Liability and Regulation of Autonomous Vehicle Technologies Autonomous vehicle technologies and advanced driver-assistance systems have the potential to significantly improve transportation safety and efficiency, and, collectively, they may offer tremendous social, economic, and environmental benefits. As these technologies increasingly perform driving functions, they also create a shift in responsibility for driving from the driver to the vehicle itself. This motivates a new look at liability and regulatory regimes because of the increasing uncertainty about what should happen when the inevitable crash occurs and the implications for the adoption of these technologies. This research is an initial step toward understanding these issues and creating an integrated collection of policies to address them. This report is part of the RAND Corporation external publication series. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.
7 Dead Shopping Malls That Found Surprising Second Lives Legislation "World's first" 3D printed car created and driven by Local Motors The acceleration of 3D printing means that even cars can be now printed. The Local Motors Strati 3D car was printed live at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2014 last week. The printing process took just 44 hours. View all Strati was the result of the 3D Printed Car Design Challenge run by crowd-source automotive firm Local Motors. "Local Motors has a long standing relationship with the Association For Manufacturing Technology who runs the International Manufacturing Technology Show," Kate Hartley of Local Motors told Gizmag. Local Motors claims that Strati is the world's first 3D printed car, although the 2010 Urbee is one of a number of projects that might also stake a claim to that title. The company also claims that it is the first time that the main portion of a car has been printed in one piece using direct digital manufacturing. Local Motors tells Gizmag that the build process for the Strati has has three phases. Source: Local Motors Share
Scrunched in Seattle - Sara Solovitch - POLITICO Magazine OK, so there wasn’t a sink in the bathroom. But the kitchen sink was only four steps away. And so what if the apartment—all 192 square feet of it—was half the size of a budget hotel room? “I don’t feel like we need bigger spaces,” says Alexa Case, gesturing at the mini-flat screen TV that she’s mounted on the wall, her collection of black shoes and a pan scraped clean of something chocolate—all within easy reach of her bed. Like many millennials, Case isn’t ready to settle down in the suburbs and commute two hours a day. “Even though it’s tiny, it’s easy for me to keep organized,” she says, the edges of a tattoo peeking out from under her T-shirt. More than a quarter of all households in the United States today are made up of just one person, up from 17 percent in 1970. Seattle boasts the highest number of micro-dwellings in the country—3,000 at last count. But compared with Seattle, New York is barely getting its toes wet.
Large Metros Have Generated the Lion's Share of Employment Since the Great Recession The fallout from the Great Recession continues to reset America’s economic geography. Larger, denser metros have performed considerably better, according to a recent analysis that charts metro employment growth since the economic crash. The study, by Josh Lehner of the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, used county-level jobs data to compare employment growth in large metros (with over one million people), medium-sized metros (with populations of 250,000 to 1 million), small metros (those with less than 250,000 people), and non-metro areas from 2007 through 2013. The chart below, from Lehner’s analysis, shows the trend. The lines for all four types of metros slope steeply downward with the onset of the economic crisis, from roughly 2008 through 2010. The second graph below, also from Lehner’s analysis, charts the performance for these four groups of metros between 1980 and a projected 2015.
Urban Zoning Rules and Poor Development As the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh is the largest and fastest growing city in the country with over two million inhabitants. In recent years it has seen unprecedented rates of growth in the economy, population and urbanization, however there is yet to be any regulations to ensure sustainable development. Without a comprehensive master plan for the capital city, there is no official zoning or building code requirements, which puts the future of the city in the hands of the private sector instead of the residents who are at risk of losing their city of water. Zoning plans usually regulate land use, form, design or attempt to control development to maximize opportunity in the city and encourage growth that will support better living. Some specific examples of lost opportunity in Phnom Penh are natural hazards and green space, which almost go hand-in-hand. What zoning regulations have helped your city control development and what might come of your city without zoning? Connect:
Urban kchoze: Japanese zoning This articles is a follow-up of this one about standard zoning practices in North America. It is advised to read the previous article to better compare the two. First, I cannot call myself an expert on Japanese urbanism, what I know of it comes from a document from the ministry of land and transport of Japan, that they published in English. You can find it at the following address: I will underline certain characteristics of Japanese zoning that makes it different from North American practices and that I find particularly interesting. 1- Zoning is a national law, not a municipal by-law This might be the single most interesting characteristic of Japanese zoning that differentiates it from zoning in North America. That being said, cities aren't completely cut off from the business of zoning. 2- There are only 12 different zones In North American zoning, there are often hundreds of different zones with different characteristics. The difference is evident. Conclusion
Top 30 key obstacles to innovation Creativity has become the currency of success As most of the tangible advantages of the past have become commodities, creativity has become the currency of success. A study of 1,500 CEOs indicated that leaders rank creativity as number one leadership attribute needed for prosperity: Creativity is the most important leadership quality, according to CEOs. Standouts practice and encourage experimentation and innovation throughout their organisations.Facing a world becoming dramatically more complex, it is interesting that CEOs selected creativity as the most important leadership attribute. Mind the innovation gap Unfortunately, many companies fail to unleash their most valuable resources: human creativity, imagination, and original thinking. The hidden barriers to innovation Obstacles that will need to be addressed if you expect to establish a sustainable culture of innovation: How to overcome barriers to innovation? About the author