Planning Pool

A large part of what we’re attempting to do here at the Planning Pool is to implement user-friendly technologies to give people a greater voice in their community.  We’ll be adding/improving a couple of features over the coming months to achieve this goal.  With this in mind, kudos to Eric Gordon and Gene Koo, who have together been awarded a MacArthur grant for their Hub2 project to explore the urban planning applications of the video game Second Life.

Though some old-timers will scoff at the thought that Second Life might one day be a widely utilized planning tool, it (or something similar) will become only more viable in the future.  There are surely large chunks of essential information (like accurate budgeting) that cannot yet be fully captured in video games, but people like … Continue Reading

Autopia has arrived in India.  Yesterday, Tata Motors introduced the long-awaited Nano, a tiny car with an equally diminutive sticker-price.  At just under $2,300US, the idea is to shift urban Indians from motos to four-wheelers.  The cars, which are already in high-demand, get around 55 mpg and produce less CO2 than the average motorcycle.  Still, many are unhappy about this development, primarily because it further embeds the desire for private vehicles and Indian cities are already plenty congested.  Environmentalists might be a little more enthused if the Nano used something other than petroleum, despite its relative efficiency.  Also, Tata has a less-than-sparkling reputation within India.

While I share the reservations many are feeling toward India’s new automotive independence, the Nano represents  an unfortunately necessary step in the country’s rapid … Continue Reading