Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Ralph Buehler coedits book on cycling trends and policies in North America, Europe, and Australia

From VT News:

Ralph Buehler, Ph.D.
"NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION, Nov. 27, 2012 – Health and environmental benefits, time and cost savings, more and better bike lanes and paths, innovative bike sharing programs, and the sheer fun of riding have contributed to a bicycling boom in many North American and European cities.

This urban cycling renaissance has created enthusiasm for "City Cycling", a newly published book on cycling trends and policies edited by Ralph Buehler, assistant professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech National Capital Region, and John Pucher, professor in the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University. "  Read more at http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2012/11/112712-ncr-buehlerbook.html.

Monday, November 26, 2012

New Free Online Coursera Course Focuses on Urban Planning, Technology, Cities, To Be Co-Taught by OSU's Jennifer Evans-Cowley and VT's Tom Sanchez

New Free Online Coursera Course Focuses on Urban Planning, Technology, Cities
TechniCity Class To Be Co-Taught by OSU's Jennifer Cowley and VT's Tom Sanchez

The Ohio State University's College of Engineering will offer its first free online course, TechniCity, in May 2013 as part of OSU's new Coursera offerings.

The four-week class will explore how the increasing availability of networks, sensors and mobile technologies allows for new approaches to address the challenges that our cities face. It will cover how cities are changing, how technology is used to engage with the public to support decision-making, tools for analyzing the city, the infrastructure that makes the real time city possible, and how creativity can spawn technological innovation.

Geared toward upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, TechniCity is being taught by Jennifer Evans-Cowley, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of city and regional planning at Ohio State, and Tom Sanchez, professor of urban affairs and planning at Virginia Tech.

"We were inspired to engage with thousands of students across the globe who share our passion for cities and want to think creatively about how technology can improve our quality of life" said Cowley.

Sanchez notes that "this course covers some of the most fascinating technologies in cities today.  The course is also structured to encourage students to look into the future and imagine the new roles that technology will play." The instructors envision the course as an active "virtual salon," or discussion forum, where participants can engage in reasoned debate and polite conversation, while offering criticisms of current technology issues facing the world's cities. Students will hear technological innovators and thought leaders about course topics, complete homework assignments and engage in a peer evaluation project of their choosing.

Ohio State University partnered with Coursera in fall 2012 to offer free online courses. Formed by two Stanford University professors, Coursera offers high-quality college-level courses online for free, creating new worldwide learning opportunities. Coursera courses can be taken for free by anyone who signs up by providing an email address. Visit www.coursera.org for more information.

###
Contact: Jennifer Evans-Cowley, 614-292-0479, cowley.11@osu.edu

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Call for Papers: 'Using ICT, Social Media and Mobile Technologies to Foster Self-Organisation in Urban Governance’

Via the Planet Listserve:

"Call for Papers      
International Conference
‘Using ICT, Social Media and Mobile Technologies to Foster Self-Organisation in Urban and Neighbourhood Governance’

Date and Venue
May 16-17, 2013
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Conference Theme and Issues
The use of social media and mobile communication technologies has grown rapidly over the last years. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace, MSN, Blogger, ICQ, Blogspot, RSS feeds and mobile Internet technologies have facilitated a constant increase in the number of virtual networks. Research has shown that Internet and virtual networks give rise to personalised communities that exist both in virtual and real spaces. The spatial-virtual intersection is prominent in ‘volunteered geographic information’ that is created by individuals who use geo-visualization interfaces (Google Maps).
The popularity of Facebook, Twitter and other social media has spurred a demand for new forms of self-organising governance by citizens and forms of participatory planning. However, real two-way communication between residents and policymakers through social media is still scarce. Standard public participation instruments (e.g. town hall meetings) are outdated, unappealing, disconnected from residents’ needs and difficult to fit into daily activity schemes. Hence, resident involvement in neighbourhood affairs and collective action are often below the potential given residents’ willingness to contribute.

Whereas many recognise the potential of social media to involve new groups (e.g. youths) and offer new ways of communication and participation, there is little knowledge on the utility, mobilising potential and effectiveness of social media and mobile technologies in this context. How can social media supplement other participation forms? What about take up rates of social media-based platforms? To what extent do virtual platforms really affect decision-making and residents’ approach towards local everyday liveability issues? What are preconditions and restrictions for effectively using ICT and social media in self-organisation? And to what extent do new practices require adjustments of theories of active citizenship, social capital, participatory planning and collective action?

Aim and spin-off of the conference
The aim is to identify, present and discuss scientific research into and local experiences with the mobilising potential of ICT, social media and mobile technologies and ICT in the context of neighbourhood governance, self-organising citizens and participatory planning.
We particularly welcome academic researchers who are willing to present papers that discuss the aforementioned questions. Delegates from local governments, NGOs, housing authorities and resident organisations can also attend without presenting a paper.
Our intention is to work towards an edited volume for a renowned publisher or a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal.

