by Sam Soloman
Photo credit: http://streetsblog.net/2011/11/11/mexico-city-activists-draw-the-line-with-diy-bike-lanes
As a young professional keen on transitioning into the academic field of urban management, I took the search for the right masters program rather seriously. As with most of my “serious” searches nowadays, it began with my laptop out, browser poised at Google, and a double americano in arm’s reach while perched at my favorite café. Of the countless search results, two particular sites caught most of my attention: Urbanicity.org, which offers a global perspective on the field of city regional planning; and similarly, Planetizen.com, which additionally provided me with an unofficial ranking of academic programs in the field. Both websites provide ample content, and certainly more than I could ever read or process in today’s digitally overloaded and attention-deficient world.
But there is more beyond the realm of websites. The web, especially now that it live in its glorified “2.0” state, invites us to engage its content in new ways. One such way is through the world of newsfeeds and blogs. They serve a more nuanced purpose to those of us interested in a particular subject matter and its current affairs.
Now a masters student in urban management at Technische Universität Berlin, our program invited a couple alumni to present on a non-profit community alliance group that they have formed in Berlin. Their organization, Urbanophil, with a small but growing membership of 19, produces a blogpost as a way to highlight Berlin’s urbanization and showcase their organization’s undertakings. It dawned on me that several similar undertakings must be available that relate to San Francisco, my home region. With a few daft strokes of the key board after the presentation, there they were. Unlike the aforementioned websites, these blogs provide current perspective, information, updates, engagement opportunities, calls to action… and all specific to my part of the world.
Take sf.streetsblog.org for example. Headlines, like ”What’s Wrong With Telling Cyclists to Ride on the Bike Path?” (Tanya Snyder) tell us what on the social conscious of engaged members of the community. They draw on social issues, national perspective, trends, activism, and debate. Interest pieces such as “Mexico City Activists Draw the Line With DIY Bike Lanes” show activism in a playful but serious light. And, no nonsense commentaries such as “Quantified: The Price of Sprawl in Florida” and “Senate Bill May Weaken Smaller Metros, Empower State DOTs“ that explore national issues as they relate to political and economic forces that govern decision-making. These blogs make it easy for me to quickly see what going on in the world of urban planning, and some of the issues I should be considering as an aspiring urban planning professional.
Beyond the relay of current issues, blogs can play an additional role of helping connect folks whether directly (e.g. via hosted events) or indirectly (e.g. via contributing writer or blog-sponsored activities). But there’s a real deficiency in the very elements that makes “Web 2.0” so utilitarian–the capability to interconnect and interact. This lacking means that blogs are not generating the social capital they could potentially achieve.
None of the three blogs I visited offered mechanisms for dual exchange of information. How great (and useful) would it be for blogs to capture real input from its readers via polls, surveys, and feedback posting? Picture this: an editorial is posted and opinion questions are posted for readers to respond to. The concept is not a new one. Just check out online news sources where the audience is invited to add their personal experience with the headline. It’s simple crowd sourcing, and one of the magnificent empowering tools that our world wide web offers. Let’s see that blogs evolve into forums for truly encouraging and modeling the practice of participatory planning.
________________________
Sam Soloman is San Francisco Bay Area native. He has a keen interest in education, social justice, civil engagement, and urban sustainability. He received his first masters in Higher Education from UCLA and is currently a pursuing a masters in Urban Management program at TU Berlin.
