SYLLABUS (This is a work in progress and will be finalized before the course starts in May)

Coursera – TechniCity

Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University and College of Urban and Public Affairs, Virginia Tech University

Spring, 2013

Instructor: Jennifer Evans-Cowley, PhD, AICP (Ohio State) and Tom Sanchez, PhD (Virginia Tech)

Time: May 4-31, 2013

OVERVIEW

We are part of the real-time city. The increasing availability of networks, sensors and mobile technologies allows for new approaches to address the challenges that our cities face. The way we understand cities is undergoing sweeping transformation, right along with the analytical tools we use to design our cities and the communication tools we use to engage people. Absorbing, studying and understanding the role of technology from a critical viewpoint allows us to generate creative ideas for improving our cities.

This course begins by examining how our cities are changing. We then jump into how technology is used to engage with the public to support decision-making. Students will then examine tools for analyzing the city. Then we jump into exploring the infrastructure that makes the real time city possible. And rounding out the course is an exploration of entrepreneurial urbanism, looking at how creativity can spawn technological innovation. You’ll hear from technological innovators and thought leaders about all of these topics.

OBJECTIVES

During this course, students will:

• Gain familiarity with fundamental technology concepts.
• Enhance our ability to communicate with the public to enhance cities.
• Gain hands-on experience with engagement and analysis tools.
• Generate useful data to support informed public policy decisions
• Describe key infrastructure technology that shapes cities
• Accelerate the transfer of ideas between entrepreneurs and urban change agents;
• Develop a solid understanding of how technology is shaping your own city

Students are expected to fully commit to the four weeks of class work and fully participate in all aspects of the course.

READINGS

1)      Leighninger, Mat. (2011). Using Online Tools to Engage – and be Engaged by – The Public. IBM Center for The Business of Government. http://www.businessofgovernment.org/report/using-online-tools-engage-public

2)     Falconer, Gordon and Shane Mitchell. 2012. Smart City Framework: A Systematic Process for Enabling Smart+Connected Communities. http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/ps/motm/Smart-City-Framework.pdf

3)      Pierce, Neil. (2012). A High Tech Revolution Opens for World Cities. Citiwire. http://citiwire.net/post/3136/

4)       Robinson, Rick. 2012. Should technology improve cities, or should cities improve technology.  http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/rickrobinson/83211/should-technology-improve-cities-or-should-cities-improve-technology

5)      Badger, Emily. (2012). You Already Own the Next Most Important Transportation Planning Tool. The Atlantic Cities. http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2012/02/you-already-own-next-most-important-transportation-planning-tool/1124/

6)      Metcalfe, John. (2012). Motion-Activated Pothole Sensors…In Your Phone. The Atlantic Cities. http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2012/02/motion-activated-pothole-sensors-your-phone/1271/

7)      Mims, Christopher. (2011) ‘Wikipedia of Maps’ Challenges Google. MIT Technology Review. http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27443/

8)      Taylor, Christopher. (2011). 3 Simple Ways Tech Can Grow Greener Cities. Mashable. http://mashable.com/2011/06/29/urban-planning-peter-calthorpe/

9) Harris, Derek. (2012). Why better traffic data means more than just a faster commute. Gigaom. http://gigaom.com/data/why-better-traffic-data-means-more-than-just-a-faster-commute/

10) Levin, Tom. (2012). OpenBike: New website crowd-sources latest about Denver cycling http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/10/denver_cycling_openbike.php

11) Evans-Cowley, Jennifer S. (2011). Micro-Participation: The Role of Microblogging in Planning  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1760522

12) Evans-Cowley, Jennifer S. (2011). There’s an App for That: Mobile Applications for Urban Planning http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1951069

13) Emercoleman. 2012. Social media – Must we measure? http://digital.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/2012/11/21/social-media-must-we-measure/

14) Bilelo, David. 2012. Can Cities Be “Resilient” and “Sustainable” at the Same Time?http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/10/resiliency_vs_sustainability_can_the_megacities_of_the_future_be_both.html