Program and Key Note Speakers
A two-day program, with key note speeches, parallel paper sessions, and a plenary debate.
Confirmed key note speakers are:
- Jennifer Evans-Cowley is Professor and Associate Dean at Ohio State University. Jennifer has published several influential articles on Internet-based participation tools and the future of mobile technology in participatory planning. In a 2011 Planetizen article, she was recognised as one of the leading thinkers in Urban Planning and Technology.
- Rich Ling is a Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, working on the sociology of Technology. He has published several renowned books on the social impacts of mobile phones, such as “New Tech, New Ties. How Mobile Communication is Reshaping Social Cohesion” (2009) and recently “Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together and Tearing Us Apart” (2012), with Scott Campbell. Only last month, “Taken For Grantedness. The Embedding of Mobile Communication into Society” came out. 
- Martijn de Waal is founder of The Public Matters, a private firm studying the role of new media in the public sphere. He is also co-founder of The Mobile City, an independent research group that investigates the influence of digital media technologies on urban life and the implications for urban design.

Abstracts and Papers
Researchers who want to present a paper during the conference are invited to submit an abstract of 300 words maximum to Dr Reinout Kleinhans (r.j.kleinhans@tudelft.nl). The deadline for submitting abstracts is 15 January, 2013.
Abstracts are reviewed; you will receive notification before February 1st. For details, see the conference website.
The final papers will need to be submitted before 1 May 2013.

Costs and Registration
The conference participation fee is €225, - . A registration form will soon be available on the conference website.
The fee covers registration, conference proceedings, reception and conference dinner (day 1), lunches and refreshments.

Further information and questions?
Please contact Mrs Christel Swarttouw-Hofmeijer of the OTB Research Institute:
Phone: +31 (0)15 278 3625"

Dec. 5: National Award for Smart Growth Achievement in #WDC

You're invited to the Dec. 5: National Award for Smart Growth Achievement! 
The EPA is hosting a Wednesday, December 5 program that will recognize the winners of EPA's National Award for Smart Growth Achievement; the program also is a great opportunity to learn about seven cutting-edge smart growth projects that are transforming communities. The ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. at EPA headquarters in Washington, DC. Please RSVP at the link below. 
https://docs.google.com/a/vt.edu/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dEZuQzd5RDhzbDVrdDdwSzFRZXBiZmc6MQ

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Call for Proposals: 12th annual Social Equity Leadership Conference

Via the ASPA Newsletter:

"Organizers are currently accepting proposals for the 12th annual . The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2012. The conference theme is Globally Engaged, Locally Responsible: New Challenges for Social Equity.

The conference takes place June 5-7, 2013 in Raleigh, NC.  There is a focus on existing and emerging issues of social equity and governance in Education, Policing and Corrections, At-Risk Communities, including Immigrants, Aging and the Elderly, Housing, Transportation, Environmental Protection & Sustainability, and Inclusive Excellence.


Proposals are currently being accepted until December 15, 2012. To submit a proposal, visit, . For more information about the conference, please contact Dr. Jade Berry James, Department of Public Administration, North Carolina State University, at rmberryj@ncsu.edu."

Call for applications: Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship

From Virginia Sea Grant:

"2014 Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
DEADLINE: February 15, 2013.

Virginia Sea Grant is pleased to announce the availability of the 2014 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship for Virginia students.  Please share this email broadly with faculty and students that may have an interest in marine and environmental science, law, management, policy, and planning.  The attached PDF can also be printed and posted. 

The fellowship provides a unique educational experience in the policies and processes of the federal government to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting these resources. Fellows are placed in various executive and legislative branch offices throughout Washington, D.C.  The fellowship period is one year beginning February 1, 2014.  Any student, regardless of citizenship, who, on February 15, 2013, is enrolled towards a degree in a graduate or professional program in a marine or aquatic-related field at a Virginia institution is eligible to apply through Virginia Sea Grant.  For more information, and to learn more about Virginia Knauss fellows, please visit http://vaseagrant.vims.edu/category/knauss-fellowship/

Feel free to contact Susan Park (spark@vims.edu, 804-684-7436) with any questions."

Internship Opportunity at Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Via the YIPPS listserve:

"...the Department of Transportation Planning at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is seeking an intern to provide assistance on a variety of projects within the department, including but not limited to web-based communications and public outreach, and with programs that are designed to promote coordination between land-use and transportation at the local level.

The posting may be found here:

Please feel free to pass this along to those who might be interested!  Applications will be accepted until the position has been filled."

