I found the following article on innovative development financing at McKinsey & Company interesting given our discussions about metropolitan financing and governance:
The article notes that "Four ideas rose to the top when we screened our list based on the size of the opportunity (for example, the ability to unlock a meaningful level of additional financing or to meaningfully engage multiple actors), the technical feasibility of implementation within a short- to medium-term time frame, the potential to gain significant political momentum, and the existence of a clear and compelling role for government: unlocking value from diaspora flows, stimulating private-capital flows, encouraging private voluntary contributions through matching funds, and tackling sector-specific inefficiencies."
What do you think about these ideas? Do you think they can be used for metropolitan planning?
Over the years many of us have seen and even used Alain Bertaud's iconic graphic comparing Atlanta and Barcelona. The graphic is a powerful visual image exemplifying the high cost of inefficient urban land use.
Technology is catching up to the genius urbanists such as Richard Wurman (founder of TED talks) and Alain's mindset. Indeed, Richard Wurman and a team from ESRI and Radical Media have developed an exciting new application http://www.urbanobservatory.org/compare/index.html
Initially with data for 16 cities you can prepare your own side by side spatial comparisons of key urban characteristics. Among the cities include
Abu Dhavi, Auckland, Chicago, Delhi, Hamburg, Jo'burg, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Mumbai,New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rotterdam Singapore and Tokyo.
Stay tuned for exciting news from the World Bank with respect to mapping urban expansion and the implications to make a compelling case for resource efficient metropolitan urban growth. Within the World Bank the East Asia Pacific infrastrucure group is working on graphic display of urban expansion in 1,500 cities and South Asia is also undertaking exciting spatial analysis of urban growth.
I wanted to share a book review I recently published on a book on international community development and neighborhood planning. The book review of "Displacement by Development: Ethics, Rights and Responsibilities. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 344 pages." is attached to this post. Here is a short summary:
Economic development projects seem to be inevitably stuck between project proponents and the communities displaced by them. Displacement by Development: Ethics, Rights and Responsibilities lays out this impasse between pro- and anti-development positions, and works diligently to frame a common ground to overcome it. As a first step, the book defines what the opposing positions argue. The pro-development or managerial perspective tends to adopt an interventionist conception of development “aiming to improve living conditions and ameliorate harmful consequences of economic processes” (p. 15). The antidevelopment or movementist perspective is “inclined to regard development as an invasive and harmful process that calls for all-out resistance” (pp. 15–16). As experience confirms, these diverging conceptions of development result in an all-too-common polarization between proponents and detractors of projects.
I wonder what do others think about this issue of displacement and development and the "development ethics" framework it uses.
Please click on Reply and share a short description of your background, interests, and area of expertise. You can also include a picture of your city by clicking on the camera icon above. This will help you familiarize yourself with the platform.
As we agreed in the closing session, we are eager to continue the dialog based on your 1/2 page action plan which should include the following items: main objective(s); ten-line short description of the action plan (the contents); knowledge resources (e.g peer-to-peer; the World Bank and RPA; or any others); time line for the action plan and main contact person for further follow up and discussions.
Discussion
Welcome to join our Blockchain for Sustainable Development Global Roundtable Jan.7, 2017 Washington DC
Dear Friends,
Welcome to join our Blockchain for Sustainable Development Global Roundtable Jan.7, 2017 Washington DC
BTW, Xiaochen was interviewedby CCTV on China’s innovation process. Here is a clip:
Xiaochen Zhang on China's innovation progress - Y...
www.fintech4good.co
Xiaochen
Upcoming e-Learning Course Deadlines!
Hi everyone! Just wanted to share of two upcoming e-Learning Course application deadlines. Thought these may be of interest to some of you!
March 23 - Street Addressing and Management of Cities | e-Institute
March 25 - Municipal Finances - A Learning Program for Local Governments | e-Institute
The Urban Imperative: Towards Competitive Cities
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to share this link with each of you. Please take a look at the book launch for The Urban Imperative: Towards Competitive Cities that took place March 9, 2015.
