11/06/2010
Policy Link
Another interesting project by the Orlando, CA based community action group Policy Link. They asked a number of people what did they promise to do for their neighbourhood. The result can be seen in this video.
09/06/2010
On equity
I'd like to highlight a couple of websites focusing on equality, although at least one of them isn't new. The Equality Trust was created in 2008, after Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett secured a deal to publish the book "The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better For Everyone'>The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better". The aim of the trust is to bring to the public knowledge about the 'social illnesses' caused by inequality and help develop the political will to tackle this issue.
The second one, called Demand Equity Now, was created by Policy Link, a very innovative and engaged think-thank / community organisation based in Oakland, California (a post-industrial city located near Berkeley). It is a platform to coordinate the efforts of advocates for a more equal world.
Both are very interesting for people who would like to be more active in this field, while being also a good source of information.
The second one, called Demand Equity Now, was created by Policy Link, a very innovative and engaged think-thank / community organisation based in Oakland, California (a post-industrial city located near Berkeley). It is a platform to coordinate the efforts of advocates for a more equal world.
Both are very interesting for people who would like to be more active in this field, while being also a good source of information.
02/06/2010
Map of the BP oil spill
In this link you can visualise the spread of oil along the US coast, and also get more information about what is happening.
Some interesting articles
I'd like to suggest a few interesting articles. This one, published in The Atlantic (where else?), discusses the constant longing for the authentic city that probably never existed. It focuses on New York, but a similar argument could be made for almost any other place where people constantly speak about a supposed magnificient past in contrast to the seemingly decadent present.
This one, written by the Stanford economist Paul Romer, suggests that better than giving aid to poorer nations, rich countries should unite to build better cities for them. His argument is that since most of the developing world's population will move into cities over the next decades, the best way to increase their living standards is to invest in the quality of the urban infrastructure.
On a different note, this article reviews a new compilation of Charles Dickens' travel writing. Travel writing was to a great extent where Geography as a discipline started, as explorers and others went around the world describing the different cultures that they found. Charles Dickens was particularly good at this, because as the author of this review points out: "Travel is not that interesting. People are. Stories come alive only when there are people in them."
This one, written by the Stanford economist Paul Romer, suggests that better than giving aid to poorer nations, rich countries should unite to build better cities for them. His argument is that since most of the developing world's population will move into cities over the next decades, the best way to increase their living standards is to invest in the quality of the urban infrastructure.
On a different note, this article reviews a new compilation of Charles Dickens' travel writing. Travel writing was to a great extent where Geography as a discipline started, as explorers and others went around the world describing the different cultures that they found. Charles Dickens was particularly good at this, because as the author of this review points out: "Travel is not that interesting. People are. Stories come alive only when there are people in them."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
