Uploaded on 2015-06-09 by josephtrohak

[1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14338180602878601.jpg Q1: Identify and present two "invisible information" that can be extracted out of the visible information of this photo. There are two sources of invisible information in this photo. First things first; location. This photo is taken of an intersection in Toronto’s financial district. It is the view of the corner of King and Bay looking westwards along King. The intersection is the ascribed financial services hub for the country of Canada. Four of Canada’s five major banks have office towers at this intersection. In the photo you can see the buildings themselves as well as the various street elements of both the vehicle traffic (public transit/streetcar/trolley/bus, taxi and private car) and human traffic (Bixi bike rental stand and pedestrians). There are a number of sources of invisible information in this photo. I will group them into two major categories: Traffic and Commercial. Traffic Notice the cell phone towers/repeaters on the roof of one of the buildings. That is an obvious source of invisible mobile phone information. Less obvious are the mobile phones carried by many of the pedestrians and drivers in the photo. Each of the streetcar/trolleys and buses have GPS locators on them. They also contain digital video units. Each intersection has a traffic light system sensor. A Bixi (Bike Share Toronto) station is also featured in the photo. Bixi operates 1000 bicycles stored across 80 locations in the greater Toronto area. Each of the taxi cabs in the photo have mobile payment terminals and GPS. Many also have mobile advertising systems as well as a dispatch system for vehicle fleet management. Much, much less visible is 2 stories below ground at this intersection. The TTC (Toronto Transportation Commission) operates a subway system that is the third most heavily used urban mass transit system in North America, after the New York City Transit Authority and Mexico City Metro. According to wikipedia; In 4th quarter 2012, the average daily ridership was 2.76 million passengers: 1,425,300 by bus, 271,100 by streetcar, 46,400 by intermediate rail, and 1,011,700 by subway Commercial Each of the financial institutions in the photo account for a substantial part of the flow of funds into and out of both the local and international markets. Each of these institutions is linked both physically and logically through high speed data networks to a building one half blocks to the south of this intersection; the Toronto Stock exchange. Toronto Stock Exchange (often abbreviated as TSX) is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world. As of February 2015 (wikipedia), it has the greatest number of security listings of any exchange in North America and has the second-most listings worldwide; with a market cap of 2.575 Trillion dollars; trading just under 40 billion shares. Each of the buildings these companies operate out of in this photo are secure and have access, temperature, humidity, security camera sensors. Many also have occupancy sensors (LEED certified) and redistribute and enable/disable power to the environmental systems based on demand and time of day. Others go even further and have green roofs (southwest corner) that have precipitation sensors to keep the plantings healthy. Q2: Select one of your choices from the previous question and describe how this invisible information can become knowledge and contribute to the planning of a more livable urban space. Traffic; one of the two major categories of invisible information in this photo, could be (or rather is being) used to great effect to contribute to the planning of a more livable city. Toronto is notorious for its traffic. The demographic in the city’s inner core is changing. Many of the once commercially dedicated buildings are converting to condominiums or are being replaced by mixed use high density living space. Public transit and the influx of private vehicles into the city is in competition. A substantive lack of bicycle lane and bike friendly paths as well as a systemic lack of consistent investment in public transportation infrastructure has led to pent up demand for effective and predictable transport systems for the city. But that is changing. The city and the TTC could work towards collaborating with industry to effectively understand the impact of new investment in residential and commercial spaces and their impact on power, traffic, water and sanitation supply. The city could do this through the use of the available ridership, electrical, etc data at its disposal in combination with traffic source information and new building permits in the various municipalities. The creation of mixed use zones, with consistent access to green space in combination with urban living, shopping, recreational and work areas in a high density urban core would be the goal. This would lead to a practical and pragmatic approach to achieve that healthy balanced state. Less congestion, denser land use, a vibrant urban core.