Renovation of the MetroLab C4D Page
Hi everyone! I'm working on renovating the current MetroLab C4D page. Any thoughts/feedback would be useful.
Thanks!
Innovative Development Financing
I found the following article on innovative development financing at McKinsey & Company interesting given our discussions about metropolitan financing and governance:
Innovative development financing | McKinsey & Company
The article notes that "Four ideas rose to the top when we screened our list based on the size of the opportunity (for example, the ability to unlock a meaningful level of additional financing or to meaningfully engage multiple actors), the technical feasibility of implementation within a short- to medium-term time frame, the potential to gain significant political momentum, and the existence of a clear and compelling role for government: unlocking value from diaspora flows, stimulating private-capital flows, encouraging private voluntary contributions through matching funds, and tackling sector-specific inefficiencies."
What do you think about these ideas? Do you think they can be used for metropolitan planning?
Best, Nicolas
Visualizing Metropolitan Urban Expansion
Colleages:
Over the years many of us have seen and even used Alain Bertaud's iconic graphic comparing Atlanta and Barcelona. The graphic is a
powerful visual image exemplifying the high cost of inefficient urban land use.
Technology is catching up to the genius urbanists such as Richard Wurman (founder of TED talks) and Alain's mindset. Indeed, Richard Wurman and a team from ESRI and Radical Media have developed an exciting new application http://www.urbanobservatory.org/compare/index.html
Initially with data for 16 cities you can prepare your own side by side spatial comparisons of key urban characteristics. Among the cities include
Abu Dhavi, Auckland, Chicago, Delhi, Hamburg, Jo'burg, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rotterdam Singapore and Tokyo.
For more details please see the article in http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682536/the-urban-observatory-a-new-way-to-compare-cities-from-the-creator-of-ted#5
Stay tuned for exciting news from the World Bank with respect to mapping urban expansion and the implications to make a compelling case for resource efficient metropolitan urban growth. Within the World Bank the East Asia Pacific infrastrucure group is working on graphic display of urban expansion in 1,500 cities and South Asia is also undertaking exciting spatial analysis of urban growth.
Sydney Metropolitan Strategic Plan
I wanted to share the draft Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney that sets out a new plan for the city's future over the next two decades.
You can find the main page for the plan here: Planning & Infrastructure NSW > Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney
I find the video in that page very interesting as it discusses key issues in metropolitan planning:
What do you think about the plan? A PDF file of the draft plan summary is here:
http://strategies.planning.nsw.gov.au/Portals/0/Documents/MetroCommunityGuide.pdf
Displacement and Development
I wanted to share a book review I recently published on a book on international community development and neighborhood planning. The book review of "Displacement by Development: Ethics, Rights and Responsibilities. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 344 pages." is attached to this post. Here is a short summary:
Economic development projects seem to be inevitably stuck between project proponents and the communities displaced by them. Displacement by Development: Ethics, Rights and Responsibilities lays out this impasse between pro- and anti-development positions, and works diligently to frame a common ground to overcome it. As a first step, the book defines what the opposing positions argue. The pro-development or managerial perspective tends to adopt an interventionist conception of development “aiming to improve living conditions and ameliorate harmful consequences of economic processes” (p. 15). The antidevelopment or movementist perspective is “inclined to regard development as an invasive and harmful process that calls for all-out resistance” (pp. 15–16). As experience confirms, these diverging conceptions of development result in an all-too-common polarization between proponents and detractors of projects.
I wonder what do others think about this issue of displacement and development and the "development ethics" framework it uses.
Step one: Please introduce yourself!
Please click on Reply and share a short description of your background, interests, and area of expertise. You can also include a picture of your city by clicking on the camera icon above. This will help you familiarize yourself with the platform.
Call for proposals!
As we agreed in the closing session, we are eager to continue the dialog based on your 1/2 page action plan which should include the following items: main objective(s); ten-line short description of the action plan (the contents); knowledge resources (e.g peer-to-peer; the World Bank and RPA; or any others); time line for the action plan and main contact person for further follow up and discussions.