Search by tag «Urban Science» 29 results

• Academic Exchange in Brussels: Urban Science in the Heart of Europe

  The heart of Europe, the headquarters of the EU, dozens of museums and historic streets – this is Brussels as seen by tourists. But for an urbanist, this city, with all its sights, is still a place where many issues are yet to be solved. How do you set up new spaces in the old city, ensure pedestrian connectivity and make a city modern? Ekaterina Grekhnyova, a Master’s student at ITMO University, tackled these and other tasks during a semester spent at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She spoke to ITMO.NEWS about studying and living in Belgium.

  26.02.2018

• Why Smart Cities Need Standardization: Experts Discuss

  Last week, ITMO University and Russian Venture Company held the Smart Cities Tech Standards conference dedicated to standards in the field of digital economics. This topic becomes all the more relevant due to the rapid development of such technologies as the Internet of Things, Big Data, smart manufacturing and smart cities. At the conference, leading experts from Great Britain, Canada, China, Japan, France, and Germany spoke about the rules that will regulate such standards in the nearest years.

  17.10.2017

• Urbanist Dhiru Thadani: to Improve Cities, We Must Focus on People

  According to UN estimates, by 2050 the population of Earth will reach nine billion people. The rapid growth of urban population, climate change, depletion of fossil fuels, healthcare crises – these are just a few of the global issues that experts are trying to tackle. In the search for sustainable means of subsistence, city planning is becoming a bigger priority. But what should modern cities look like and how can ubranists prepare for the rapid changes in the environment? These are some of the issues that Dhiru Thadani, architect, urbanist and VP-Members of the International Society of City and Regional Planners, is working with. Recently, Mr. Thadani gave an open lecture at ITMO’s Institute of Design and Urban Studies. In an interview with ITMO.NEWS, Dhiru Thadani speaks about the similarities between St. Petersburg’s “grey belt” and USA’s brownfields, how new global challenges will affect the teaching process and what issues need to be prepared for even now.

  03.10.2017

• Urban Evolution: Artists, Journalists and CEOs Discuss Future of St. Petersburg

  St. Petersburg is home to more than 200 museums; the city welcomes millions of tourists from all over the world each year. The main points of attraction for many thousands are still the Hermitage, Peterhof and other famed sights. But is the city ready for new influences and forms of modern art – and, if so, how can we preserve the balance between the rich cultural heritage and the newest trends? These and other questions were the topic of discussion at the closing session of the III International Spatial Development Forum on September 28. 

  02.10.2017

• TransformCity: The Amsterdam Approach to Urban Planning

  On August, 19th, the Oxygen eco-festival took place at the Ziferburg cultural space. Among the speakers for the event was Saskia Beer, a Dutch entrepreneur and urban scientist; in her presentation, she explained why it is that collaboration of government, business and citizens is most important for sustainable development of the urban environment, and shared about how it is possible to give a new life to economically ineffective districts while not having much resources and support at the initial stages

  22.08.2017

• Spin Unit Co-Founder on Social Networks’ Effect on Urban Life

  What do urban planning experts learn from photos in Instagram? How does data derived from social networks help bring people together? These and other questions are researched by Damiano Cerrone, the co-founder and content-manager of Spin Unit - a transnational research team that works at the confluence of such fields as Urban Science and Art&Science. Last weekend, he gave a lecture for ITMO University's section at the popular science conference Parsec-2017. In an interview for ITMO.NEWS, Mr. Cerrone explained how scientists derive large amounts of data from social networks, why one can't fully trust information from Instagram and what is there to learn from studying St. Petersburg's metamorphology.

  31.07.2017

• "Green Universities: Innovations and Best Practices" Conference: Students Go Green

  Every university in the world is visited by thousands of people every day. Apart from going to lectures and conducting research, these people eat, use computers and printers, wash their hands and the like. In cafeterias, people drink hundreds of liters of coffee and throw out thousands of disposable cups. But, can we stop this endless flow of litter and relieve the burden on the environment that we create? “Yes”, believe those who spent years on developing the "green university" concept. The best projects in this field were presented at the "Green universities: innovations and best practices" conference by representatives of major German and Russian universities.

  12.04.2017

• ITMO Conducts Research for Alexander Park Renovation

  New pedestrian areas, parkings and a pedestrian bridge to the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps are just some of the changes that will happen to the Alexander Park which is soon to be redeveloped. Last week, the project’s contest was announced by the St. Petersburg Committee for Architecture and Urban Development; its final results are to be presented by the end of May 2017. Apart from representatives of the Committee on State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Landmarks, the Petrogradskiy District Administration and the "Beautiful St. Petersburg" movement, specialists from ITMO University are also part of the contest's jury - they are contributing to the contest by having completed preliminary research and recommendations to the contest's participants.

  29.03.2017

• "Slower is Faster" - a Mexican Scientist on Systems' Efficiency

  Systems that work with maximum output aren't always efficient — working at medium power is often a lot more productive. This can be true for many areas of human activity like economics, urban science, sociology, psychology, etc. Carlos Gershenson, a Mexican researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, spoke about the "slower is faster" concept during an open lecture at ITMO University.

  10.11.2016