MEDIA & WEBINARS
Connected + Autonomous Vehicle (CAV)
As technology advances and integrates more into our lives, it’s also advancing and integrating into our personal vehicles and transportation systems. The Florida Department of Transportation and Florida’s Turnpike recognize that automated vehicle technologies hold unprecedented opportunities in helping to reduce congestion and improve safety on our roadways.
Suntrax
Located off I-4 between Orlando and Tampa, SunTrax is a large-scale, cutting-edge facility being developed by the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise
Can We Make Cities Car Free?
Europe’s cities could get there soon. The US? Maybe not. Discussions of Oslo, Helsinki and other European cities provide great examples.
Central Florida Roadtrip
https://video.wucftv.org/show/central-florida-roadtrip/
CharacterTowns.org discovered the Central Florida Roadtrip while viewing WUCF and took the opportunity to meet with Dr. Hoffman to discuss his ideas. The Roadtrip is a wonderful way for people to learn about their community and others nearby that they might pass through as they traverse the metro Orlando region. Dr. Hoffman’s approach uncovers community aspects missed in the traditional planning process. His interviews and insights are revealing and can readily be incorporated into every city’s comprehensive plan. View the episodes available, contemplate sponsoring an episode in your town and take the experiences of others to heart.
City Parks: America’s New Infrastructure Overview
CharacterTowns.org was pleased to find this fine presentation by the City Parks Alliance about the role of city parks in major cities; and the appreciation of community leaders as they discuss the role played by parks in their communities. The lessons and observations apply to small cities and towns. Using parks to establish and maintain the character of your city or town is a tried and-true method for branding” while providing residents with a great amenity, or infrastructure.
Elevation documentary: how drones will change cities.
Elevation is a short documentary by online magazine Dezeen about how drones will transform cities – revolutionising how people travel, how goods are delivered and how buildings look and are constructed.
The Powers of Ten
Powers of Ten takes us on an adventure in magnitudes. Starting at a picnic by the lakeside in Chicago, this famous film transports us to the outer edges of the universe. Every ten seconds we view the starting point from ten times farther out until our own galaxy is visible only as a speck of light among many others. Returning to Earth with breathtaking speed, we move inward- into the hand of the sleeping picnicker- with ten times more magnification every ten seconds. Our journey ends inside a proton of a carbon atom within a DNA molecule in a white blood cell.
THE AVENUE: Why cities matter in an age of accelerations by Amy Liu
“If you want to be an optimist, stand on your head. The world looks a lot better from the bottom up than it does from the top down.” In that phrase, said at a recent Brookings event, Tom Friedman succinctly captures the nature of American democracy and governance in the 21st century.
Complexity Theory Overview.
CharacterTowns.org, from time to time, has injected descriptions of scientific methods and theories into the discussion of city planning. The purpose is twofold: first, planners need to be aware of a bigger world of science and “big data” analysis in a general sense as it affects city sustainability.
Porto Revival
Monocle films visits Porto, Portugal to discover how one city leader is determined to stop gentrification destroying his city.” Vision and leadership matter; Mayor Rui Moreira has provided both.
My Community.org.uk
This video “cartoon” is a great introduction into town planning. A British take on community planning that adds another perspective to work in American small cities and towns. The breadth of programs offered and the basic approach to planning, especially neighborhood planning, is a useful demonstration of what’s being done elsewhere.
Character Towns: Attractive to Residents, Visitors and Businesses
“Character towns” attractive to residents, businesses and visitors. This webinar was given by the Florida League of Cities University to present the idea to members that vision, strategy and actions can produce interesting, pleasant and prosperous places for residents, businesses and visitors. City managers, planners and economic development directors can find useful ideas in this presentation. This webinar was given to the Florida League Of Cities University by Bill Kercher on February 23, 2016.
The Avenue. Why cities matter in an age of accelerations
“If you want to be an optimist, stand on your head. The world looks a lot better from the bottom up than it does from the top down.”
In that phrase, said at a recent Brookings event, Tom Friedman succinctly captures the nature of American democracy and governance in the 21st century. As Friedman and I discussed, and as he details in his latest book, Thank You for Being Late – we are living in an age of accelerations: Massive shifts in technology, globalization, and climate change are fundamentally reshaping our politics, our workplaces, our communities, and our ethics. Success in this age, Friedman argues, depends on our ability to adapt.
Capturing the next economy: Pittsburgh’s rise as a global innovation city
Ted Talks: Peter Calthorpe | 7 principles for building better cities
More than half of the world’s population already lives in cities, and another 2.5 billion people are projected to move to urban areas by 2050. The way we build new cities will be at the heart of so much that matters, from climate change to economic vitality to our very well-being and sense of connectedness. Peter Calthorpe is already at work planning the cities of the future and advocating for community design that’s focused on human interaction. He shares seven universal principles for solving sprawl and building smarter, more sustainable cities.
Simon Sinek’s TED talk, “Start With Why” makes an impression.
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action
Simon Sinek has made a big impression with his TED talk, Start With Why. He asks the basic question about why do we do projects, why do we start action programs, why do we initiate enterprises? We spend time and energy on strategies and action programs, but skip the step of asking why are we doing this? What is our motivation, our vision, our purpose? His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers.
The Upcycle Presentation by William McDonough
“The Upcycle is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Cradle to Cradle, one of the most consequential ecological manifestoes of our time. William McDonough and Michael Braungart envision the next step in the solution to our ecological crisis: we don’t just use or reuse resources with greater effectiveness, we actually improve the world as we live, create, and build. McDonough and Braungart want to turn on its head our very understanding of the human role on earth: Instead of protecting the planet from human impact, why not redesign our activity to improve the planet? We can have a beneficial footprint. Abundance for all. The goal is within our reach.”
WUCF: 10 That Changed America
WUCF: 10 That Changed America, Homes, Parks, Towns, Buildings lets small cities and towns can compare their sitations by looking at the best homes, towns, parks and buildings in America. WUCF: 10 That Changed America is a series of videos with the ten best homes, parks, towns and buildings in America. A great case study of what towns are considered to be the best and what criteria was determined to be important in coming to the selected results. The towns are interesting, the criteria is useful when designing and planning small cities and towns of character.