ABOUT THE PROJECT:

A place can be completely unimpressive for the rest of the world, while for someone it is the most “special place” on earth. By “special place” we mean a place that has become a very important meaning to a person through a very personal experience. Here are two good examples we got from Oslo and Warsaw.

We invite you to show us your “special place” and tell us why it is so special to you and how one can get there. Our aim is to publish a very personal online-map full of people’s “special places” from different cities.

TASK:

a.) Send us at least 2 – 10 photographs of your special place.
(If you have more photographs and more places – fine!)

b.) Answer following questions:
1. Name of place

2. Where is it exactly

3. How do you get there

4. Why is it so special for you

We look forward to receiving your contribution. In case you have any questions please don’t hesitate to write me an e-mail to info@worldidentitylab.net

Warm regards, the World Identity Lab-Team

If you already are a mighty World Identity Lab contributor you know how to submit your work. If not, please follow the instructions at “how to contribute“ in the main menue at your left hand side.

Why do you use it?
I use public transport because first I don’t have a car, but I don’t care about it, because in such a city as Berlin it is even easier to go with tram or subway.
Second is when you go with a car you can’t see as much as when you go with public transport. For example you can have a good tour just using ring subway, because it doesn’t go underground but across the city.

Which is your favorite means of transport?
But my favorite type of transport is my bicycle. Love it).

Why?
I love to travel with my bicycle because I can stop where ever I want. it’s cheaper, just by a it one time, you can buy a second hand at one of the floh-markets. And bicycle roads are everywhere. You can park your bike near subway station or go with it there, but in that case you need to buy extra ticket for bike.

Which means of transport do you use usually?
I usually use public transportation.

Why do you use it?
I like to look out of the window of overground trains, watching at people on the street. What is even more interesting is looking at people directly around me in trains.

Which is your favorite means of transport?
Depends on the city. Summer in cities where you can ride a bike is great. The huge advantage is having the overall control. But when I am exausted from my day I prefer public transportation-. Then I can relax on my way home.

Why?
I like to chose a way through the city to get food for my eyes. When I can go by bike I get a lot of impressions from the city itself, when I use public transportation I get impressions from the people living there. And there are many different kinds of people around. Some are conservative, some alternative, different cultures and aims. When I observe this stuff I feel creativity coming up in my mind. As I am an author in my freetime I use the public transportation as one of my creativity sources. Even taking the same way every day at similar time – the environment and therefore the impressions are different. That is what I need for my fantasy…

The New York City Subway is the fourth busiest rapid transit rail system in the world. There are 26 subway lines with 468 stations. Not an easy thing to visualize.* In 2010 a major design relaunch tried to improve the maps’ readability. But subway map design has a long history.

1931: The London Underground, Harry Beck
In 1931 Harry Beck, an electrical draughtsman at the London Underground, was the first to produce a diagrammatic map. According to the New York Times this map would “go down in history for its graphical ingenuity”. Beck based the map on the circuit diagrams; the result was an instantly clear and comprehensible chart. This revolutionary design has survived to the present day. Beck also made some drafts of diagrammatic maps for the Paris Métropolitain.

1972: New York Subway, Massimo Vignelli
In 1972 Massimo Vignelli reduced the boroughs of New York to white geometric shapes and eliminated most of the topographic details and the level of visual noise by using gray (not green) to denote Central Park and beige (not blue) to shade New York’s waterways. This new and more comprehensible design was radical and often criticized. In 1979 Vignellis map was replaced by a more traditional topographical version, including the New York City street grid and blue color for the waterways.

2010: New York Subway, The Weekender
The new subway map for New York, introduced in 2010, was said to be a huge improvement but is still struggling to serve two purposes: the aim was to comprehensively represent the streets and to help navigation through the New York underground. There was, however, a great digital improvement: ‘the Weekender’, a little online guide to service interruptions.

Source: Fastcodesign.com, New York Times, Transport for London

“Future city streets will be in four levels,” says Mr. Corbett, architect, in Popular Science Monthly in 1925. “The top level for pedestrians, the next lower level for slow motor traffic, the next for fast motor traffic and the lowest for electric trains. Great blocks of terraced skyscrapers half a mile high will house offices, schools, homes and playgrounds in successive levels, while the roofs will be aircraft landing-fields.”

See the full infographic at Retronaut.

Source: Guardian.co.uk

Why do you use it?
I don’t like waiting for trains. I like the control you have on a bike, you need to get somewhere faster, you pedal harder.

Which is your favorite means of transport?
Biking is by far my favorite way to travel.

Why?
I like to travel by bike because I feel that you get to experience the city you live in in a different way. You can change your route, go down a block you have never been down before, and get off whenever you please. There is nothing better then biking over the Williamsburg Bridge when winter is turning into Spring and the night air is starting to feel warm again.

The “Do Good Bus” inspires community and volunteers to do good deeds accross North America. The bus tour conducts mystery volunteer activites with the good samaritans who sign up ahead in time to take part in the “Do Good Bus” ride. Missions can be anything from feeding the homeless, to organizing a carnival at camps for kids, handing out books to kids from the lower income strata and much more …

Could you imagine organizing something like that in your community?

A speedometer is one of those items you look at thousands of times, without ever really noticing. What matters is the speed, not the meter or its design. Christain Annyas shows the evolution of Chevrolet’s speedometer design from 1941 to 2011 and offers a great analysis of the typefaces and usability concerns.

Source: Christian Annyas

Which is your favorite means of transport?
A bicycle is a wonderful thing, with feet for when it’s not. And those BIGREDBUSES. Get on for fun.

Why?
Eco warrior? No. I just like to be independent.

I get to see more on my bike.

I’m fully aware of left, right, up and down, forward and, to a degree, behind. Take nothing for granted.

In 2010, London launched its first two cycle superhighways. Joe Peach tested CS3 which links Barking in the east to London’s famous Tower Bridge and gives an overview on the pros and cons.

Source: This Big City

Traffic can be a nightmare – especially in big cities. A visual arts student filmed a 3-way intersection in NYC to show why 74 per cent of accidents happen in intersections: pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists running red lights, and motorists plowing through crosswalks.

But there are other places in this world where traffic is even less organized and looks more dangerous but still works – for example in India. Every one who owns a vehicle, whether a two wheeler, 3 wheeler or four wheeler has just learnt to manover the vehicle on the road, not in respect to the rules but in respect to the movement of other vehicles around.

Some European countries have adopted this form of traffic regulation, to minimise fatal accidents within city limits. It’s called “Shared Space”.

Sources: Gawker, blog.ronconcocacola.com, planetsave.com

Ukraine has the highest percentage of pedestrian collisions in Eastern Europe. How to slow down reckless drivers? Shell tries to shock them with “pedestrian ghosts”.

A radar reacts to a speeding car. Then the device inflates the “pedestrian ghost” balloon. At night the device was placed at a pedestrian crossing in an Ukranian city. During one night 7 cars slowed down.

Which means of transport do you use usually?
As I already said: My bike.

Why do you use it?
It’s still convenient and I’m independent =)

Which is your favorite means of transport?
I can’t really tell. They all have pros and cons.

Why? What else? I really love the way people in London reinvent everyday goods. We just happend to pass by an old car which was turned into an advertising pillar. =)