Call for Papers: CNU 21 Calls for New Urban Research

Via the Planet Listserve:



"CNU 21;
Call for New Urban Research
Deadline December 14th  



The Congress for the New Urbanism is gearing up for CNU 21 and is now accepting academic papers representing the most creative and innovative ideas in New Urbanism. Several papers will be selected for presentation at CNU’s annual Congress, which will be held in Salt Lake City, UT from May 29th-June 1st, 2013.
This year, CNU is targeting the notion of “Tactical Urbanism” – a topic that focuses on temporary projects and urban activism. Papers should concentrate on real examples demonstrating the feasibility or lack of practicality of projects motivated by activism rather than politics, i.e. Park(ing) Day, Dumpster Pools, Guerilla Gardening, etc., and their subsequent effects on the culture of planning. 
We invite all academic research submissions with a focus on New Urbanist practices, although highest priority will be given to the following topics: art in public spaces, urban repair, temporary interventions, land use fluctuations and utilization cycles, guerrilla urbanism and squatting, homelessness, ethnic sub-cultures, economic reform, land use re-interpretations, creative/temporary development proposals, new lifestyles, lack or excess of security, urban abandonment/shrinkage, aesthetic value of time, urban design theories or methodologies, and creative means of urban transportation.
Paper submissions are due Friday, December 14th, 2012.For more information, visit Submission Guidelines or email callforpapers@cnu.org with questions or comments.
The Call for New Urban Research is now open. We encourage academics on all levels to evaluate, critique and submit their research for review to CNU’s 2013 Call for New Urban Research!"

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Call for Papers: 14th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research

Courtesy of Larkin Dudley and Andrea Kavanaugh:

"Call for Papers
dg.o 2013
14th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research
From e-Government to Smart Government
Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Monday – Thursday, June 17-20, 2013
Submission deadline– February 1st
 
General inquiries: dgo2013@easychair.org
Twitter: DGSociety, #dgo2013

The Digital Government Society (DGS) announces the 14th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research - dg.o 2013. The dg.o meetings are an established forum for the presentation, discussion, and demonstration of interdisciplinary e-Government research, technology innovation, applications, and practice. Each year the conference combines:
·         Presentations of effective partnerships and collaborations among government professionals and agencies, university researchers, relevant businesses, and NGOs, as well as grassroots citizen groups, to advance the practice of e-Government.
·         Presentations and discussions on new research on e-Government as an interdisciplinary domain that lies at the intersections of information technology research, social and behavioral science research, and the challenges and missions of government.
·         Practice regarding e-Government projects, implementations, and initiatives that bring together the research and practitioner communities, demonstrate the effectiveness and/or challenges of e-Government, and offer best practices.

Governments today face unprecedented opportunities and challenges. New technologies provide governments with the opportunity to redefine the relationship between government and the public that they serve, create innovative public services, provide customer-focused services, encourage transparency, promote participatory democracy, facilitate the co-design of services, form new partnerships in service delivery, streamline operations and reduce costs, and build trust in government. But harnessing and implementing technologies effectively raise a number of policy, technology, and governance challenges. This year, the conference program will focus on research and practice related to the adoption of smart technologies by governments, citizens and other private and non-profit organizations. More and more, the adoption of smart technologies by individuals and organizations is opening new opportunities for creating public-private partnerships to improve current government services as well as to create new, innovative ones.

Submissions addressing this theme could include but are not limited to: smart technologies for governments, semantic technologies for e-government, web services applications, open and transparent government; social media and public participation; effective use of social media by governments; crowd sourcing for government decision making; transformative government; models of collaboration among government, industry, NGOs, and citizens; data integration, visualizations, and analytics for government decision making; agile and flexible government; financial/economic/social policy making; policy and governance issues that enable, facilitate, and promote smart government; government productivity and effectiveness; service quality and customer-centric e-Government; social and health infrastructure; global government collaboration models and practices; infrastructure for data sharing among government agencies; computing infrastructure models, cyber-security and project management; IT-enabled government management and operations, and interest in program execution; IT and tools to support government security; and methods to measure and evaluate success in e-Government.

In addition, we welcome submissions from the broader domain of digital government research. We invite completed research papers, papers describing management and practice, policy, and case studies, on-going research posters, and live demonstrations that demonstrate the use of technology to promote innovative e-Government services. We particularly encourage submissions on interdisciplinary and crosscutting topics. We also encourage the submission of suggestions for panels, and pre-conference tutorials and workshops.

Accepted papers are published in the ACM Proceedings Digital Library, and selected papers will appear in leading journals such as Government Information Quarterly and Information Polity.
The conference has five thematic tracks, which accept full research papers as well as management, case studies and policy papers (see below for paper submission types), each with chairs responsible for managing the submission and review process for that track. The conference also accepts work in progress as well as short descriptions of applications in any topic on a poster and demo track, and panels, workshops and tutorials also in separate tracks. Feel free to get in contact with any track chair for guidance.

