[governance] Sustainable Cities theme for Delhi

[Thomas Lowenhaupt]

---  Theme for Consideration at IGF New Delhi  ---



Towards the Creation of Internet Resources that Facilitate Sustainable 
Global Cities



All indications are that ICANN will soon begin offering new TLDs and that 
cities will qualify as recipients. I’d like to suggest a theme that would, 
if addresses by ICANN alone, most certainly fit within the dreaded "mission 
creep". It seems the IGF is the appropriate reviewing entity for this 
evolving situation.



First some background to establish scope.



As part of Connecting.nyc Inc.’s campaign to gather community support for 
our effort to acquire the .nyc TLD, I frequently make presentations to civic 
groups about the opportunities .nyc will enable. In presenting the 
background for our effort, I make a point about technology’s historic impact 
on our city using two slides.



  a.. Slide one shows a proud Henry Ford standing next to a Model A in an 
early 20th century New York. I tell of the promise this automotive 
technology made for less malodorous, more livable, horseless-city.
  b.. Slide two is of the South Bronx section of New York City 50 years 
later. It shows the razing of a one-block-wide by one-mile-long swath of 
six-story residential buildings to clear space for the Cross-Bronx 
Expressway and automotive access to the George Washington Bridge. Removing 
these buildings resulted in the eviction of 15,000 residents and is 
attributed as a key cause of the civil strife that severely damaged city 
life in the decades that followed.
I then raise a few questions: What plans were made for the arrival and 
impact of the automobile? What impact has the arrival of the Internet had on 
city life? What plans have been made? – and answer that academics will 
provide clear answers to these later questions in the decades ahead, but 
that it’s time we begin thinking about and responding to the Internet’s 
impact on our cities.



Concluding, I say that its time we take what steps we can to remedy the 
globalizing impacts “the .com Internet” has had on the traditional role of 
cities as “areas of proximity” - where person to person networking takes 
place, where ideas grow and concerns are addressed. And one clear way we can 
begin to address the globalizing impact of the .com Internet is by the 
acquisition, development, and operation of the .nyc-TLD.



Now back to the IGF...



As we enter 2008, much progress has been made toward creating a process and 
timetable for the ICANN’s issuing of new TLDs. This happens at the historic 
moment when urban areas have become home to more than 50% of the world’s 
population. And with urban consumption creating 75% of the world’s noxious 
discharges, they provide a focused opportunity for creating a more 
sustainable planet.



ICANN’s impending issuance of city-TLDs provides the opportunity to develop 
policies and processes that foster sustainable development in global cities 
through the thoughtful development of the Domain Name System. (Global cities 
are those 135 cities playing key roles in the globalization process – see 
http://www.openplans.org/projects/campaign-for.nyc/global-cities-discussion.)



It is proposed that a focus of the Delhi IGF be “Towards the Creation of 
Internet Resources that Facilitate Sustainable Global Cities” with a charge 
to set the course for a coordinated development of city-TLDs as part of an 
effort to foster environmental sustainability. And that those Global Cities 
that are key centers of the globalization process and environmental damage 
be the initial focus.



Opportunities that might be considered include:



  a.. Sustainable Name Set-Asides – Domain names that serve as civic spaces 
for identifying and exploring environmental directions and opportunities 
should be set aside. For example, sustainable.nyc, green.london. These names 
should be internationalized - see next bullet.
  b.. Domain Name Internationalization -The IGF Rio “Broadening the Domain 
Name Space: Adding TLDs for Cities and Regions” panel previewed the 
internationalization study initiated by developers of the .nyc, .berlin, and 
.paris TLDs at the ICANN Los Angeles meeting. Panelist Sebastian Bacholet, 
appearing on behalf of the .paris TLD, provided three instances where second 
level domain names might be developed in various languages - www.taxi.nyc, 
www.hotels.paris, and www.hospital.berlin. By way of example, he explained 
that when in need of health care, German or French speaking visitors to New 
York City might enter www.krankenhaus.nyc or www.hôpital.nyc in their 
respective languages and receive pages with the needed information.
  c.. Best Practices – Creating a method for sharing best practices in 
city-TLD usage and the application of Community Informatics to civic needs.
  d.. Paired Cites – With .berlin, .nyc, and .paris preparing to apply for 
TLDs at the earliest opportunity, we might explore pairing of regional, 
north south, or sister cities that might facilitate the development of 
sustainable cities.
  e.. Development Funds - Can international development funds be used to 
foster Community Informatics and TLD implementation in global cities?
  f.. Expedited Global City TLD Issuance - Allocating Global City TLDs on an 
expedited basis to those cities which have accepted sustainable development 
standards such as the Aalborg Commitments.
Clear thinking on the Internet’s role in the creation of more sustainable 
cities can be facilitated within the structure of the ICANN and other 
international entities. The IGF provides the opportunity for identifying 
extant or needed institutions to facilitate the development of sustainable 
cities and the role TLD can play in that regard.

Respectfully submitted by Thomas Lowenhaupt, Chair, Connecting.nyc Inc., the 
New York not-for-profit seeking to acquire, develop, and operate the .nyc 
TLD




____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, send any message to:
     governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org

For all list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance