SFI takes first steps toward a science of slums | Santa Fe Institute - Iceweasel Feb. 6, 2013 8 p.m. Slums in the world’s fast-growing cities are often seen as problems and, in most cases, outside the law. But, from Paris and Tokyo 150 years ago to Mumbai and Johannesburg today, slums consistently emerge as a byproduct of the socioeconomic pressures of rapid urbanization, and they often don’t get the credit they deserve as entry points to the city for poor migrants, or for the economic activity they generate. With as many as a billion people now living in slums, understanding what might place these communities and their cities on paths of increasing socioeconomic opportunity is a priority. A new research project now under way at SFI, in collaboration with the nonprofit Slum Dwellers International (SDI) and backed by a generous grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to expand the scientific study of urban slums worldwide. Read the article in Txchnologist (January 22, 2013) More about SFI's research of the science of cities here. Read the MediaBistro article
Accueil: essor airoots/eirut Cities, Scaling and Sustainability | Santa Fe Institute - Iceweasel Organizers: Luis Bettencourt, Geoffrey West Cities, Scaling, and Sustainability SFI's Cities, Scaling, and Sustainability research effort is creating an interdisciplinary approach and quantitative synthesis of organizational and dynamical aspects of human social organizations, with an emphasis on cities. Different disciplinary perspectives are being integrated in terms of the search for similar dependences of urban indicators on population size - scaling analysis - and other variables that characterize the system as a whole. A particularly important focus of this research area is to develop theoretical insights about cities that can inform quantitative analyses of their long-term sustainability in terms of the interplay between innovation, resource appropriation, and consumption and the make up of their social and economic activity.
Practical Action - technology challenging poverty - Practical Action Latin America In Peru and Bolivia, we help communities set up small-scale technological solutions in remote areas where there is no access to basic services, including electricity, heating, clean water and sanitation. Western Africa Building on our recent extension of consultancy work into west Africa, Practical Action has recently set up an office to deliver impact at scale in Francophone west Africa. Eastern Africa Our offices in Kenya and Sudan work with communities to develop practical solutions in energy, agriculture and urban water and waste, reducing the impact of conflict and disasters. Southern Africa Our Southern Africa office works primarily in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, with an emphasis on improving access to clean drinking water and better sanitation in urban slums, increasing the productivity of smallholders in arid regions, and increasing energy access in rural and urban areas. South Asia UK office
urbanology What does Creative Commons means? (Infographic) - Iceweasel [german version] Many People know that there is something called "creative commons licenses". But what does it mean? Is it a license? No, CreativeCommons is a non-profit organization. And what's about the shortcuts and icons? The following infographic show it in a very clear way: artists and creatives can think about whether or not they will use a CC license. Infographic: "Creative Commons - What does it mean?" Small version Links / Sources Icons Important! If you like take a look on my "Google Glass infographic" water and sanitation for all - UK site Advanced Urban Marginality