Content about Health

In an arena historically dominated by city hall meetings, how can planners engage the imagination of the public and capture unique perspectives? Metroplan, central Arkansas's Council of Local Governments and Metropolitan Planning Organization, has recognized the necessity of including as many voices as possible in crafting a new transportation plan.  The Imagine Central Arkansas project (ICA) gathers input from residents of a four-county region about a range of transportation-related issues that the region will face over the next thirty years.  Imagine Central Arkansas showcases a variety of interactive participation methods that can be adopted in comprehensive plan-making.

With all the options for social media today, it is a common concern we’re faced with: what is the best way to engage citizens and stakeholders cost effectively? We all want to get information out quickly to relevant audiences whose expectations for information access have grown so fast. So which outreach channel should we be focused on? According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 92 percent of adults use email which can be thought of as “the central hub of all online communication.”

Local newspapers have always been a relied-upon source for citizens, playing a complex role in the civic life of American communities. According to the 2012 State of the News Media report by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, newspaper circulation is dropping while the number of people reading news on mobile devices is on the rise.

How can we understand the travel behaviors and mobility barriers experienced by low-income populations? The answer is both simple and complex at the same time, since it requires considering the entirety of individuals’ lives, not only their travel to and from their workplace. My research team and I gathered data from a relatively small sample of low income individuals through focus group interviews. We augmented the focus group data using additional detailed information provided by key individuals who participated in the preliminary discussions.

DEADLINE : February 17 . Cities require new solutions as they face major challenges in areas such as mobility, health, safety, urban management, carbon emissions, education and tourism. In turn, solutions providers are often struggling to navigate a complex market of 557,000 local governments in the world.

Last week, the White House announced that they are actively seeking input from citizens to help identify best practices for public participation in government and suggest metrics that will allow agencies to assess progress toward the goal of becoming more participatory. The solicitation for input is directly related to the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan which was announced earlier this Fall as a government-wide effort to reform and modernize records management policies and practices.    

Smart cities don’t happen by accident.  To help planners and policy makers better understand and manage the dynamic behavior of cities, IBM Global Business Services is introducing new analytics software and services based on their “smarter cities” strategy.  System Dynamics for Smarter Cities is an interactive model that allows leaders to observe how the core systems of a city -- such as the economy, housing, education, public safety, transportation, health care, government services and utilities -- work together and affect one another.