A first step toward the future of neighborhood design Introducing our generative design tool, which can help generate millions of planning scenarios — and identify options that best reflect local priorities. Violet Whitney and Brian Ho 12 Dec
We ran traffic simulations on our people-first street designs. Here’s what we found By making it easier and safer to walk, bike, and ride transit, street flow improves for everyone — even drivers. Willa Ng and Joyce Xu 9 Sep
Civic engagement Collab: A new digital tool for community participation Sidewalk Labs and Digital Public Square teamed up on a new prototype to help people shape their communities. Ariel Kennan 5 May
Transportation Four principles for the future of city streets Cities can leverage design and technology to re-think our streets for pedestrians, bikes, and transit. Willa Ng 4 Apr
public realm How can we bring transparency to urban tech? These icons are a first step. Our “Digital Transparency in the Public Realm” project brought people around the world together to co-create a visual language to demystify the tech in cities. Jacqueline Lu, Chelsey Colbert and Patrick Keenan 4 Apr
What makes a public space great? Our open-source app, CommonSpace, gives park operators and communities a new tool to study that vital question. Ananta Pandey and Sebastian Soto 3 Mar
Blog Post The macro impact of micro-climates A Sidewalk Talk Q&A with Goncalo Pedro about shaping our buildings and public spaces to make a more comfortable public realm. Vanessa Quirk 9 Sep
Features Bringing Up Baby … Downtown To keep families, more North American cities are turning to a suite of planning and design innovations, from play space to stroller ramps to adventure parks. Amy Crawford 7 Jul
Features The secrets to a lasting mixed-income neighborhood Like many global cities, Toronto has become increasingly segregated into wealthy enclaves and boroughs of poverty. But one area that bucked the trend offers lessons for the future. Philip Preville 6 Jun
Model Lab Introducing Replica, a next-generation urban planning tool De-identified location data can help answer key transportation questions — from a regional level all the way down to a city block. Nick Bowden 4 Apr
15 Innovations That Shaped the City GTFS: The Promise of Data-Driven Public Transit Standardized transit data is a harbinger of a future where the fastest way to get around doesn’t require a private car. 11 Nov
Blog Post Making the most of city parks and the public realm means learning more about how people use them. Making the most of city parks and the public realm means learning more about how people use them. Rohit T. Aggarwala 6 Jun
Open-Source Tool A first step toward creating a digital planning laboratory is populating it Introducing Doppelgänger, Model Lab’s open-source population synthesizer. David Ory 6 Jun
MAP DEMO How the L train shutdown will impact your commute Our NYC Transit Explorer shows how long it takes to get anywhere in the city by bus or subway. Even during L-mageddon. Dan Vanderkam 2 Feb
GUEST POST The transformative potential of real-time transportation coordination By Kevin Webb Kevin Webb 1 Jan
Blog Post The benefits of turning housing construction into housing production Much residential housing is still built the same way it was 50 years ago, despite emerging technologies that can help reduce costs and increase affordability. Eric Baczuk 12 Dec
Blog Post Improving urban mobility starts with better travel data New digital tools can help us gain better insights into how people move around cities, and ask better questions about what we want our transportation systems to achieve. Corinna Li 12 Dec
BLOG POST Circling for parking is terrible for cities. Let’s put an end to it. By connecting drivers to spaces at the start of a trip, tech can help fight the curse of cruising. Willa Ng 9 Sep
FEATURE The First Principles of Urbanism: Part II Digital technology can be good or bad for cities. Which way it goes depends on how well technologists and urbanists work together. Rohit T. Aggarwala 9 Sep