Potential bridge: OSM and Space Syntax boring

Jonathan Crowe came up with this video down here (via OpenGeoData). It's pretty impressive how collaborative people can get and share public datasets on streets information around the world. [This video here is more surprising though]

Whenever I hear about the OpenStreetMap Project I can't help thinking about Space Syntax. Hand drawing an axial map is really boring and takes a lot of time too! The point is: Does anyone have any idea on how to convert OSM data to space syntax softwares?

Evolution of European OpenStreetMap coverage from skobblertutorials on Vimeo.

ALAP 2010, cultural changes and low fertility rates

A friend of mine (Joice Melo Vieira) has just reminded me about the ALAP* conference. It's going to be held in Habana/Cuba (16 al 19 de noviembre de 2010). The motto of this year's Conference is "Condiciones y Transformaciones Culturales, Factores Económicos y Tendencias Demográficas en Latinoamerica" (Cultural Conditions and Changes, Economic and Demographic Trends in Latin America).

About this I recommend the post "Philip Longman on global aging" at Demography Matters blog.

The central argument presented by Longman (as I see it) is that low fertility rates are connected to cultural norms. What are the social/economic perceptions people in general have about raising a child? a burden? a gift? It's suggested that tackling subreplacement fertility will not go to far without a discussion about this.

Ok, this is pretty obvious. It is not so obvious though how to deal with it. Economic incentives to child birth and raise don't seem to be effective enough to raise fertilty rates.

*ALAP - Asociación Latino Americana de Población

How expensive is your city (iPod) ?

The most expensive and richest cities in the world measured by the iPod index ! "And what the Hell is that?" you might ask. It's something similar to the "Big Mac Index" (but stupid).

"The newly introduced iPod index measure how long an employee would have to work to be able to afford the Apple MP3 player." Here.

Urban Pulse by UrbanMobs

Visual representation of mobile phone activities (SMS, Roaming, Phone Calls, movements of mobile phones) in France, Spain, Poland and Romania - Presented by UrbanMobs.

*It reminds me the BBC Series 'Britain From Above'.

The video below shows the amount of SMS sent during New Year's Eve

Urban mobs (sms - nuit du nouvel an 2009)
Carregado por faberNovelTV. - Videos das ultimas descobertas cientificais.

(Tip from Joy Till via Luciana da Silva Andrade)

Assorted links on Migration

1. Immigrants Moving to the Suburbs in the US: migration from ethnic urban neighborhoods into the suburbs (via The Map Scroll)
   
   
2. Migration driven by environmental change (by Matthew Kahn via DemographyMatters)
   
   
3. “Urban psychology”: examiningt how certain character traits vary across urban centers in the United States. Selective migration is only one hypothesis among others. (via Infrastructurist)
   
   
4. Forced Migration: Visualizing international refugee flows (based on the annual UNHCR Refugee Report) - via FlowingData

Subways of the World at the same scale

An interesting infographic comparing subway systems at the same scale. I'm sure this is not updated. Nevertheless, we don't have much to celebrate about Sao Paulo's subway system.

(via The Map Scroll)

ps. Radical Cartography has a similar page with more North American cities.

Fastest-growing cities

Joel Kotkin wrote an article about the "The world's fastest-growing cities". It's an interesting piece seasoned with a bit of controversy*. If anyone gets interested in the case of Campinas/Brazil, I recommend this paper (here) from my colleagues at NEPO (Population Studies Center /UNICAMP). It makes clear that "Bigger often does not mean better".

ps. The Metropolitan Area of Campinas is not growing that fast. Its population growth rate (average geometric rate of annual growth) from 2000 to 2009 was estimated as 1.90% with a declining trajectory.

* E.g. "Overall, the populations of Europe's cities are growing at barely 1%, the lowest rate of any continent. With low birthrates and growing opposition to immigration, it seems unlikely that any European city will emerge as a bigger global player in 20 years than today."

IBM CityOne - Gaming can make a better world

Now back to virtual reality with a tip for the geeks interested in city simulators.

Daniel Lippman (from Infrastructurist) pointed out that IBM has released its first “Smarter Planet” simulation game - called CityOne. It looks something like SimCity 3000, but more ecologically oriented and with much more detailed problems to tackle. Check the IBM CityOne Trailer.

It made me believe that Gaming can make a better world. But just for few seconds....

Time Lapse + Tilt Shift Brasília DF - Brazil

The "Central Bus Station" of Brasília (DF - Brazil) captured in a pretty TimeLapse. (mandatory suggestion of my girlfriend! Thanks cute!)

Teste Time Lapse + Tilt Shift (Brasília DF - Brazil) from FotoNoiva /Caviccioli - Delfini on Vimeo.