critics claiming each one will prevail. If anything the debate on Global Warming has tipped the scales in favour of city cores, but perhaps the more important argument yet to be recognized in the evolution of global cities is the fact that their growth will be powered by a legion of immigrants with limited resources (see the south in the hearth of the north) and while they would gladly buy a small apartment downtown or settle in a nice community in the suburbs the fact is that most of them get trapped in the slums of hope. These often neglected areas contribute to the growth of cities in a very important way and yet are out of control. There is no stopping the ongoing migration that makes them grow, but only smart cities will find a way to integrate these people in the economic life and build flourishing corridors abundant with life and hope.
