PlanningUrbanORegional

Apr 8, 2023

What true seamless experience may mean in future cities!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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On the other hand, public and private institutions know very well that the product or services they are providing today will be paid for today, tomorrow or some other day, with interest, as long as the transaction is recorded and person who is using or buying the service or product is legitimate, so that they can always be traced back.

Which means purchase behaviour at individual end is usually self-regulatory; and institution level fear of not being able to recover the money for product or service rendered is usually illusionary.

If all transaction related to any rendered service or product sold in a city will be recovered eventually, with due interest i.e., without any losses, in a legit society where every citizen is identifiable and accountable for their purchase of such product or services, of course though a leak-proof mechanism, then there is no need for the barriers, barriers which hinder day to day seamless experience of millions living in a city. For a truly seamless experience these barriers will cease to exist.

Seamless experience in a city may mean, its good to have multimodal unified transportation card, but it also means you can travel without need of such card, without any card, as long as you are able to identify yourself at access/ exit points, in one of dozen or more possible ways that can technically be devised with todays technology. Seamless experience also means in this context that you are free to manoeuvre wherever you like in a city, by which ever mode you like, with or without making payment, as payment will eventually be settled. Seamless experience in a city may also mean that you don’t need to carry cash or a debit card or credit card or mobile wallet, to pay for low to medium value products or services below a certain thresholds (say exclude purchase of house or car etc. for now), as long as the purchase is linked to your identity, as payment will be settled eventually, as long as you are legit and you are okay with some incremental service charges.

The seamless city might be perceived as a cashless society today, but a true seamless smart city of tomorrow will possibly be even cardless, credit cardless, and digital walletless. Where consumer's identity itself will be a latent currency, as long as they are able to identify themselves in one of dozen odd ways; where consumer is able to manoeuvre and conduct seamlessly without any boundaries, as long as they are aware about consequences of their monetary actions.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please Note, that I am also conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#smartcity #urbanplanning #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands

Apr 5, 2023

What AI might have to do with anthropology, culture or linguistics?

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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AI certainly gives us a reason to cherish and leverage history, tradition and culture. It empowers us and generation to come, to instantly connect to roots and increasingly getting the grip of lost anthropological and cultural context. You not necessarily have to visit museum, or open encyclopaedia or search in gazette documents, to trace and learn about tradition and once thriving culture, as AI comes to rescue.

Why its important? Because, in very short span of time we observe how our language changes, once common words disappear from our lingo, once commonplace household items disappear from our day to day life, once common cultural practices disappear from modern lifestyle.

Not necessarily one must continue to use certain elements, items, or practices from past; as relevance, context and validity of some of those may remain futile or sometimes questionable. But what may be of interest here is the immense knowledge and several practices from past which AI makes more accessible. Also, making world of knowledge a more equitable playfield.

For instance, drawing inspirations from past culture and tradition has became much more easier for those in creative fields - designers, multiple forms of media creators, artists etc.

Also, finding the root cause and mapping certain geographic and cultural behaviour and traits have become more accessible for those on cultural exploration and for business communities, where personalised experience, products and services have become key to success. Ease and timely access to such wealth of historic quantitative and qualitative information may also help city planners, urban designers and architects to provide more humane solutions and urban fabric, that corresponds to aspirations of local community.

Most importantly, making a rational decisions might have become easier considering Open AI and alike gives quick insight based on a large body of work (including text from deep in past, and referring to texts from left, right and centre perspective), hence providing us with a additional validated input, to base our decisions on. Acknowledging that personal opinion, undocumented knowledge (to which AI might not have access to) and intuitions, may still continue to play a key role in decision making in near future, at individual and Institutional level.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#technology #AI #Chatgpt #openAI #anthropology #urbanmanagement #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands

What true seamless experience may mean in future cities!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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In spite of multitude of choices, attractions and temptations, people usually tend to spend within the limit, in short, medium and long term. That is, they spend within their possible means, as they know well that they have to settle bills today, tomorrow or one fine day. Realising, that there is no getting away.

On the other hand, public and private institutions know very well that the product or services they are providing today will be paid for today, tomorrow or some other day, with interest, as long as the transaction is recorded and person who is using or buying the service or product is legitimate, so that they can always be traced back.

Which means purchase behaviour at individual end is usually self-regulatory; and institution level fear of not being able to recover the money for product or service rendered is usually illusionary.

