Blog #4: Cartography

I don't understand anything about the first article. The second reading was confusing also, but much less than the first. What I gathered from the second reading was that people described as having "power-over" characteristics have tried to hide certain communities and cultures by not officially mapping them for others to see. This has, in turn, significantly diminished the lifestyle of those overlooked and is a problem that needs to be fixed. Though I was initially surprised that this type of activity (of not officially including some areas in a map) occurred at all, I'm now pondering when else and under what circumstances this has happened in other countries. It's a disheartening thing to read about, and I would be horrified if something like this were happening in the United States (or any other powerful First World country with a notable reputation). I would be open to learning more about this topic.

Blog #3: The Neighborhood Roundtable

The panel we had last week was great. I liked being able to hear from the different players that have a role in the process of building relationships between communities. I especially liked all the different stepping stones they'd incorporated along their path - it inspired me to think about the project I'd be interested in carrying out. My favorite part of the panel was being able to learn from the experiences of George S. and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. George's personal connection to the neighborhood and his devotion to creating a better future for West Philadelphia (and Philadelphia in general) just made me want to throw a block party spanning the city to create a new energy for people to be excited about. Jawole's background in dance as a way to ignite social change was just fascinating to me (as someone who's not very imaginative or talented in the field of dance). Though I'm still not sure about exactly what I'd like my (or the class') final project to be, I was definitely more confident and excited after the roundtable. Can't wait to get started!

Blog #2: Root Shock

This week's Root Shock chapters were very interesting. I liked learning about the history of the Avenue de L'Opera in France and how it connected to Roanoke, Virginia. However, I unfortunately have to agree with the author that while urban renewal can have it's positives, the program wasn't utilized in the way it was promised. In effect, many residents were left displaced with nowhere to go. I think the idea of urban renewal was very innovative, but the Commonwealth, Kimball, and Gainsboro projects were, as the author said, more devitilizing than revitalizing. The before and after pictures of the areas convey this problem devastatingly well: before urban renewal there were hundreds, even thousands, of homes all interconnected in the towns; after urban renewal many homes were torn down in favor of interstates and large, spread out corporations. There was no room left for the mostly poor, African American residents, causing them to be moved to new, less interconnected neighborhoods. The overarching effect in all of this is that many people lost their faith and trust in the government, having been duped three times by hollow promises.
On a more specific note, I felt I was finally able to understand the concept of "invisible city" through this reading. From what I gathered, the concept is about a government or government officials making promises to Community A for the better, but not telling Community A that the "bettering" is for Community B that they care about more. This connects to the pictures I took in my hometown because I felt many of the images I captured were of a forgotten promise and a forgotten community. I see distrust of the government in my hometown often, and it's just getting worse. In any community, it will continue to get worse until circumstances are actually changed for the better (and even then it may take a while). My point is that I understand this concept and some of the history behind the formation of "invisible cities."

Blog #1: Mobile Interface

I feel both of these readings were confusing, but also very interesting. Personally, I don't agree with everything the authors of the first reading said. We're raised not to talk to strangers from the time we're very young. So why is there criticism that mobile devices disconnect us from our environment, when we're raised not to connect with strangers in the first place? I do agree that mobile devices share some blame, but not all of it. Also, people naturally feel awkward in public places when they're in close proximity to strangers, so it doesn't matter if there are mobile devices to preoccupy us because we feel awkward either way.
I also feel that the positives of cell phones aren't being fairly addressed. When we're away from home, cell phones let us call the police in an emergency and, with internet access, find our way when we're lost. In this respect, I think the border between public and private is just being redrawn. This border changes with the cultural impacts of society.
With the second reading, I think it's a plus that "Thoughts were no longer geographically specific; that is, you didn’t have to travel to a particular place to read an inscription. Instead, the inscription came to you." How much would we have to go out of our way and spend our resources just to be able to travel to another place, when we could easily view the information on our mobile devices? It's not that we don't want to visit other great places, but we can't always afford the time or money.