by Dot Cannon

Would you like to know what the traffic’s like in Paris, right now?  Or how noisy London is, three hours from now? And how both compare to Los Angeles or another city?

A new interactive display at the Aquarium of the Pacific can show you that–and this is a larger version of the app, which you can check on your own technology.

The Urban Observatory™ app, created by TED founder Richard Saul Wurman in partnership with Environmental Systems Research Institute, is now available.  The software allows users both to check live data, such as population and transit access, on either one chosen city or three, side by side.  And it’s a crowdfunded collaborative project, with everyone invited to submit data on their own cities.

At a recent presentation at the Aquarium of the Pacific, in Long Beach, Richard Wurman and ESRI founder Jack Dangermond held an informal conversation, open to the public, about mapping and the future of cities.

Jack Dangermond, who founded ESRI in 1969, talked about the roots of the mapping project as it is today.

“My first teaching job was in 1962, at the University of North Carolina,” he said.  “We did a  little project where we built models out of plasticine….They got mounted and put up at Yale School of Architecture, and I thought, holy moly, here’s a career.”

Ultimately, the new software used in Urban Observatory™ would overlay these models.

Richard Saul Wurmond explained the concept behind the application.

“You only understand something, relative to something you understand,” he said.  “Information doesn’t inform.”

During their conversation, the two speakers said that Long Beach had become the most recent city to submit their data.

Visitors were invited to see the app in operation, shortly thereafter.

Among the areas covered in this demonstration were noise levels, transit access and area demographics.

When asked how long this exhibit would be at the Aquarium of the Pacific, a staffer didn’t have a specific date yet–but indicated that it would be available for a considerable amount of time.

Cities whose live data is available on the Urban Observatory™ app include Berlin, Paris, Abu Dhabi, Manila, and closer to home, San Antonio, Boston and Honolulu.

Didn’t see your city online?  Urban Observatory™ invites you to submit data for your hometown–and offers templates with which to work!