Here is my weekly installment of news and views for urbanists:

• Tech And The City: The digitization and dispersion of the public-participation process is in such demand that some cities have created positions for technology chiefs to oversee the systems that connect the government to its people. (design mind)

• The Revival of Mental Maps: Combining an age-old process with today’s technical tools. (Engaging Cities)

• Transformative Social Change and Historical Urban Innovations: Past urban innovations can offer inspiration and guidance for present-day and future changes. (This Big City)

• Letting go of the suburban dream: Vancouver journalist Franca Temolo-Jones and her family gave up a lot of square footage, a lot of stuff, and a brutal commute. She finds it incredibly liberating.” (Globe and Mail)

• NIMBY Nation: Mad as hell and I don’t blame ‘em. For now: If you’re really about community improvement and not just about snark, you have to look at not just the what but the why. Why have NIMBYs increasingly developed an opposition to everything? (Placeshakers and Newsmakers)