15) Mann, Adam. 2012. Mesmerizing Visualizations Show Mass-Transit Patterns of Major Cities http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/transit-visualizations/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=wiredscienceclickthru&pid=5559

COURSE FORMAT

• The course will be delivered as an online course introducing a variety of technologies, combined with hands-on demonstrations.
• Course sessions will be delivered via online lectures with many guest speakers participating. Participants will need access to a computer and an internet connection.
• A series of assignments and a final peer project will be required.
• Students must have Twitter and Blog accounts setup for the first week of class.

PLANNING ACCREDITATION CRITERIA MET

The Planning Accreditation Board has a series of standards by which accredited planning programs are measured. Both Ohio State and Virginia Tech have accredited planning programs. Below is a list of accreditation criteria that are covered in this course.

• Purpose and Meaning of Planning: appreciation of why planning is undertaken by communities, cities, regions, and nations, and the impact planning is expected to have.
• The Future: understanding of the relationships between past, present, and future in planning domains, as well as the potential for methods of design, analysis, and intervention to influence the future.
• Global Dimensions of Planning: appreciation of interactions, flows of people and materials, cultures, and differing approaches to planning across world regions.
• Research: tools for assembling and analyzing ideas and information from prior practice and scholarship, and from primary and secondary sources.
• Written, Oral and Graphic Communication: ability to prepare clear, accurate and compelling text, graphics and maps for use in documents and presentations.
• Quantitative and Qualitative Methods: data collection, analysis and modeling tools for forecasting, policy analysis, and design of projects and plans.

SALON ENGAGEMENT

Given the scale of student enrollment, personalized contact with every student will not be possible, but we are designing a number of opportunities for engaging with the faculty.

• Weekly in-person salons will be offered at various locations, based on where the instructors are that week
• We will host weekly live tweet sessions (we will do our best to organize sessions in specific languages)
• We will host weekly Google Hangouts and/or Adobe Connect sessions (or other technology as appropriate)
• We will do our best to respond to messages sent via Twitter (dependent on volume) @EvansCowley
• The online discussion forums will be monitored and you are welcome and encouraged to post questions there.

GRADING

• Individual Assignments 30%
• Final Project 50%
• Peer Evaluation 20%

ASSIGNMENTS

Individual Assignments (30 points)

Each week students will engage in an assignment allowing the development of skills related to technology in the city. All assignments are due by 8 am EST on Sunday of that week. Assignments should be placed in the coursera assignments location.

Students have a total of 7 late days that can be applied to the assignments. No additional late days will be granted.

Final Project (50 points)

Students will be creating a personal blog on which they will be creating a series of entries that culminate to represent their final project. The blog should be centered around their city.

• Students will describe their city include key assets and challenges
• Students will prepare an analysis of volunteered data about their city
• Students will prepare an audit describing key infrastructure in their city
• Students will prepare a proposal for how entrepreneurs could be engaged to benefit their city

• The project will be graded by multiple peers. A detailed grading rubric will be provided addressing:
  • Formatting/professionalism
  • Clarity of writing (with the understanding that many participants are non native English speakers)
  • Quality and Appropriateness of Recommendations
  • Discussion of the city and its context
  • Discussion of criteria for evaluation
  • Inclusion of appropriate screenshots

The final project is ineligible for late dates.

PEER EVALUATION (20 points)

Peer grading is the process students grading the final project of other students according to a grading rubric that has been developed by the instructors. Once the deadline for the final project has passed, you and all the other students will receive several final projects from other students in the class. You will be using a rubric the instructors will provide. You will then self-grade your own assignment based on the rubric, along with the projects others have submitted.Your final grade for the project will be viewable, based on the rubric.

INTEGRITY

Plagiarism is passing off as one’s own ideas, words, writings etc., which belong to another. You are committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own even if you should have the permission of that person. It is critical that you appropriately cite the work of others. The coursera honor code addresses plagiarism.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Preparation for first session: Students are expected to complete class readings and their first assignment in advance of the first class meeting.

