About Wise City Life (Copy)
All forms of authentic growth are endless practices
Origin Story
Wise City Life ideas crystallize one Summer afternoon in 2008 on a freshly painted green bike lane in Brooklyn, NYC at the intersection of digital technology and urban design.
Experiencing the democratic joy of safer streets, that biking NYC felt welcome, it began as a notion that "urban UX" is far more significant to humanity's future than any digital UX... that this challenge for life-centered cities urgently needed our attention.
It was already clear then that our digital and physical worlds were developing in profound isolation from each other.
Many communities were underfunded and struggling to maintain their diverse cultural identities in the digital age, most cities dominated by the unsustainable reality of car-centered design, while money poured into digital platforms that fail to cultivate the authentic connections that makes physical places special and people feel whole.
The irony: I helped build many of these platforms since 1996.
The hard truth: no "smart" tech-centered fix can ever solve this problem; being tech-centered is the root of the problem.
This recognition led to my 2010 development of "digital placemaking" while at Project for Public Spaces – a method that bridges these worlds by mindfully and responsibly integrating technology to support, enhance, or accelerate placemaking practices that strengthen communities by transforming or protecting physical spaces into culturally significant places where local identity, social relations, and collective meaning flourish — similar to how a structure becomes a home.
How can we live together?
How can we inhabit our fleeting lives best?
How can we wisely share our finite planet?
I've been developing around these questions and this participatory practice ever since...
Our Vision for Wise City Life Community
Knowledge Sharing
Exchanging insights, methodologies, and best practices for digital placemaking across disciplines and sectors
Collaborative Projects
Organizing. Working together on initiatives that demonstrate the power of digital placemaking in various communities
Practice Development
Evolving the methodology of digital placemaking through experimentation, critique, and refinement
Our Foundation
Consulting Impact
- Digital strategy for 20+ organizations across sectors
- Community engagement platforms reaching millions of urban residents
- Digital placemaking methodology adopted by major urban initiatives
Artistic Practice
- Place-based videos with 5,000+ views showcasing community stories
- Innovative approaches to documenting urban community life
- Collaborations with cultural institutions on online/offline community narratives
Join the Community
For Practitioners
Join fellow digital placemakers, urban designers, community organizers, and technologists in shaping better community spaces.
- Monthly practice sessions
- Methodology workshops
- Collaborative opportunities
For Organizations
Connect with a network of digital placemaking experts and access consulting services to enhance your community initiatives.
- Strategic advisory
- Implementation support
- Community engagement planning
For Creatives
Explore the intersection of art, community, and digital spaces through collaborative projects and creative exploration.
- Place-based storytelling
- Digital-physical collaborations
- