Uploaded on 2017-06-26 by Fernando Ceña Martínez

EXAMPLE 1: PENNSYLVANIA STATION (Infrastructure as Stock / People as Flow) Everyday "Penn Station" works a huge hub for commuters and travellers in the city of New York, generating a big flow of people in the city. More than 600,000 people (FLOW) utilise this infrastructure that hosts two main infrastructures: the Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) that connects New York with the major cities around by train; and the commuter rail, which operates between the city centre and the suburbs, mainly in New Jersey. It has 21 tracks linked to 7 tunnels (STOCK). HOW THIS EXAMPLE MAY EVOLVE IN THE FUTURE The main problem of Pennsylvania Station is that it is completely underground, which severely constrains its possibilities of growth in the near future, as a way to improve the performance of the station. In this sense new plans to enlarge the current station are already being proposed. Specifically, the entrances should be broader, as they currently become human-size funnels at peak hours. EXAMPLE 2: HUDSON RIVER (Materials as Stock / Maritime Traffic as Flow) Originally the Hudson River was the main artery of the colony of New Amsterdam for the arrival of the furs from North America. Currently, it is still used to transport materials (STOCK) as it can be appreciated in the photography by boat (FLOW). HOW THIS EXAMPLE MAY EVOLVE IN THE FUTURE The pollution levels of the river are increasing as a consequence of the multiple industrial activities, including maritime traffic. Bearing in mind that the city of New York cannot generate the materials required to sustain its activities, one possibility could be to develop more sustainable ways to transport the materials along the river or using other means of transport, like the train. EXAMPLE 3: FREE WI-FI KIOSKS (Electricity and Wi-Fi as Stock / Information as Flow) The Free Wi-Fi Kiosks were installed in New York to guarantee the access to internet (STOCK) to everybody. The kiosks also provide electricity for device charging and phone calls (STOCK). The kiosks have eventually substituted the majority of the outdated payphones. Simultaneously, these kiosks generate a flow of information collected by CityBridge (FLOW), the company running the system, which has sparked some controversy regarding the consumer's right to privacy, reducing the number of potential users. HOW THIS EXAMPLE MAY EVOLVE IN THE FUTURE Restricting the way that the information collected from the kiosks' users is used would be the key element to encourage the use of these devices, protecting users' rights. EXAMPLE 4: TIMES SQUARE (Façade as Stock / Information as Flow) Times Square, sometimes designated as "The Crossroads of the World", works as a public space with local and international projection. The façades of the buildings (STOCK) become the support for the constantly changing billboards that advertise world-wide known products as well as internationally acclaimed local spectacles (FLOW). HOW THIS EXAMPLE MAY EVOLVE IN THE FUTURE The possibilities of the new technologies could be introduced in the electronic systems of the billboards, so that the citizens and the visitors alike could interact with the information being projected, through their cell phones for example. But thanks to this potential system, people located in other points of the world could interact through internet with these billboards and then be projected on the façades. This could have impact not only in Times Square, but in other spaces of the world at the same time, empowering this idea of being "The Crossroads of the World".