Track 1. Social Media and Government
Track chairs: Rodrigo Sandoval and Andrea Kavanaugh
Social media use in public administration has been growing rapidly around the world. Since the launch of web 2.0 many governments and public officials use new online tools to communicate among themselves, and with organizations and citizens. Recently this growing use has been creating new challenges for government users (e.g., regulations, policies), and an overwhelming increase in messages and other communications from citizens that are difficult to accommodate. These outcomes have started changing government interaction among their own personnel and with citizens and other agencies.
Track 2. Transformation and Open Government
Track chair: Marijn Janssen, Natalie Helbig and Vishanth Weerakkody
Many governments are striving towards a vision for government-wide transformation to achieve an open, transparent, accountable and demand-driven government,. This requires fundamental changes and the concept of transformational government is pushed forward. At the same time governments have become open system and seek for participation and interaction with their environment. The track solicits for papers addressing the issue of public sector transformation between governments and their environment.
Track 3. Emerging Topics
Track chairs: John C. Bertot, Paul Jaeger and Chris Reddick
Digital government both as an academic discipline and in practice continues to evolve. As new technologies, big data applications, policies, and management practices develop, governments seeks ways in which to provide innovative, smart, and transformational government services.  The  Emerging Topics track seeks submissions that provide insights into emerging digital government  research and practice.
Track 4. Organizational Factors, Adoption Issues and Digital Government Impacts
Track chair: Chris Hinnant and Theresa A. Pardo
Over the past decade, many public organizations have adopted information and communicational technologies (ICT) to facilitate communication and transactions with many stakeholders such as residents, private sector businesses, non-profit organizations, and other government agencies. While recent digital government research has often focused on understanding the external impacts of ICT adoption by government, the adoption and implementation of new ICT by public organizations is influenced by organizational factors such as the availability of resources (i.e. funding, technological knowledge, and personnel), managerial leadership, and the organization’s technological culture. This track solicits research that examines the organizational factors that influence the adoption and implementation of new ICT by as well as the impact of new ICT on the  organizational processes, effectiveness, and innovativeness of public organizations.