Week 1: Engaging the Real Time City: Through social networking and crowdsourcing platforms you’ll learn how to engage in city building.

Introduction: The World of Google: Importance of Tech in Cities:Technologies Supporting Cities: Web 2.0, 3.0. X.0: Blogs/Microblogging: Public Participation Technologies: Crowdsourcing: Social Networking

Week 2: Analyzing the Real Time City: From sentimement analysis to mashups, you’ll experiment with analyzing data.

Sentiment Analysis: Four Square Checkin Analysis: Web GIS and Mashups: Crowdsourced Analysis: Mobile Technologies

Week 3: Infrastructure for the Real Time City: You’ll learn how sensors and networks are transforming our cities.

Mesh Networks: Sensors

Week 4: Entrepreneurial Urbanism: You’ll explore how open data initiatives, hack-a-thons, and urban prototyping festivals are creatively innovating our cities.

Hack-a-thons: Urban Prototyping Festivals: Open Data Opportunities: Cyber Cities: Startups

ABOUT THE GUEST SPEAKERS

Below is a list of speakers that have agreed to participate in this course. This list is subject to change.

Nader Afzalan (@naderafzalan): Nader Afzalan’s areas of interest include the utilization of social media as a tool to engage different voices in the planning process, youth empowerment, community development, and redevelopment of cultural landscapes. His current research focuses on empowering youth and children in the decision-making and visioning processes through utilization of online tools and virtual settings.Mr. Afzalan holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Urban Planning from the University of Tehran and he is currently a PhD student at the University of Colorado. Nader was involved in various community development, urban revitalization and urban design projects in several Iranian historical towns. For nine years, as project director and urban planner, he focused on participatory planning and social mobilization in these towns. He has also conducted extensive research on documention and revitalization of traditional bazaars in affiliation with the Iran Cultural Heritage Organization and the Iran Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Ben Berkowitz (@benberkowitz) – is the CEO and founder of SeeClickFix (http://seeclickfix.com). SeeClickFix allows users to document non-emergency issues so that they can be fixed. Their slogan is “improving your community is just a click away!).

Nick Bowden: Nick Bowden is the co-founder and Chief Engagement Officer of MindMixer. MindMixer has transformed the old-fashioned town hall into a virtual community engagement platform, strengthening citizens’ voices while broadening community and governmental leaders’ audience.

Georgia Bullen (@georgiamoon):Georgia Bullen is a Field Technologist at Open Technology Institute of the New America Foundation. In her previous work as the GIS & Data Visualization Specialist at the Spatial Information Design Lab (SIDL) and with GD|Viz,she worked on large data visualization projects in the areas of Social Media, transportation logistics, economic geography, urban flows and other large scale urban issues.Her work focuses on the intersection of human-centered design, urban space, and technology – specifically how technology and data can improve and facilitate the planning process, citizen access to technology and data, and the information systems that people use to interact with urban environments.She has a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and a BS in Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon.

Pete Costello: Pete Costello is the Director of Business Development, Public Sector for INRIX.  Pete Costello | Director Business Development, Public Sector, INRIX

Frank Hebbert (@fkh): Frank is the Director of the Civic Works team at OpenPlans, exploring how technology, planning, citizens, and government come together. He thinks we can make better places and beat climate change with the winning combo of planning, technology and public participation. Frank holds a Masters in City Planning from MIT. He blogs intermittently on open source planning. He co-organizes Planning Corps, a network of volunteer planners providing assistance to non-profits.