If all transaction related to any rendered service or product sold in a city will be recovered eventually, with due interest i.e., without any losses, in a legit society where every citizen is identifiable and accountable for their purchase of such product or services, of course though a leak-proof mechanism, then there is no need for the barriers, barriers which hinder day to day seamless experience of millions living in a city. For a truly seamless experience these barriers will cease to exist.

Seamless experience in a city may mean, its good to have multimodal unified transportation card, but it also means you can travel without need of such card, without any card, as long as you are able to identify yourself at access/ exit points, in one of dozen or more possible ways that can technically be devised with todays technology. Seamless experience also means in this context that you are free to manoeuvre wherever you like in a city, by which ever mode you like, with or without making payment, as payment will eventually be settled. Seamless experience in a city may also mean that you don’t need to carry cash or a debit card or credit card or mobile wallet, to pay for low to medium value products or services below a certain thresholds (say exclude purchase of house or car etc. for now), as long as the purchase is linked to your identity, as payment will be settled eventually, as long as you are legit and you are okay with some incremental service charges.

The seamless city might be perceived as a cashless society today, but a true seamless smart city of tomorrow will possibly be even cardless, credit cardless, and digital walletless. Where consumer's identity itself will be a latent currency, as long as they are able to identify themselves in one of dozen odd ways; where consumer is able to manoeuvre and conduct seamlessly without any boundaries, as long as they are aware about consequences of their monetary actions.

Author: Anoop Jha

************************************************

[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

************************************************

#smartcity #urbanplanning #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands

Analyzing network characteristics.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Networks often have two juxtaposed characteristics, one vulnerability, and the other redundancy/ resilience. Vulnerability in a sense that even a single or few weak links or blockages may interrupt the functionality of the network. Redundancy/ resilience because, due to multiple nodes and links, in case of disruption there might be multiple alternate paths that exist to continue the intended process.

Say if we visualize the transportation system as a network, if there is a missing link or persistent blockage (obstruction) in the bicycle route it may deter users to use bicycles altogether. This is an example of vulnerability. On the other hand, if your vehicle malfunctions at a certain place, you can always switch to an alternate parallel transportation mode like public transport. That is an example of redundancy within the same network of the transportation system.

Let’s take a case of business as a network. If there is a missing link or continued blockage in the supply chain, for instance, due to logistics infrastructure under-capacity, it may disrupt a business or even prompt some businesses to close down their operations. This is an example of vulnerability. On the other hand, if there is a policy change for instance that makes it impossible for a traditional business to serve a particular client base, in that case, the same business may either choose to serve a different market or mutate its business to offer another kind of product or service, using same logistics and supply chain. This is an example of redundancy.

We also see this juxtaposition at the societal level, if we consider society as a network. For instance, once the traditional rural fabric grows bigger to become a town and once the urban boundary is drawn, it tends to disrupt the social fabric on both sides of the urban-rural border. But using the same residual network, society on both sides of the border adapts to new socio-economic order within the newly established identity. i.e., the mutation in economic activities and readjustments in social characteristics.

If we acknowledge the dyadic nature and potential of the network from the very beginning, we may be able to plan better, may be able to plan in advance, we may be able to minimize vulnerability, and leverage redundancy, possibly through scenario building.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

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#smartcity #urbanmanagement #urbandevelopment #governance #egovernance #publicpolicy #ml #machinelearning #iot #Rotterdam #Amsterdam #DenHaag #Delft #Alkmaar #DenBosch #Eindhoven #Utretch #Hague #Netherlands

Mar 30, 2023

What could be the barometer to know if a city is doing well?

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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You may be able to figure out if a city or even country is doing somewhat well for community and visitors alike, by observing or experiencing some of following traits.

If you are feeling safe at all time of the day and night in a city. That may mean, your anxiousness doesn't increases (as a function of safety perception) as the night approaches. That is possible when you know there is next bus, tram, metro or train to make sure you reach your eventual destination, and if you could remain assured, that you can be rescued from an unsafe or unwarranted situation.

If you are still able to make sense of place any hour of day and night. That may mean, you are able to orient yourself in space and time throughout the day and night, at any location within city. That is possible when space is easily legible and well illuminated, for you to spatially position yourself in any part of city.

