Weekly Roundup 147 – 16th to 22nd December

FEATURE REPORT/ ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

‘Hong Kong unveils smart city roadmap‘
By Katie Pyzyk

Hong Kong has released its “Smart City Blueprint” to guide its leaders in achieving their vision of becoming a world-class smart city. The blueprint maps out development plans for the next five years and beyond.

Read the whole piece here.

Published by Smart Cities Dive.

ONLINE PUBLICATION OF THE WEEK

‘Urban planning in Banda Aceh: supporting local actors after the tsunami‘
Published by International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED)

There is increasing awareness of the importance of humanitarian agencies supporting and collaborating with local actors in order to restore city functions following humanitarian crises. This research aimed to document learning from UN-Habitat’s experiences of supporting communities and local government to undertake urban planning after the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, in 2004. Despite the challenges of urban planning after a complex crisis, in areas devastated by the tsunami, UN-Habitat successfully supported communities and local government to develop village plans, a spatial plan for Meuraxa sub-district, and update the wider spatial plan for Banda Aceh City.

You can download the entire report here.

VIDEO / PODCAST OF THE WEEK

‘Citymakers: The Culture and Craft of Practical Urbanism‘
Created by LSE Cities

How is a city made today? In his new book, Citymakers: The Culture and Craft of Practical Urbanism, Cassim Shepard argues that it’s not just the top-down planners, architects and elected officials and bottom-up community groups that shape our cities, but the large and unheralded group in between. Shepard offers a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding the contemporary city that focuses on emerging principles practiced by a diverse group of “citymakers” including landscape designers, housing advocates, hackers, architects, ecologists, community organizers, activists, artists, and more.

Citymakers takes stock of these diverse examples from New York City to suggest a series of ethical imperatives for how we think about and produce public space, infrastructure, information technology, and housing worldwide. Panellists Holly Lewis, architect and co-founder of We Made That and Sven Mündner, an independent consultant for bespoke Public Realm strategy and delivery, drew on their experience to highlight similar London and UK based projects. Chaired by Julia King, the speaker and panel discussed more broadly the possibilities and necessity of new methods of engagement for a more equitable and sustainable future for cities.

Listen to the podcast here.