Aurash Khawarzad (@aurashkhawarzad): Aurash Khawarzad is the founder and CEO of the Change Administration, a studio focused on urban planning, urban design and action. The Change Administration seeks to optimize the process of planning and development so that community infrastructure is responsive and fulfilling for the people that occupy it. This includes facilitating public participation, partnerships between institutions and communities, and taking an action-oriented approach. Aurash previous worked with the Project for Public Spaces and with governments in Northern Virginia. Aurash holds a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Tech University and a Bachelor’s in Urban Affairs from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Jason Lally (@synchronouscity): Jason Lally is the Director of the Decision Lab at PlaceMatters. As a city and regional planner with a background in the information sciences, Jason believes that unexplored synergies exist between the real and virtual environments. He has organized a Denver Hack-a-Thon and builds tools for engaging and analyzing the city. His interest is to build and implement tools that inform and expand the processes of planning and decision making. Jason has a Master’s in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. Jason also has a BS in Information Sciences and Technology from the Pennsylvania State University.

Dave Rauchwerk (@elevenarms): Dave Rauchwerk is a founder and Chief Technology Officer of Bohemian Innovation a design consulting firm providing technology-based marketing tools. He’s a self described hardware hacker with software tendencies. He recently created Turn to Clear Vision for the San Francisco Urban Prototyping Festival.

Rick Robinson (@dr_rick): Rick Robinson is the Executive Architect, Office of the CTO, Public Sector, IBM Software Group Europe. IBM Executive Architect for Smarter Cities. He regularly blogs about technology for cities at http://theUrbanTechnologist.com/. He holds a bachelor’s and PhD in Physics from the University of Birmingham.

Mitch Silver (@mitchell_silver): Mitch Silver is the President of the American Planning Association. He is the Chief Planning and Economic  Development Officer in the City of Raleigh, North Carolina. Silver is an  award-winning planner with more than 25 years of planning experience. He is  nationally recognized for his leadership in the profession and his  contributions to contemporary planning issues. Before coming to Raleigh in 2005  as planning director, Silver worked as policy and planning director in New York  City, a principal of a New York City-based planning firm, a town manager in New  Jersey and deputy planning director in Washington, D.C. He has taught  graduate planning courses at Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Pratt Institute,  and North Carolina State University. As  planning director in Raleigh, he  led the comprehensive plan update process. He is now overseeing a rewrite of the city’s Development Code. (http://www.raleighnc.gov/planning)

Chris Steins (@urbaninsight): Chris Steins is the founder and CEO of Urban Insight. Chris has 15 years of experience in technology consulting and urban planning. He has participated in all aspects of information systems life cycle development, including user requirements, project management, system design, development and deployment. He has served as a consultant to public sector, state, county and local agencies, Fortune 500 private firms, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations. Chris also serves as the co-editor (with CTO Abhijeet Chavan) of Planetizen, the most-visited urban planning website in the United States, which serves over 25,000 unique daily visitors. Urban Insight uses Planetizen as a real-life testbed for the Internet strategies and technologies Urban Insight deploys for its clients.  (http://www.planetizen.com )

Sarah Williams: Sarah Williams is an Assistant Professor of City Planning at MIT. Previously she served as the Director of Columbia University’s Spatial Information Design Lab (SIDL). Her current research interests focus on the intersection of technology and the urban realm, with a particular focus on using mobile computing to help better understand urban spaces. Williams specializes in the representation of digital information/mapping and ecological design & planning. The Spatial Information Design Lab (SIDL) which Williams ran uses innovative mapping and representation techniques to highlight urban issues. The work of SIDL has been widely exhibited including recent shows at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) and the Venice Biennale. Sarah has a Masters degree from MIT in City Planning and Urban Design and received her Bachelors degree in Geography and History from Clark University.

Dr. Matthew Zook (@floating_sheep) – is a Professor of Geography at the University of Kentucky. He along with his collaborator Dr. Mark Graham at the University of Oxford and two other collaborators, created the blog Floating Sheep (http://www.floatingsheep.org). These geographers map the geographies of user-generated online content. With more than 1,300 followers they have been successful in disseminating their research.

SYLLABUS

CRP 394 Planning Technology
Geek out using the latest technology for planning.

Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University

2 Credit Hours, Spring, 2012

Instructor: Jennifer Evans-Cowley, PhD, AICP

Time: Saturdays, 9am – 5pm ET, March 31, April 7

Location: 437 Knowlton Computer Teaching Lab

OVERVIEW

Emerging technologies are fundamentally changing how we plan, develop and manage our urban areas. Likewise, planning professionals are increasingly being called on to adopt new technologies to plan, communicate planning concepts and engage citizens in the planning process. This practical course will introduce fundamental technologies needed by planners to be effective today.

This course is divided into two sections. The first is an introduction to a broad number of planning technology tools. This will be achieved through two activities. The first activity is a daylong webcast engaging with technology thought leaders around the globe who will share the tools they have developed. The second activity is a series of five exercises to familiarize you with how to use a set of social media tools.

The second section is focused on developing a social media strategy for the American Planning Association President Mitch Silver.

This is an intensive experimental workshop. Students will have a significant workload in the first three weeks of the quarter.

OBJECTIVES

During this course, students will:

• Gain familiarity with fundamental technology concepts.
• Gain hands-on experience with social media tools needed by planners to be effective.
• Understand how Internet technologies can be applied in the field of planning
• Develop techniques to evaluate and select the best technology to solve a problem.
• Develop a social media strategy for the American Planning Association President.

Students are expected to fully commit to the three weeks of class work and fully participate in all aspects of the course.

READINGS

1)      Leighninger, Mat. (2011). Using Online Tools to Engage – and be Engaged by – The Public. IBM Center for The Business of Government. http://www.businessofgovernment.org/report/using-online-tools-engage-public

2)      Landis, John. (2012). A Brave and Better World? The iPad and the Future of Planning. Planetizen. http://www.planetizen.com/node/54337

3)      Goodspeed, Robert. (2009). An iPhone in the City. Planetizen. http://www.planetizen.com/node/40512

4)      Carr, Austin (2012). Foursquare Solves a Basic UI Problem that eludes Google Maps and Yelp. Fast Company.  http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669015/foursquare-solves-a-basic-ui-problem-that-eludes-google-maps-and-yelp

5)      Pierce, Neil. (2012). A High Tech Revolution Opens for World Cities. Citiwire. http://citiwire.net/post/3136/

6)      Badger, Emily. (2012). You Already Own the Next Most Important Transportation Planning Tool. The Atlantic Cities. http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2012/02/you-already-own-next-most-important-transportation-planning-tool/1124/

7)      Metcalfe, John. (2012). Motion-Activated Pothole Sensors…In Your Phone. The Atlantic Cities. http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2012/02/motion-activated-pothole-sensors-your-phone/1271/

8)      Mims, Christopher. (2011) ‘Wikipedia of Maps’ Challenges Google. MIT Technology Review. http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27443/

9)      Taylor, Christopher. (2011). 3 Simple Ways Tech Can Grow Greener Cities. Mashable. http://mashable.com/2011/06/29/urban-planning-peter-calthorpe/

10) Gizmodo. (2012). Pinterest: The Last Article You’ll Ever Need or Want to Read http://gizmodo.com/5888097/pinterest-the-last-article-youll-ever-need-or-want-to-read

COURSE FORMAT

• The course will be delivered as a two day-long workshops introducing a variety of technologies, combined with hands-on demonstrations.
• Course sessions will be delivered both in person and via web conferencing technology with speakers from across the globe participating. Participants will need access to the computer lab.
• One course session will be conducted via webinar in order to demonstrate and practice with this technology.
• Attendance during all class sessions is mandatory.
• Students must have Yelp, FourSquare, Gowalla, Twitter, Wikipedia and Dropbox accounts setup in advance of the start of the spring quarter.

