Sustainable Land Development Today - February 2008 - (Page 37) more then three minutes or a fence jumper in a prohibited area. • Mobile video units on trailers that can be moved around communities or retail spaces for events such as parades, concerts, or large civic gatherings to record large crowds or emergency situations. Some benefits of video surveillance are obvious, such as increased eyes-onthe-street and an increased virtual police presence. Other not-so-obvious benefits include: • Protecting restricted areas by installing a motion sensor camera that triggers an alarm only when an intruder is detected. • Monitoring threatening behavior. For instance, if the same car passes a restricted area more than ten times in a week, a camera can trip an alarm. • Immediate dispatching of medical personal as soon as a medical emergency occurs. • Monitoring of project infrastructure, such as burned out streetlights, downed power lines, and other infrastructure problems. Dummy or fake cameras have proven effective as a crime deterrent. As this technology spreads, urban planners and city officials must begin to weigh the costs and benefits of such systems, balance security with privacy, and explore aesthetics with the capability to respond quickly and archive incidents. Increasing the eyes on the street using video surveillance technology can help to protect tenants, residents, and visitors, making a development safer and more appealing. ing landlords to charge users to access their wireless network. However, providing a wireless service at no charge could help to differentiate one development from another. Such networks can also allow developers and designers to: • Enable office workers to work and shop in outdoor plazas within your project. • Replace fiber and copper with wireless high-speed networks. • Use as an alternative to trenching or digging up streets for increasing bandwidth (fiber need not be laid). • Be a last mile solution for residents and businesses. • Enable mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony that could compete with cellular phone providers (4G). • Provide wireless, mobile-rich media solutions to laptops and PDAs including streaming video, high-speed movie and fast music downloads. • Provide instant secure access to wireless, mobile business applications, such as private corporate networks, cooperate databases, and company intranet applications. Developers and designers could have much to weigh when considering this technology for a project or community. Such considerations include: • Where the base station/hub site antenna should be located. Growing Trend: The Wireless Connection Establishments such as Starbucks and Panera Bread have already discovered the commercial benefits of wireless connectivity in their shops. Allowing people to access the internet provides another reason for people to visit and shop, which increases a project’s vitality and profitability. Outdoor wireless connections can also provide a revenue stream by allowCircle 103 • or www.SLDTonline.com/webcard www.SLDTonline.com 37 http://www.hydrologicsolutions.com http://www.SLDTonline.com/webcard http://www.SLDTonline.com
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