Track 5. Smart Government Technologies
Track chair: Soon Ae Chun, Tomasz Janowski
Smart government is achieved through innovation, transformation and re-structuring in policies, strategies, and technologies to create improved public sector process efficiency and service integration and delivery, and to support better decision making and collaboration with the public. Intelligent systems, new platforms for communication and collaboration, data collection, sharing and analytics, shared services, sensors and ubiquitous computing are all the key ingredients to transform the government that benefit the public and business, and to improve the quality of life. This track aims to facilitate theoretical and practical discussions on approaches towards the smart government, smart cities, smart community, smart citizens by technology and policy innovations in the area of energy, transport, health, public safety, buildings, urban planning, environment, business and others.
Track 6. Smart Cities and Smart Work
Track Chairs: Jungwoo Lee and J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
World population is increasingly concentrating in cities. People work and live in and around cities and information technologies have transformed their lives as well as the public and private services being provided to them. Therefore, smart cities and smart work could be considered highly interrelated and, actually, two sides of the same coin. City administrators are facing daunting tasks in order to accommodate emerging characteristics of urban life and promote better quality of life and improved work life balance, while enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of administrative services. This track invites theoretical and empirical papers concerning smart cities and smart work. Suggested topics include but are not limited to the followings: smart city services, ICT driven city development, cooperative policy development, participative governance, novel service typologies of smart ubiquitous cities, community forums for service development, spaces and mediated presence, smart work centers, telecommuting, flextime, mobile work, quality of city life, work life balance, urban mobile learning, creative cooperatives, skill changes of labor force, and urban human capital management.
IMPORTANT DATES
·         February 1, 2013 - Papers, workshops, tutorials, and panel proposals due
·         March 15, 2013 - Application deadline for 2013 Doctoral Colloquium
·         March 15, 2013 - Papers, workshops, tutorials, and panel proposals notifications
·         March 30, 2013 - Posters and demo proposals due
·         April 15, 2013 - Camera-ready manuscripts due
·         April 15, 2013 - Notification for acceptance into 2012 Doctoral Colloquium
·         April 15, 2013 - Poster and demo acceptance notifications
·         May 15, 2013 - Early registration closes!
·         May 20, 2013 - Conference hotel block closes - make your bookings before this deadline!
·         June 17-20, 2013 - Dg.o 2013 conference!
SUBMISSION TYPES AND FORMATS
·         Research papers (maximum of 10 pages)
·         Management, Case Study, or Policy papers (maximum of 6 pages)
·         Panel descriptions (maximum of 4 pages)
·         Posters (maximum of 2 pages)
·         System demonstrations (maximum of 2 pages)
·         Pre-Conference tutorial proposals (maximum of 2 pages)
·         Pre-Conference workshop proposals (maximum of 2 pages)
·         Doctoral colloquium application (maximum of 10 pages)
Submissions must not exceed the maximum number of pages specified for each type of submission in camera-ready ACM Proceedings format (double column, single spaced pages). Please do not use page numbers. Paper titles should be on the first page of text, rather than on a separate cover page.
·         Research and Policy papers will be reviewed through a double blind review process. Therefore, author names and contact information must be omitted from all submissions. Authors must identify the topic(s) being addressed in the paper to assist the program committee in the review process.
·         All other submissions should follow the same ACM proceedings camera-ready format with author names included on the paper.
·         All accepted submissions will appear in the proceedings, and authors are expected to present their work. At least one author for each accepted paper must register before the camera ready version is due in order for it to be included in the proceedings.
Research papers (maximum 10 pages) – blind review
These submissions report innovative digital government research results in the form of a formal scholarly paper. Papers on any digital government topic and all research methodologies are welcome. Relevance to digital government problems, goals, or policies must be explicit.
Management, case study, or policy papers (maximum 6 pages) – blind review
These submissions describe and evaluate practical digital government projects or initiatives, discuss major policy themes, or present and evaluate management approaches to digital government initiatives and programs.
Panels (maximum 4 pages)
Proposals should include the theme and goals of the panel, a summary of the digital government issues or questions that the panel will address, statements about the value of the discussion to conference attendees and how well suited the topic is to a panel discussion. In addition, the proposal should include information about the expertise of the moderator and panelists in the selected issues. Please include names, institutional affiliations, addresses, email, and phone contact numbers of the contact person, moderator, and presenter(s).
Posters (maximum of 2 pages)
The poster session, held in conjunction with the system demonstrations, allows presenters to discuss research in progress, application projects, or government policies and program initiatives in one-to-one conversations with other participants at the conference. The 2-page summaries should outline the nature of the research, policy, or project and describe why the work will be of interest to dg.o attendees. Posters prepared for the conference should measure approximately 36" x 48." Each poster station is provided with a table and an easel. Selected poster submissions may be asked to give an oral presentation in the conference sessions.
System Demonstrations (maximum 2 pages)
System demonstrations are held concurrently with the poster session to the accompaniment of good food and professional fellowship. The 2-page summaries should outline the nature of the system and describe why the demonstration is likely to be of interest to dg.o attendees. Demonstrations of interest include systems under development or in active use in research or practice domains. Submissions should include authors' names and contact information according to that format. Each station is provided with a table, an easel, and Internet access. Monitors will be available for rent. Selected demo submissions may be asked to give an oral presentation in the conference sessions.
Pre-conference Tutorials (maximum 2 pages)
dg.o tutorials are half- or full-day presentations that offer deeper insight into e-Government research, practice, research methodologies, technologies or field experience. In particular, tutorials are intended to provide insights into good practices, research strategies, uses of particular technologies such as social media, and other insights into e-Government that would benefit researchers and practitioners.
Pre-conference Research or Management Workshops (maximum 2 pages)
We invite workshop proposals on any e-Government research or management topic. Workshops are half- or full-day events intended to offer interactive sessions, in which the workshop host and participants discuss and engage in activities designed to facilitate joint learning and further exploration of a particular subject. Individuals proposing workshops will assume the responsibility of identifying and selecting participants for the workshop and for conducting workshop activities.
Doctoral Colloquium (maximum 10 pages, not including references, tables and figures)
The Doctoral Colloquium is a highly interactive full-day forum in which Ph.D. students meet and discuss their work with each other and with senior faculty from a variety of disciplines associated with digital government research. The colloquium is planned for Monday June 17, 2013.PhD students can submit papers describing their planned or in-progress doctoral dissertation covering any research areas relevant to digital government. Ideally, student participants will have completed one or two years of doctoral study or progressed far enough in their research to have a structured proposal idea and perhaps some preliminary findings, but have not reached the stage of defending their dissertations. We expect students at this stage of study will gain the most value from feedback on their work and from the more general discussions of doctoral programs and scholarly careers. See the detailed announcement for complete information on the colloquium and how to submit an application. Material provided in applications to the doctoral colloquium will not be published in the proceedings. However, we encourage students to submit finished research to one of the paper tracks or as a poster or demo.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
·         All accepted management or policy papers, research papers, student papers, panels, posters, and system demonstrations will be published in the printed proceedings and included in the ACM digital library. Selected papers may be invited for a journal special issue.
·         Outstanding achievement awards will be presented in the categories Research papers, Management and policy papers, Posters, and System demonstrations. Papers that reflect the theme of the conference, form E-Government to Smart Government, will be preferred. Other selection criteria include the interdisciplinary and innovative nature of the work, its contribution to and balance between theory (rigor) and practice (relevance), the importance and reach of the topic, and the quality of the writing for communicating to a broad audience.

CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION
The dg.o 2013 conference management team includes:
·         Conference Chair - Sehl Mellouli, Laval University.
·         Program Chairs:
o    Luis Luna-Reyes, Universidad de las Americas Puebla
o    Jing Zhang Clark University.
·         Track Chairs:
o    John Bertot, University of Maryland College Park
o    Soon Ae Chun, City University of New York
o    Natalie Helbig, Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany
o    Chris Hinnant, Florida State University
o    Paul Jaeger, University of Maryland College Park
o    Marijn Janssen, Delft University
o    Andrea Kavanaugh, Virginia Tech
o    Theresa A. Pardo, Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany
o    Chris Reddick, University of Texas San Antonio
o    Rodrigo Sandoval, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
o    Vishanth Weerakkody, Brunel University
o    J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
o    Jungwoo Lee, Yonsei University
·         Workshop and Tutorial Chair - Soon Ae Chun, City University of New York
·         Poster and Demo Chair - Gabriel Puron Cid, CIDE
·         Panel Chairs:
o    Teresa Harrison, University at Albany
o    Jana Hrdinova, Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany
·         Doctoral Colloquium Chairs:
o    Sharon Dawes, Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany
o    Björn Niehaves, Hertie School of Governance 
o    J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas"

Call for Abstracts: 5th International Conference on Women’s Issues in Transportation

From the Planet Listserve:

"The Call for Abstracts for papers for the 5th International Conference on Women’s Issues in Transportation (WIiT) is  OPEN!
LAST DAYS for SUBMITTING AN ABTRACT ! Take this great opportunity and join the conference !

The 5th International Conference on Women’s Issues in Transportation (WIiT) builds upon the successful WIiT conference series, held in the US since 1978. The 5th WIiT Conference, to be held in Paris in the spring of 2014 (APRIL 14-16...a shared event with TRA), continues the scholarly focus on women’s issues with the general question of “bridging the gap” between men and women in matters related to transportation. The conference will provide an international forum for sharing the latest research findings and policy analyses, and will feature international officials, keynote speakers, researchers, and practitioners.  

The deadline for submission of abstracts is Monday, November 19, 2012. For more information on the call for abstracts, visit the conference website at: http://wiit-paris2014.sciencesconf.org/

Abstracts (300 words) should include a clear statement of purpose and expected significance of the research, as well as information about data sources and methodologies, current status of the work, and up to five bibliographic references. 

Questions about the call for abstracts should be directed to wiit-paris2014@listes.ifsttar.fr"

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Return of the Urbanites: The new face of urban renewal has revitalized Chicago’s hub

Derek Hyra, Ph.D.
This recent article by Sheryl Nance Nash in INSIGHT Magazine, published by the Illinois CPA Society, quotes UAP professor Derek Hyra:

"Ah, the heady days of 1949-1974, when urban renewal was at its prime. It was then that a major national undertaking to remove blighted properties and poverty from areas surrounding central business districts took place—in Chicago as well as other urban centers. Between 1949 and 1962 alone an estimated $3 billion was spent on this initiative. Adjusted for inflation, that estimate approaches $17 billion in today’s economy. When added to the renewal funds deployed between 1963 and 1973, the total cost of urban renewal likely exceeded $30 billion (in contemporary dollars), writes Derek Hyra in the Urban Affairs Review."  Read more at http://www.icpas.org/hc-insight.aspx?id=20631.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Research in Progress Talk by Ariel Ahram on Tues 11/13

“Seeing Like the Iraqi State: Hydrology and
Ecocide in the Mesopotamian Marshes”

Ariel Ahram
Government and International Affairs
--
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
12:00-1:00pm
3rd Floor Library, 1021 Prince Street
--
Please RSVP to ajaimy@vt.edu

Virginia Farm to Table Conference on Dec 5 and 6, 2012

Via the VAPDC newsletter:
"The Virginia Farm to Table Conference will be held December 5-6 at the Plecker Workforce Center, Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, Virginia.

This two-day conference will be of interest to producers, buyers, school and university officials, community and agricultural development officials, legislators, administrators, and stakeholders working to strengthen local economies and regional food systems.

Topics include: Food & Farming in the 21st Century; Family Farming and Entrepreneurship: Organic Dairying and Flour Production; Healthy Soils, Healthy Foods; Incubating a Regional Food System: The Role of ACEnet; Healthy Farms, Healthy Waters; Dairy Processing and Value Retention; Emerging and Beginning Farmers; Co-packing/Food Business Incubation; Artisanal Flour and Small Grains; Alternative Markets and Marketing; and much more!

For more information or to register visit www.vafarmtotableconference.eventbrite.com"

New article co-authored by @UAPVirginiaTech prof Shalini Misra on people–environment relationships in the Digital Age

Shalini Misra, Ph.D.
A new article by UAP assistant professor Shalini Misra (co-authored with Daniel Stokols) published in the latest issue of Technology and Society proposes a new conceptual framework for understanding physical and digital interactions.  The article is entitled "A typology of people–environment relationships in the Digital Age."


Abstract:
"This paper introduces a new conceptual framework for understanding people–environment transactions as they occur within the hybrid and polyfunctional settings (settings that incorporate both physical and digital elements) of the Twenty-First century. Four alternative modes of environmental experience with respect to individuals' connectedness to real (R) and virtual (V) settings, the focus of their identity, and satisfaction of socio-emotional needs are presented: Placeless, Place-Based, Place-Cyber Based, and Cyber-Based. Focusing on the Place-Cyber and Cyber-Based environmental orientations, new constructs for characterizing individuals' place-cyber and cyber-orientations are developed and key objective and subjective criteria are identified to distinguish between these two forms of virtual life. New questions for further investigation regarding the psychological and health consequences of alternative modes of virtual life are raised."

Read more at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X12000577.


Call for Papers - SCUPAD Congress - OUT OF THE BOX: Diverse Tools for Planning

Via the Planet listserve:

"OUT OF THE BOX: Diverse Tools for Planning
 - CALL FOR PAPERS -
 The Salzburg Congress on Urban Planning and Development (SCUPAD) invites abstracts for papers to be presented on its 2013 Congress “OUT OF THE BOX: Diverse Tools for Planning” to be held 9 - 12 of May, 2013 in Salzburg, Austria. Researchers and practitioners in planning who wish to present and discuss their work on planning tools are invited to submit an abstract of their proposed paper. The abstract should be no less than 250, nor more than 500 words long, and follow this structure:
·         Title of the paper,
·         Keywords,
·         Presenter’s name, affiliation and contact details (including email),
·         Short description of the subject / problem / strategy,
·         Relevance to the congress topic,
·         Methodology used,
·         Outcomes, results or brief conclusion,
·         References,
·         Intention to contribute a written paper to the congress proceedings (not required).

 Abstracts should be submitted by email to papers@scupad.org no later than 15th December 2012
Presenters will be notified by 1st February 2013 whether their paper is accepted for the Congress. In addition to a presentation at the Congress, authors can choose to contribute with a written paper to proceedings of the congress. The maximum length of these contributions is 8 pages. Upon acceptance of submitted proposals, authors will receive more detailed instructions including a template for the paper and instructions for the presentation. Papers should be sent by email to papers@scupad.org prior to the congress to be included in proceedings. As an incentive to produce contributions, one presenter per paper will get free congress participation. The best paper presented at the congress will be chosen for the SCUPAD Prize of Excellence 2013 offering free congress participation in the next year. 

 The topic
Planners throughout the world use a variety of tools in their efforts to shape healthy communities. These range from traditional spatial planning and regulatory tools, to innovative processes for engaging authentic public participation. They include targeted public and private funding streams supporting urban and rural regeneration as well as conceptual and design tools. Today new methods, processes and instruments are emerging, driven by technological advancements, shifts in planning paradigms and our awareness that the global challenges we face are more complex than we previously understood.
SCUPAD Congress 2013 will offer a trans-disciplinary look at today’s planners’ toolbox. Invited presenters will bring to light innovative tools used throughout the world, exploring examples from the well-wired and high-tech, to tools that engage and empower non-planners in efforts to preserve, re-imagine and shape the places they care about.

Our planning and development practices address everything from climate change, mobility problems, poverty, public health problems, housing, habitat and cultural preservation, among thousands of other interrelated forces. The tools we use and create today are as diverse as the people and places we plan with. We are no longer just planning for people; we are planning for an ecosystem.

Rapidly changing environments, our urgent need to create nourishing settlements for the millions of people born and migrating each year, and opportunities to bring elegance and justice to our places demands that we sharpen and expand our tools. Our increasing knowledge of the complexity of our work, and the risk of its unintended consequences, invites us to be more precise in selecting and creating the right tools for the right jobs.

 The Institution:
SCUPAD is an independent, non-profit international organization of planners, whose members are based throughout Europe, the Middle East and North America and recently from South America, India and Northern Africa. All SCUPAD members are professionals working at a high level in their respective organizations: planning and other government authorities, educational and research institutions, private development and consultancy practices. With its annual Congresses since 1965, SCUPAD presents topics for discussion of a contemporary nature and of critical relevance to urban planning and development. Unlike most other international conventions, SCUPAD developed its characteristic style as a more personal exchange among experts, engendering informality, international and transdisciplinary discourse and a lively social and professional network that carries on beyond the Congresses.

 More information about SCUPAD and the upcoming congress can be found at http://www.scupad.org/."

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Call for Abstracts: MediaCity 4

Via the Comurb listserve:

"CALL FOR PAPER ABSTRACTS

MediaCity 4: MediaCities
http://www.mediacities.net
International Conference, Workshops and Exhibition University at Buffalo, The State University of New York May 3-5, 2013

Deadline: 12 November, 2012

The fourth MediaCity conference reflects on pluralities and globalities, on MediaCities everywhere.

