Computer Models for Social Change

Congratulations, Korbin, on writing a strong thesis and building a dynamic application. Korbin's research is part of our urban design node.

The Community Design Tool: Unfolding Participatory Urban Design in a Dynamic Three-Dimensional Environment

Abstract: The Community Design Tool allows for community members to engage in a community controlled urban design process within a dynamic three-dimensional environment. The community members are guided by a methodology for participatory urban design adapted from Christopher Alexander’s work on generative codes and the process of unfolding. Community members and non-professionals understand spatial concepts and designs more naturally when viewed in three-dimensions and when they can interact with the environment dynamically. The Community Design Tool is a plugin for the simple yet robust modelling software Google Sketchup and walks community members through a step by step process to create urban design schemes for their community by using simple tools built into the Community Design Tool itself. The simplicity of the Community Design Tool’s individual steps allow for those with even limited technical knowledge to fully participate in the design process.

is finally in print!

It was a long road. Thank you to the ICHD team of Grace Fong (McGill), Michael Fuller (UC Irvine), and Peter Bol and Lex Berman (Harvard). Thanks also to Jimmy Li and Jin Xing for making this a reality.

Renee E. Sieber, Christopher C. Wellen, and Yuan Jin. 2011. Spatial cyberinfrastructures, ontologies, and the humanities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108(14): 5504-5509.

Peter A Johnson and Renee E Sieber. 2011. Negotiating constraints to the adoption of agent-based modeling in tourism planning. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 38: 307-321

Had a nice visit with my former Masters, Sonja Klinsky, who is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Economics and Politics, University of Cambridge, UK. Her research talk @ McGill:

Vinaigrette or Oil and Vinegar? Comparing Public Rationales for Justice in Mitigation and Adaptation Climate Policy Dilemmas

The ideal relationship between climate change adaptation and mitigation policy has been long debated. Are they substitutes for each other, in which case the policy task is to find the optimal trade-off between the two, or can they be integrated to take advantage of win-win overlaps?

Instead of proposing how these policies should relate to one another from an abstract policy perspective, this study examines public rationales about justice and burden-sharing in each case. What arguments about justice resonate from a mitigation perspective, which ones are dominant from an adaptation perspective, and what might this suggest about the contours of politically acceptable climate policy?

Our group was well-represented:

Budhathoki, Nama and R E. Sieber. 2011. What Motivates Governments to Adopt the Geospatial Web 2.0? Proceedings of Spatial Knowledge and Information - Canada (SKI-Canada) 2011, March 3-6 in Fernie BC, Canada. Vol. 1

da Silva, Korbin, Renee Sieber, Raphaël Fischler. 2011. Unfolding Participatory Urban Design, Capturing Spatial Feelings and Emotions in Digital Space. Proceedings of Spatial Knowledge and Information - Canada (SKI-Canada) 2011, March 3-6 in Fernie BC, Canada. Vol. 1

Beaudreau, Pierre, Peter A. Johnson, and Renee Sieber. 2011. Creating and Testing a Portable Template for Municipal-Level Adoption of the Geospatial Web 2.0. Proceedings of Spatial Knowledge and Information - Canada (SKI-Canada) 2011, March 3-6 in Fernie BC, Canada. Vol. 1

Tudge, Pamela. 2011. “Let the young ones do it” Digital divides influence the use of the Geoweb by farmers and food advocates in rural Canada. Proceedings of Spatial Knowledge and Information - Canada (SKI-Canada) 2011, March 3-6 in Fernie BC, Canada. Vol. 1

Brandusescu, Ana, Renee Sieber, Nadine Schuurman. 2011. The use of geovisualization to public health in the context of open source applications and digital earths: an effective representation? Proceedings of Spatial Knowledge and Information - Canada (SKI-Canada) 2011, March 3-6 in Fernie BC, Canada. Vol. 2

Zhou, Jian, Renee Sieber, Mark Chandler, Linda Soh. 2011. Using the Geospatial Web 2.0 to Improve Climate Model Accessibility. Proceedings of Spatial Knowledge and Information - Canada (SKI-Canada) 2011, March 3-6 in Fernie BC, Canada. Vol. 2