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PurposeCities and urban areas in the 21st century are grappling with a wide range of change, from climate impacts and natural disasters to shifting economic realities and poverty prevalence. Along with change and future uncertainty, there is a great deal of complexity, as many factors are connected and interdependent within urban systems. Furthermore, technology has the potential to provide solutions in some cases, or distract from the most important issues at hand in other cases. Civic Sphere works with professionals and the public to confidently navigate this increasingly challenging terrain. The old ways are no longer suitable for the fast-paced, ever-changing, and inextricably connected urban realities of the 21st century, and new models are needed for decision support, technology integration, and capacity building. Civic Sphere works to design and co-create these models with clients, based on the concrete action required for their particular challenges.
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FounderHi, I’m Janae. After working as a city planner and architectural designer in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and the US in emergency management, multi-modal transportation, green building, and smart cities for more than a decade, I have observed problematic patterns that make working life for a professional in urban planning and management ever more challenging. First, planning and decision making processes are stuck in an old paradigm of freezing reality at one point in time. This is fundamentally at odds with current times characterized by constant change and the need to be nimble. Second, the field is dominated by subject matter silos within organizational departments with inadequate attention given to holistic thinking and action. There are few models to follow for an integrated approach, and while integration specialists would be helpful, each professional individually should have tools for working holistically as well. Third, technology is the newest layer of urban infrastructure. It’s exciting, it’s confusing, and it should address quality of life gaps and pressing needs without getting distracted by what seems hip.
I help professionals get comfortable with challenges that can, at first glance, seem chaotic. Each challenge has its own logic and set of solutions that can be learned. When this is learned by more and more professionals, it reaps exponential results across cities internationally. More about my background can be found on Linked In, and my portfolio of work is available on my website. |
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Civic Sphere, a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) in Georgia with more states to come, is based in Cabbagetown, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
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Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution, John Spink
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