Mobile Apps for Urban Planning

Anyone with a smartphone can tell you their favorite app – whether it be a game like Angry Birds or a tool like Google Maps – and anyone with a mobile device has multiple apps for multiple uses.  In addition to using mobile devices as research tools (see previous post), mobile apps provide opportunities for planners to not only collect data, but also share data and engage citizens in the planning process.

According to Jennifer Evans-Cowley, apps provide “the opportunity to engage new audiences, because a lot of people don’t have time to go to a public meeting.”  She goes on to say, “The nice thing about social media is really that the time frame of participating is quite brief. You can put in your two cents without necessarily putting in a whole dollar.”

Evans-Cowley’s research on this topic was published in 2011, entitled: There’s an App for That: Mobile Applications for Urban Planning.  Evans-Cowley and student Brittany Kubinski also surveyed planners on their use of mobile apps in 2012, reporting that the most commonly used apps on a daily basis were social media-based, such as Facebook and Twitter. Note taking apps like Prezi were also popular. Future needs described included apps that provide census data, location of healthy food stores, and APA awarded site locations.

The following are some apps listed from Planetizen and Cyburbia that planners should keep on their radar:

• Transportation – Railbandit: mobile app for light rail in US & Canada. It displays information on upcoming trains and, if your phone is GPS equipped, you can also track yourself on the train

• Economic Development – ESRI BAO: From their site: “With the free BAO for iOS app, you can access key demographic and market facts about any location in the U.S., using your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch”

• Public Participation – Accela Mobile 311: This iphone app enables users to take an active role in their community by requesting services or reporting incidents to their local government agency.

• Zoning – ZONER: From their site: “Zoner BETA gives you the ability to calculate the maximum buildable floor area for your property in seconds. Just enter the zoning values and let it work for you.”

Check out even more apps here.

Social Media: Keeping Us Connected in Times of Crisis

I decided to write this post in honor of my favorite city and all my family who lives there.

While there may never be a way we can fully avoid tragedy in our lives, there are ways we can help others through it, and that’s exactly what many people did in Boston yesterday. I am always struck by the kindness and heroism displayed during events like this, and many of these acts were shared over Facebook and Twitter as encouragement to others. People who were physically in the area responded to help, and – because of technology – people who were not physically in the area were able to respond as well.

A spreadsheet publicly hosted by Google was created after the bombings to help out-of-town runners and families find a place to stay. Over 6,000 entries were made.  Google also set up a person-finder to help connect those looking for loved ones and those with information about their location. The Red Cross has a similar website called Safe and Well in which users can list themselves as “safe and well” after a disaster and search for loved ones.

Many used Twitter and Facebook to let loved ones know they were ok, since the airwaves were congested with an overwhelming number of calls. Local restauarant El Pelon Taqueria used Twitter to let people know they were open for business and were offering cold drinks and a place to charge cell phones.

People are also banding together on Twitter to declare that they will run the Boston Marathon next year in honor of the victim’s of the bombing.

Mobile Devices as Research Tools

We use our cell phones, tablets, and laptops for work and play, but what about research? Our smartphones can do more than take phone calls, and our tablets can be used for more than reading pdfs; both can be used as data collectors.

There are more than 6 million mobile phones in use worldwide today, and that number is expected to rise to 1 billion smartphones in 2013. Incorporating these new tools in research can dramatically increase the “number of observation points potentially available to researchers.”

The following are examples of current projects exploring the use of mobile devices as research tools:

• Hewlett-Packard conducted a research project to understand the purchasing paths of incoming college students by allowing consumers to document – via any mobile device – why they did or did not purchase an HP.

• At UCLA’s Center for Embedded Network Sensing, research on Participatory Sensing is continuously conducted to discover how individuals relate to their local environments, and test new technologies in order to “transform our capacity to help individuals, families, and communities monitor and improve their health behaviors, adopt sustainable practices in resource consumption, and participate in civic processes.”

• A PhD project from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University used locational data from Twitter and Foursquare to make a social map of cities like Pittsburgh and New York. The geographic maps are divided into Livehoods based on clusters of data.

Although many of us are not technical experts, most of us know how we use technology. We can apply our personal experience to research techniques, and perhaps broaden our horizons by partnering with computer programmers in order to develop new ways to obtain and process mobile data.

Life Wireless & Affordable Technology

For many of us, it is difficult to remember the days before we had our smart phone – the days where we used pay phones to check in or had to wait until we got home to check our emails on our desktops. Today, it seems like everyone has a cell phone. But “everyone” is a relative term.

The price of buying a cell phone and paying for service, while much lower than the early days, can still price many people out; the advent of smartphones and bigger data plans has also increased prices.

Life Wireless , a Lifeline support program, offers free cellular service to eligible customers and also provides cheaper-than-normal plans to those who do not fully qualify for assistance. Lifeline itself is a government assisted program, and benefits apply to a single line of service per household (land or wireless).  The program was created in 1985 by Congress to ensure that all Americans have access to quality telephone service.

In addition to monthly service, Life Wireless customers receive a basic mobile handset with voicemail, text message, call waiting, and other features (smartphone not available). Service currently extends across the country, more coverage being located on the east coast and in midwest with spottier coverage on the west coast. Recently, the company has expanded its coverage to  new markets in Michigan and Texas.

Jim Carpenter, a senior vice-president with Life Wireless, stated: “We’re excited to expand our services into these two states. Our sales representatives go out into the community to reach those in most need of telephone service…A cell phone is not longer a luxury item, it is a necessity.”

As a planner, I began thinking about how people communicate and how they can access opportunities to better themselves. Cell phones are now a major lifeline of communication – both to build personal relationships, but also to access emergency services when not at home, to respond to job inquiries, and to generally stay connected. Jim Carpenter is right – a cell phone is a necessity in a highly connected world; and there is an opportunity for planners to coordinate community development with existing programs such as Life Wireless in order to help individuals and communities make these connections.

Economic Development @ Your Public Library

Public libraries are an important part of many neighborhoods, and upgrading them with new technology can and is helping improve individual lives. Libraries have been important partners in many Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) projects, which have received American Recovery and Reinvestment grants through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

An American Public Libraries report , released in February 2013, states that these investments have “enabled libraries to improve their public access technology resources, better address workforce development needs, expand digital literacy training opportunities, and create stronger community linkages and integrated services.”  The report estimates that 3408 libraries were received funds in the form of three different grant programs:

• 1744 – public computer center,
• 266 – sustainable broadband adoption and
• 1438 – comprehensive community infrastructure.

Many of these libraries can now offer high-speed broadband to their patrons, as well as updated computers, and helps provide training programs in conjunction with these services. For example, in DC, the District of Columbia’s Community Computing Resources project (DC-CCR) focuses on economically vulnerable populations by providing computer skills, job search and internet use training with current library staff and outside instructors. Equipment and connectivity are also being improved; as of September 2012, 767 new computers were installed and broadband connectivity upgraded from 10 Mbps to 1 Gbps at all sites.

What can planner’s take away from this report? How can we expand our vision to include innovative ways to get funding and improve communities through the use of public institutions like our libraries?