Smart city projects in Philadelphia are set to move forward in a more collaborative and organized fashion, better integrating private-sector partners, community stakeholders, and public agencies. Philadelphia released its SmartCityPHL Roadmap, a foundational document that serves as the guideline for growing innovation and collaboration across a number of city agencies. Follow this link to read more.
Sourced from: Government Technology
Last year, China cracked down on recycling imports, forcing cities to get cleaner and more creative with their trash. Until recently, China has been the world’s dominant market for recyclable material; in 2016 the country counted for 60 percent of global demand and roughly a third of U.S. exports. But 2018 started with a cataclysmic bang, as China made good on promises to enact stringent standards on imported paper and plastic refuse. That resulted in a complete halt to imports of some 32 recycled materials. A collapse in prices for some goods followed, while others went into a sympathetic swoon. As a result, some cities such as Kirkwood, Missouri and Deltona, Florida suspended recycling altogether; while others scaled back on the types of waste they would accept. Follow this link to read more.
Sourced from: Next City
This searchable database indexes visual and geospatial solutions to critical urban problems. Examples span the city, county, state, and federal levels, and feature a wide variety of interventions and initiatives, including maps, data visualizations, and dashboards. Searchable by a project’s end goal, issue area, and type of intervention, the database is a resource hub for civic leaders seeking models for replication and inspiration about how visual tools can unlock data-driven insights. Follow this link to explore the database
Sourced from: Data-Smart City Solutions
Cincinnati is among the 10 cities with the highest eviction rates in the country. In four years, Hamilton County had 49,757 eviction filings. According to a LISC study, Cincinnati is 40,000 units short of affordable housing. At Women of Cincy, they believe that if you can change minds, you change behaviors, and if you change behaviors, you can change systems. Too often, people form thoughts based on stereotypes and false narratives. People tend to jump on bandwagon lines of thinking without stopping to form thoughtful assessments. People make assumptions about people we don’t know, about situations we don’t fully understand. When it comes to affordable housing, or lack thereof, these assumptions halt progress. To read more follow this link.
Sourced from: Community Commons
Collaboration and transparency are often rallying cries of smart city advocates, with city officials and others usually happy to discuss the projects. Columbus, Ohio, is taking this mantra a step further and has put together its “Smart Columbus Playbook,” an online collection of case studies, strategies, and other related information, including contracts, RFPs, as well as “Concept of Operations” and “System Requirements” documents for the city’s various projects. The playbook, which will be updated weekly, is broken into 18 content categories that cover the breadth of the projects underway. Within each category is a suite of articles and other information. It will also include research, case studies, and videos. Follow this link to read more.
Sourced from: Government Technology
The North-Central Regional Caucus of the National Urban Extension Leaders is offering scholarships to urban-serving Extension professionals within the North-Central Region to encourage attendance and participation at the 2019 National Urban Extension Conference in Seattle, Washington, May 20-23. They will be awarding four scholarships in the amount of $250 each. The application deadline is Friday, January 18, 2019.
Follow this link for the application.
Sourced from: NUEC
Santa Cruz in Northern California
The urban water cycle starts with raw water, moves through drinking water treatment then delivery to homes and businesses. Once used, sewers convey it to wastewater treatment plants, where it is treated to public health standards for discharge to rivers, land application, the ocean, or treated further for recycled water. Some water is purified through advanced treatment processes and used to augment water supplies. Water is valuable during all parts of this interconnected urban water cycle – there are opportunities at every step to maximize use that benefits the community, economy, and environment. Viewing water as a resource and understanding the interconnectedness of One Water allows for innovative solutions to arise. Follow this link to read the complete article.
Sourced from: Meeting of the Minds
Smart Columbus and the Central Ohio Transit Authority have issued an RFP to develop a multimodal trip-planning platform to support ride-hailing and other transportation options. Follow this link to read the complete article.
Sourced from Government Technology