2011 June | InnovCity

Archive for June 2011

Poetry in Mexico City’s Metro

by Adrien Geneste | 06.28.11

From the 23rd to the 29th of this past April, as part of the World Book and Copyright Day, the hallways and platforms of the Mexico City metro reverberated with the verses of more than 40 Hispanic poets.

In California, car drivers will soon be able to predict traffic jams

Transportation | No comments

L'Express | 06.27.11 | Quick Read

35 to 40 minutes: this is the length of time within which IBM prides itself to be able to predict traffic jams. While until now, traffic maps usually displayed traffic flows in real time, the American firm is using both mobile phones and fixed sensors to anticipate traffic jams even before they happen.

Nicolas Reydel

Innovator

Designer and founder | Denovo

« An innovative cane that stands alone and apart »

ParisAvant, augmented reality serving History

Tourism | No comments

by Adrien Geneste | 06.24.11

Like the London application Streetmuseum, ParisAvant enables tourists to discover the capital through old photographs and postcards, playing with all the possibilities of augmented reality. Developed by the creators of the tourist application Geoquestour, in partnership with the website ParisAvant, the application is available from now on the AppStore.

Fontainebleau future laboratory for green innovations

Environment | No comments

by Elsa Sidawy | 06.23.11

Favoured by a historical and natural heritage that has made it famous, the city of Fontainebleau could do without thinking about its ecological conversion. But the city council wishes, on the contrary, to become an open-air laboratory to experiment innovative solutions.

Clamor, a virtual memory of urban sounds

Culture | No comments

by Elsa Sidawy | 06.22.11

While in Madrid on the Puerta del Sol, a visitor carefully listens and relives the events of spring. Soon reality overtakes imagination. Throughout the development of Clamor (Clameurs), the application’s founders have asserted its cultural and social impact. Record or listen to sounds on the move. Relive moments in history, share feelings about a situation or recommend places of interest to the community, all via smartphone.

Inflate a balloon for a better city

Social | No comments

by Jeroen Beekmans | 06.21.11

These days lots and lots of artistic projects are aimed at improving human interaction in public space. Montréal’s Museum of Possibilities (Musée des Possibles) is such a project, but a special one, that seems to be a physical life-sized version of the recently featured online crowdsourcing project Give a Minute.

A mobile phone application said to fight against insecurity

Social | No comments

by Adrien Geneste | 06.21.11

Opening yet another market in the insecurity sector, Ephemeris Entertainment announced the official launching of its free application called “BeSafe!” and meant to evaluate the level of insecurity according to time and place.

A collapsible helmet for cyclists who prefer to travel light

Transportation | No comments

by Adrien Geneste | 06.17.11

Bike helmets? Urban cyclists tend to go without head protection, often claiming helmets are just too cumbersome. Because bike helmets cannot be easily stored or even left hanging on a bike during the day, many cyclists, often forgot security in favor of practicality. In order to address this alarming finding, Overade, created a foldable helmet that has passed all crash tests.

Emmanuel Birlouez

Innovator

Founder | Spectralys

« Food-analysing sensors in dining halls soon? »

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China may be coveting the German system of suspended monorail

Transportation | Abair Heart | Il y a 51 jours et 6 heures

The Babayagas’ house, an alternative to old people’s homes and home care

Social | Janet Bardon | Il y a 66 jours et 8 heures

The Babayagas’ house, an alternative to old people’s homes and home care

Social | Michael Hawley | Il y a 69 jours et 6 heures

China may be coveting the German system of suspended monorail

Transportation | Ted Langs Sr. | Il y a 122 jours et 11 heures

Navigating the past and present with one’s body as the only tool

Education | John | Il y a 218 jours et 13 heures

Smart street furniture in Paris: the winners of the call for projects are finally unveiled

Urbanism | 1 comment

A poetic exhibition looks at the city’s place in comic strips

Culture | No comments

Cultural short breaks on board a 2CV soon in your city?

Tourism | 2 comments

Feedback

For sure if we aim to change our habits, urban areas have to be equipped in such a way the citizen don't feel like constrained in their everyday life.

John F. sur Electric car charging stations: DBT aims 25% of the French market | 1 comment

Web TV

15.07.11 | Urban Music Game’s enhanced ball

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Expert talk

Robert Spizzichino | Partenaires Développement

Greater Geneva: an economic and social project at the heart of innovation

Urbanism | 12.16.11

The Greater Geneva project represents an economic and social challenge for that area spanning France and Switzerland. The aim is to set in motion again a process that will stimulate job creation in the French part and strengthen residential services in the Swiss part. Innovative activities should find their place in that territory.

Jean Haëntjens | Urbatopie

Innovation lies also in the strategy

Social | 09.08.11

Is the proliferation of urban innovations counter-productive? While some cities are experimenting with abandon and with no real apparent logic, others have adopted a long-term strategy to combine innovations to serve a smarter, more sustainable city. Jean Haëntjens returns to this forum to talk about how important it is for cities to approach innovation with consistency and control.

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Zoom in

London’s transport system is transformed into a massive playground

And what happens when a public transport network becomes the scene of gigantic team games? Inspired by the principle of Fun Theory, which suggests that environmentally responsible behavior can be encouraged through attractive infrastructure, Chromaroma invites London Underground users to participate in an eco-citizen turf war.

Blogs review

Pop-Up City , the blog of Jeroen Beekmans

Rotterdam’s Crowd-Funded Pedestrian Bridge

Urbanism | 01.05.12

The International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) and Rotterdam-based architecture firm ZUS have launched the project I Make Rotterdam, a spectacular temporary pedestrian bridge between the city’s Central and the North districts that will be financed through crowd-funding.

Quinte & Sens , the blog of Olivier Genevois

In Caracas, mimes ease traffic tension

Education | 11.07.11

Venezuela’s capital Caracas plans to manage its traffic flow in an unusual fashion. In addition to traffic police, 120 mimes dressed up as clowns were sent into the city’s streets. Their role? Curb the risky behavior of pedestrians and drivers, not by force or repression, but through silence.

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Agenda Innov'in The City

May 9 to 11
Energy Cities annual meeting, Guimarães, Portugal.

May 12
International Workshop on Open Data, Nantes, France.

May 12
Stockholm Summit on Service Innovation in Cities, Stockholm, Suède.

Innovative city zoom

Toulouse has tackled issues ranging from urban lighting to public cleanliness with experimental innovation often on a shoestring budget, but the results continue to inspire many other cities in France and worldwide. A portrait of a city embracing urban innovation, helped along by the enthusiastic investigator Alexander Marciel, follows.

InnovCity