2011 October | InnovCity

Archive for October 2011

GéoCar is reinventing carpool commuting with employee clusters

by Elsa Sidawy | 10.28.11

“When you talk about carpooling in a company, 90% of the employees run the other way.” For Benoît Reynaud-Lacroze, prejudice against carpooling is fierce. The most crippling aspect of carsharing? Having uncertainty as to how to get home. A negative that the start-up Ville Fluide is trying to remedy with GéoCar, a solution for commuting between home and work.

The Ride: A spectacular tourist bus in New York

Transportation | No comments

by Elsa Sidawy | 10.28.11

Over the past year, a sightseeing bus of a new genre has emerged in New York. Passengers who board “The Ride” must prepare for a new experience. While comfortably sitting on seats facing a huge window, they can, as in a theater, enjoy the various shows available to them along their journey through the Big Apple.

Daniel Walsh

Innovator

Director | New York Mayor’s office of Environmental Remediation

« New York is betting big on the rehabilitation of its brownfields »

Romainville inspired by vacuum waste collection system

Environment | No comments

Le Monde | 10.25.11 | Quick Read

On Saturday 15th October 6,000 inhabitants from four areas of Romainville were present at the inauguration of the first vacuum waste collection service in France. In total, 106 collection points have been installed at the foot of buildings in order to collect the household waste and recyclable packaging from these 2,602 apartments.

In Belgrade, a solar-powered device charges mobile phones for free

Urbanism | No comments

by Elsa Sidawy | 10.24.11

In order to find a solution to this everyday problem, students from the University of Belgrade invented the Strawberry Tree after two years of research. Installed in the Obrenovac public park in October 2010, the device enables users to charge their mobile phones for free within ten to fifteen minutes.

A musical bench sets the tempo in the city

Social | No comments

by Adrien Geneste | 10.24.11

Designed by Michael Shoner, a German architect, and exhibited for the first time in 2008 in Amsterdam, the Boom Bench is first and foremost a factor of sociality.

The Haute Gironde region will try dynamic carpooling coupled with public transport

Transportation | No comments

by Elsa Sidawy | 10.21.11

The territory of the Upper Gironde will experiment from now until the end of November with a new real-time ridesharing service to meet the objectives of its Climate Plan and promote intermodality. A difficult task for a predominantly rural area split into 65 municipalities where 90% of trips under 5 km are made by car and public transport is rarely used.

New York is betting big on the rehabilitation of its brownfields

Environment | No comments

by Elsa Sidawy | 10.19.11

New York wants to clean up some 3,000 abandoned lots throughout the city which for the most part are polluted. In order to restore the land, the municipality has set up an operation to revive the neglected but highly coveted land and thus promote local development.

Exclusive: release of the 2011 index of the most innovative cities in the world

Social | No comments

by Elsa Sidawy | 10.19.11

The Australian agency 2thinknow released today the results of its fifth annual “Innovation Cities Index”. Like last year, Boston is top of the list of the most innovative cities in the world, among the 331 cities that have been observed (versus 289 in 2010). Paris loses its second place and comes third after San Francisco. [...]

Olivier Le Gal

Innovator

Project head | Mu

« Sound Delta Wild, digital technology in the service of nature »

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Osmose prefigures tomorrow’s metro stations

Transportation | cars | Il y a 3 jours et 22 heures

Paris City Council Innovation Grand Prizes: French innovators awarded for their creativity

Education | Wrongful Death | Il y a 29 jours et 18 heures

China may be coveting the German system of suspended monorail

Transportation | Abair Heart | Il y a 48 jours et 12 heures

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

Social | Janet Bardon | Il y a 63 jours et 14 heures

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

Social | Michael Hawley | Il y a 66 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