What new lines of inquiry and emergent relations between urbanity and digital media are found in non-Western cities, in post-Capitalist cities, in cities hosting civic turbulence or crossing international boundaries? What urban-medial relations are taking shape differently in urban milieux that may have been heretofore overlooked? These cities are deserving of more attention than ever before, as sites of population growth, of new cultural and social formations, of new entanglements between urban life and contemporary media, communications and information technologies, and more. MediaCities promises to expand our understanding of both media and the city today, and to articulate new sites of practice and working methods for an expanding field.

This fourth MediaCity conference inaugurates its transition to a roving event taking place every two years in different cities around the world. Additional calls will follow for proposals to host the next event as well as for workshops and media art and architecture projects.

Topics
Areas of interest may fall broadly into several themes, with the assumption that others will appear in the process of proposals and discussion leading up to the event, always expanding our lexicon and mental maps of MediaCities globally. These themes are: Other Urbans, Uncommons, Zero Growth Cities, Media Geographies and Bordervilles.

Other Urbans
MediaCities are typically associated with post-industrial societies, Western and Asian cultures, and urban centers whose economic bases are rooted in technology. But many nonwestern cities around the world are rapidly evolving under the aegis of ubiquitous computing, and urban living in these places appears differently as well. Now is the time to recognize and identify the new models, problems and lives of nonwestern and other MediaCities as relevant to all cities. Other Urbans concerns the non-Western MediaCity, but also the marginalized Western (Detroit, Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Belfast, Leipzig) as well as the experimental (Songdo, Masdar).

Uncommons
What novel shifts are found now at the nexus of protest and public space in cities, and what roles are digital media playing? How are we to understand the enduring implications for events of 2010-2011 and after, from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street to whatever unfolds up until the conference itself, as each suggest diverse mutations in urban, medial and participatory formations? Lately we are seeing new catalytic reactions between these three elements. While the cases are familiar (WikiLeaks, Tahrir Square?s life on Twitter, OWS?s ?human microphones?), their potentials to intertwine matters of economic, cultural and other representation suggest the start of enduring changes to how public space and public discourse appear within and between global cities. Each holds potential to recognize and reform our thinking of public space and public discourse irrevocably as an ?uncommons.? No longer modeled on a rural pasture and no longer only a problematic of shared resources an!
d  individual interests, uncommons describe novel formations located in contested shared urban events.

Zero Growth Cities
This theme regards relations between growth, economy and MediaCities in diverse cases where urban landscapes and populations once considered dead or dying are rejuvenating themselves: an urban afterlife of sorts, often with clever mixtures of new and old technologies. How are MediaCities being newly inhabited and opportunistically developed in response to market conditions, and what creative and theoretical responses can we make to these developments? And what of those cities experiencing no growth (or even shrinkage)? Do wireless networks perform similarly in these cities as elsewhere? How do sensate and sentient landscapes affect life in cities whose populations don?t otherwise change? What vibrant new urban events and situations are appearing in these sometimes overlooked places?

Media Geographies
Today we recognize terms like "landscape" and "urban" to be non-oppositional - instead, we embrace the view that environment, social relations and even human subjectivity must be seen as interrelated ecologies. What roles do  digital media play in this shift, and what new practices under a rubric of ?Media Geographies? can it all suggest? For example, how are we to operate across scales, as critics, scholars, artists, designers? From bodies to landscapes that are at once local and global in scale, media geographies ask how this trans-scalar subject constitutes a form of urbanism. This theme critically engages spatial, social, ecological and philosophical implications as it mines the media cities we know for urbanities that we have overlooked.

Bordervilles
How are urban conditions around national borders inflected by ubiquitous computing? What mediated forms of citizenship are emerging at these border zones, and how do they differ around the world? Bordervilles are often unofficially twinned cities that share common conditions (ecological, micro-economic, climatic) but not others (lingual, macro-economic), all of which can be affected by digital media that transcend physical boundaries and sometimes skirt national regulation. What new mediated bordervilles are to be seen, and what urban conditions do they propose? These MediaCities are diverse and ripe for study. Some include an expanded border region, (San Diego/Tijuana, Buffalo/Toronto) while others are cities divided across nations (Istanbul, Jerusalem, Shenhzhen / Hong Kong).

Host
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Disciplines
Architecture, Art, Computer Science, Interaction Design, Geography, Media, Sociology, Urban Planning

Conference Chairs
Jordan Geiger, Omar Khan, Mark Shepard

Submission Requirements
Paper abstracts Due 12 November, 2012 by 11:59pm GMT, uploaded to the conference?s EasyChair website: http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=mc4
Abstracts should address global pluralities of MediaCities as the focus in this year's conference, whether that corresponds to one of the sample topics described herein or one of your own interest. The proposed presentation may  relate academic research, a creative project or other subject matter but should not exceed 500 words. Abstracts will be double blind peer-reviewed by representatives of a wide range of expertise in relations between media and urban issues today. Send questions to chairs [at] media cities [dot] net"