IAP 2014 Activities by Sponsor : Urban Studies and Planning

Big Data Hack and Visualization Contest

Mike Foster, GIS/Data Visualization Specialist

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

What can we learn from 2.3 million Taxi Rides? What can we do with mileage records from millions of vehicles? This is a hackathon themed session that introduces two major big data challenges occurring in the Boston area this winter, the MIT Big Data Challenge, and the MAPC Big Data Challenge. Come to be introduced to the challenges by the organizers, work on your visualization submission, and share knowledge, code, and visualization techniques with experts in the field and around MIT. The first session is to introduce the challenges, download the data, and get started on your project. The second is provided to receive expert feedback and continue collaboration. Bring your own laptop.

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Mike Foster, mjfoster@mit.edu

Session 1

Jan/09	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	9-450

Mike Foster - GIS/Data Visualization Specialist

Session 2

Jan/16	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	9-450

Mike Foster - GIS/Data Visualization Specialist

Intro to Adobe Illustrator for Planners and Architects

Mike Foster

Jan/22	Wed	02:00PM-04:00PM	9-251

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/17
Limited to 10 participants

Learning to create your own graphics and manipulate images is an important skill in Planning, Architecture, and for many other professions. Adobe Illustrator is a power vector graphics software that allows for the creation of professional graphics, logos, and maps. This is an introductory level workshop in Adobe Illustrator that introduces the software and several commonly used and useful features.

Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1krssMDHRp8l3XixtUmb5DydXxu73gZ53qYEjRaR4lsc/viewform

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Mike Foster, 9-528, mjfoster@mit.edu

Intro to Adobe Photoshop for Planners and Architects

Mike Foster

Jan/23	Thu	02:00PM-04:00PM	9-251

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/17
Limited to 10 participants

Learning to create your own graphics and manipulate images is an important skill in Planning, Architecture, and for many other professions. Adobe Photoshop is a power photo editing and raster graphic software that allows for the editing and manipulation of digital images. This is an introductory level workshop in Adobe Photoshop that introduces the software and several commonly used and useful features.

Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1xatTiYuy8XaYBfDSCRhoxLuEDH07Uy2luE8jU-wpbks/viewform

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Mike Foster, 9-528, mjfoster@mit.edu

Planners Read The Gorgias

Ezra Glenn

Jan/14	Tue	03:00PM-05:00PM	9-450A

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

What is the role of oratory and power in a democratic society? Is it worse to do wrong or to be wronged? What is the difference between knowledge and true belief? Why is it important for both the accused and their judges to meet naked in court? (And what do all of these questions have to do with becoming an urban planner?) Come explore these themes with us in a dramatic -- possibly participatory -- reading of Plato's "Gorgias," a Socratic dialog written in 380 BC that is as relevant today as when it was written. Greek food included; togas optional.

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, x3-2024, eglenn@mit.edu

Planning, Funding, and Implementing Transportation Projects in the Real World (or How It Really Works)

Eric Plosky, Kate Fichter

Jan/22	Wed	01:00PM-04:00PM	9-450

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

As a vital and complex element of any urban or regional environment, transportation infrastructure both affects and is affected by land use patterns, economic development policies, political power-brokering and environmental resources, and so offers a lens through which to study many of the choices and constraints available to today's planners. This seminar will offer a practice-oriented overview of the issues, players and trends most relevant to contemporary transportation planning, as taught by two MIT/DUSP alumni currently working in the field.

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, x3-2024, eglenn@mit.edu

Sharing Space in a Regulated Place

Corey Zehngebot, AIA, AICP

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: participants may attend just AM lectures, or lectures + PM workshops.

In this activity, we will look at the physical space implications and regulatory issues surrounding businesses that actively or passively associate with the “sharing economy” (e.g. Airbnb). Shifting urban demographics require a closer investigation into how different space “types” might address the needs of cities going forward. Designed to bring together academics, private businesses, think tanks, and public sector employees, this course is the beginning of a conversation about how residential models might be designed or retrofit concurrent with new zoning and emerging technologies to create broader housing opportunities in a city like Boston.

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Corey Zehngebot, coreyzehngebot@gmail.com

Jan/13	Mon	09:30AM-04:30PM	9-451