Planning Accreditation Criteria Met:

• use problem solving skills to select, diagnose and solve relevant aspects of a complex planning problem including attention to the needs and interests of diverse stakeholders and the guidance provided by conceptual and empirical expertise.
• use written, oral and graphic skills to compose clear, accurate and compelling text, images and maps in documents and oral presentations.
• collaborate with peers in joint learning activities organized to produce a plan or planning product for a relevant professional clientele, to mediate disagreements, to interpret contested purposes, and to negotiate between diverse and competing interests.
• use ideas about the creation of plans, programs or projects to prepare an individually crafted product for a specific planning purpose and audience; demonstrating skill and judgment preparing a planning project that meets minimum professional standards
• use techniques for the adoption and implementation of plans including relevant regulations, incentives, techniques and technologies.

OFFICE HOURS

• I am available via appointment only. My office is in Room 169 Hitchcock. To get an appointment, please contact Sherri Nash at Sherri_Nash@engadmin.ohio-state.edu
• I am available 24×7 via email when you include the course number and name in your subject line. All course emails will be answered within ten hours during the week, and within 24 hours on weekends. Messages sent via Twitter will be responded to within 10 hours @EvansCowley

GRADING

• Individual Assignment 40%
• Group Assignment 40%
• Class Participation 20%

ASSIGNMENTS

Individual Project (40 points)

Students will be assigned to one of the American Planning Association’s America’s Great Places. Students will use five different social media tools to promote your Great Place and the American Planning Association’s America’s Great Places program.

All projects are due by 8 am ET Saturday March 31st. Assignments should be placed in the CRP 394 PlanningTech Dropbox. Ten points will be deducted for each day late an assignment is delivered (even five minutes after the time it is due will result in it being counted as a day late).

Team Project (40 points)

American Planning Association President Mitchell Silver has invited this class to create a social media strategy that would support his role as President and the organization as a whole. This includes all modes of social media delivery.

• Students will conduct an inventory of APA’s current social media tools and content that is delivered via social media
• Students will determine how key stakeholders desire to communicate via social media from professional organizations
• Students will prepare appropriate infographics that convey social media trends and strategies
• Students will prepare a print ready social media strategy in InDesign
• Students will prepare a prezi presentation summarizing the key recommendations of the social media strategy

• The project will be graded on:
  • Formatting/professionalism
  • Clarity of writing
  • Quality and Appropriateness of Recommendations
  • Discussion of planning context
  • Discussion of criteria for evaluation
  • Inclusion of appropriate screenshots of tools
  • Quality of presentation
  • Participation as an effective team member

The team project should be placed in the CRP 394 PlanningTech Dropbox. Ten points will be deducted for each day late an assignment is delivered (even five minutes after the time it is due will result in it being counted as a day late).

INTEGRITY

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is passing off as one’s own ideas, words, writings etc., which belong to another. You are committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own even if you should have the permission of that person. Any instances of academic misconduct will be reported to the Committee on Academic Misconduct (University Rule 3335-5-487). If you are unsure as to what constitutes plagiarism, please see the instructor.

ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS

If a student requires accommodation for a disability, he or she should immediately arrange an appointment with the professor and the Office for Disability Services.  At the appointment, the professors, disability counselors, and student can discuss the course format, anticipate needs and decide upon accommodations.  Professors rely on the Office for Disability Services for assistance in verifying the need for accommodations and developing accommodation strategies.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Preparation for first session: Students are expected to complete class readings and their first assignment in advance of the first class meeting.

March 31, 2012: This marathon workshop session will run from 9 am to 5 pm. Students will be immersed in the world of planning technology. The day will include a series of presentations from leaders in technology and planning from around the globe (as a note all of these speakers were invited and accepted via Twitter) and will have the opportunity to interact with APA President Mitch Silver. In advance of this class session, students should visit the websites associated with each speaker to be prepared to ask educated questions.

