Urban form and mobility preferences
Urban planners and designers as well as city governance increasingly promote urban walkability as a means to tackle climate change, improve residents’ quality of life, and address socioeconomic inequities that auto-oriented development tends to exacerbate. In order to forecast the effects that envisioned changes to the built-environment could have on foot traffic, cities increasingly require quantitative, predictive pedestrian flow models.
Ending an eviction moratorium for renters makes people in a community significantly more likely to contract Covid-19, according to a new study co-authored by MIT researchers.
In 2010, the city of Rio de Janeiro opened its Operations Center, a high-tech command post centralizing the activities of 30 agencies. With its banks of monitors looming over rows of employees, the center brings flows of information to city leaders regarding crime, traffic, and emergency preparedness, among other things, to help officials anticipate and solve problems.
By many lights, these are challenging times: The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, rampant political polarization, and the social and economic effects of globalization have all contributed to a sense of unease or outright turmoil around the globe.
This summer, the Venice Biennale’s 17th International Architecture Exhibition, the world’s premier event of its kind, is directly tackling those types of issues, led by the exhibition’s curator, Hashim Sarkis, dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, governments have used data on people’s movements to inform strategies for containing the spread of the virus. In Europe and the United States, for example, contact-tracing apps have used Bluetooth signals in smartphones to alert people when they’ve spent time near app users who have tested positive for Covid-19.
The rapid advancement of autonomous vehicles technology in recent years has changed transport systems and consumer habits globally. As countries worldwide see a surge in the use of autonomous vehicles, the rise of shared autonomous mobility on demand (AMoD) service is likely to be next on the cards. Public transit, a critical component of urban transportation, will inevitably be impacted by the upcoming influx of AMoD and the question remains unanswered on whether AMoD would coexist with or threaten the public transit system.
When disparate groups convene around a common goal, exciting things can happen.
The year 2020 was undoubtedly a challenge for everyone. The pandemic generated vast negative impacts on the world on a physical, psychological, and emotional level: mobility was restricted; socialization was limited; economic and industrial progress were put on hold. Many industries and small independent business have suffered, and academia and research have also experienced many difficulties. The education of future generations may have transitioned online, but it limited in-person learning experiences and social growth.
How does an individuals method of urban mobility impact their experience of a city and their perceptions of urban traffic? Moving in Nairobi, an exhibition that draws upon over 15 years of research, captures the city of Nairobi through the eyes of four commuters to explore this question.
Among the courses taught by Siqi Zheng is one identifying how real estate companies can be profitable while building and operating sustainably. Her class, 11.S949 (Sustainable Real Estate), at the MIT Center for Real Estate (CRE) attracts students from throughout the MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) and MIT Sloan School of Management. Harvard University students also cross-register to attend her course.
What skills are critical to the success of a city planner? Creativity, design instincts, data science, fluency in economics, community engagement? Jeff Levine, Lecturer of Economic Development and Planning, believes you should include leadership and communication skills in your list of traits emblematic of effective urban planners.
Twelve MIT student affiliates have won fellowships for the Fulbright 2021-22 grant year. Their host country destinations include Brazil, Iceland, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Spain, and Taiwan, where they will conduct research, earn a graduate degree, or teach English.
Transport network companies (TNCs), or ride-sharing companies, have gained widespread popularity across much of the world, with more and more cities adopting the phenomenon. While ride-sharing has been credited with being more environmentally friendly than taxis and private vehicles, is that really the case today, or do they rather contribute to urban congestion?
Last year protests erupted in the U.S. and parts of South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, with the central message — Black Lives Matter. Ignited by the demonstrations for racial justice and police reform in the U.S., the protests around the world erupted in solidarity with the American cause, but took on the nuances of each context.
Dayna Cunningham, executive director of the Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) and a civil rights attorney who has devoted her career to promoting civic participation, building community partnerships, and advocating for underrepresented communities, has been named the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Dean of Tuft University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life (Tisch College).