Making city work well is a constant quest for city administrations, urban planners, researchers and many. Targeting above may be a good starting point for any city, as there is always scope of making things good to better and more.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

************************************************

#urbanplanning #urbandevelopment #urbanmanagement #urbandesign #smartcity #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Eindhoven #Rotterdam

Preconditions and trade-offs of making a great city!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Making great city has preconditions like right aspirations, thorough planning, right partnerships, timely resources, among others. Though process seems straightforward but its as organic and uncertain as gamble. That is because there are trade-offs at each level of preconditions mentioned above and many more. For instance there is wide range of choices available at each precondition level. Then there is wide range of possibilities about when these choices were made (early, midway, late, missed), and who made those choices (public, public representatives, internal or external institutions providing aid, or driven by commercial forces). These organic event timeline, and choices made along the way, shapes the outcome called "City". What is interesting to note here is that events (action) are sometimes spontaneous and choices are sometimes based on intuitions.

Following are some of the "trade-offs" witnessed when it comes to making choices, that has potentials to result in great cities if right degree and mix of choices are made at right time.

PRECONDITIONS

(Right choice/ decision is to be found somewhere in between; while process of making choices many a times are more complex than presented below)

"Right aspirations"

a) Top down (by administration) OR bottom up (by community)

b) Vision A, B, OR C

c) Work on weaknesses and threats OR build on Strengths and opportunities

"Thorough planning"

a) Redevelop (brownfield) OR build new (greenfield)

b) Alternative A, B OR C

c) External Expertise OR Local knowledge

d) Plan for now OR plan for future OR wait for particular technology/ concept to mature

"Right Partnership"

a) Proven partnership OR Potential new partnership

b) Relying on established industry players OR betting on promising newcomers/ startups

c) Comfort of traditional role OR reward and risk of new emergent roles

"Timely Resources"

a) Immediate Borrowing OR Strengthening old/ new sources of revenue

b) Invite talent or build competencies

..and more.

It seems that making a great city is more of an art than science; more learning than demonstration. Right choices at right moment makes a great city, and its never too late.

Additionally amidst range of choices and trade-offs, focus must be on core aspects including liveability, climate, equity, economy, circularity and context, we should be closer to making a city great!

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Page Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

My LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anoopjha/

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#urbanplanning #urbandevelopment #urbanmanagement #urbandesign #circulareconomy #smartcity #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands

Some thoughts on water infrastructure and water resources

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Water supply network infrastructure, if not maintained and operated properly may rather become an infrastructure for speedy wastage the precious high value treated water. Non revenue water (NRW), which is primarily leaked water at trunk transmission/ distribution infrastructure level, is a big challenge across countries and demands no less focus and attention than what we give to minimise water consumption.

The best thing a city administrations can do to immediately start water saving and stop household and facility level water wastage (due to inefficient appliances and leakage), is to a) set aside some amount from budget to replace old water fixtures, install new water saving fixtures and/or retrofit existing appliances/ fixtures (tap/ faucets etc.) with small water saving fixtures in each household, free of cost b) to send technicians/ plumbers periodically and on rotation to each household for checking the health of water fixtures and for maintenance if required, that too free of cost. Reduced effective per capita water usage and reduced NRW shall itself possibly be able to pay for these budget expenses in many cases.

At community level, especially cities with lakes and ponds, and at urban fringe and especially in rural areas, local community should be encouraged to adopt the lake and pond, with appropriate mechanism and incentives.

As a city planners, and as many other professionals, through spatial planning or otherwise (event etc.) should find more reasons and more ways to connect city life and a much border range and profile of citizens, to all sorts of waterbodies, so that more and more citizens feel engagement with water and feel the connect, ownership and purpose to protect and regenerate waterbodies.

Finally scientists and entrepreneurs should devise a new system/ technique/ practice/ frugal and inexpensive tool of shared economy at the confluence of open pond aquaculture, open field farming and indoor aquaponics, so that benefits of scientific aquaponics practices and traditional knowledge of pond based aquaculture/open farming can come together, for benefit to a wider community.

Author: Anoop Jha

[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional

My LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anoopjha/

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#urbanplanning #urbandevelopment #urbanmanagement #urbandesign #smartcity #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands #aquaculture #aquaponics #worldwaterday #worldwaterday2023 #savewater #regenratewaterbodies #communityponds