ABOUT THE GUEST SPEAKERS

Mitch Silver (@mitchell_silver): Mitch Silver is the President of the American Planning Association. He is the Chief Planning and Economic  Development Officer in the City of Raleigh, North Carolina. Silver is an  award-winning planner with more than 25 years of planning experience. He is  nationally recognized for his leadership in the profession and his  contributions to contemporary planning issues. Before coming to Raleigh in 2005  as planning director, Silver worked as policy and planning director in New York  City, a principal of a New York City-based planning firm, a town manager in New  Jersey and deputy planning director in Washington, D.C. He has taught  graduate planning courses at Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Pratt Institute,  and North Carolina State University. As  planning director in Raleigh, he  led the comprehensive plan update process. He is now overseeing a rewrite of the city’s Development Code. (http://www.raleighnc.gov/planning)

Chris Steins (@urbaninsight): Chris Steins is the founder and CEO of Urban Insight. Chris has 15 years of experience in technology consulting and urban planning. He has participated in all aspects of information systems life cycle development, including user requirements, project management, system design, development and deployment. He has served as a consultant to public sector, state, county and local agencies, Fortune 500 private firms, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations. Chris also serves as the co-editor (with CTO Abhijeet Chavan) of Planetizen, the most-visited urban planning website in the United States, which serves over 25,000 unique daily visitors. Urban Insight uses Planetizen as a real-life testbed for the Internet strategies and technologies Urban Insight deploys for its clients.  (http://www.planetizen.com )

Holly St. Clair (@HollyStClair): Holly St. Clair is the Director of Data Services for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. As the Director of Data Services at MAPC, St. Clair oversees the agency’s activities in the fields of data management, data analysis, research, and public access to data. She has pioneered the use of advanced decision support tools in Metropolitan Boston, managing a variety of projects that use scenarios modeling, 3-D environments, community indicators, and innovative meeting formats to engage stakeholders in dialogue about policy choices. Ms. St. Clair is also the quiet heavy lifter behind the process and structure of Boston’s MetroFuture Initiative, and has been pivotal in the creation of the Boston Data Commons, a data portal and interactive web mapper that puts hundreds of data layers at the fingertips of residents, public officials. St. Clair is collaborating with Dr. Eric Gordon (@ericbot) (http://www.placesofsocialmedia.com) to begin creating a planning-based gaming platform to help residents become more involved in community planning. (http://www.mapc.org/about-mapc/staff/holly-st-clair)

Dr. Matthew Zook (@floating_sheep) – is a Professor of Geography at the University of Kentucky. He along with his collaborator Dr. Mark Graham at the University of Oxford and two other collaborators, created the blog Floating Sheep (http://www.floatingsheep.org). These geographers map the geographies of user-generated online content. With more than 1,300 followers they have been successful in disseminating their research.

Rob Goodspeed (@rgoodspeed) – is a PhD student at MIT focusing on online public engagement in planning processes. He is the co-founder of DCist.com, Rethink College Park (http://www.rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/) and is a regular contributor to Planetizen’s Interchange Blog.

Ben Berkowitz (@benberkowitz) – is the CEO and founder of SeeClickFix (http://seeclickfix.com). SeeClickFix allows users to document non-emergency issues so that they can be fixed. Their slogan is “improving your community is just a click away!).

Kristen Carney (@cubitplanning) is the founder of Cubit Planning (http://www.cubitplanning.com), a firm that helps people use demographic data. She tweets on urban planning, GIS, government data and starting a business.

Jason Lally (@synchonouscity): is the Director of the Decision Lab at PlaceMatters, a non-profit devoted to improving the decision making process around land use planning through emerging techniques. Jason blogs about city planning technology (http://www.jasonlally.com/blog )

April 7, 2012: This workshop session will have class in-session from 9 am to ???. In the morning, students will complete an evaluation exercise and Phase I teams will be responsible for presenting the results of their research. In the afternoon students will be expected to work together to produce the social media strategy report and presentation. No specific end time is stated as it will depend on the speed at which the class progresses. By the end of the day the class will have substantially completed the strategy. This will leave editing, layout of the report, and preparation of the presentation in the days that follow.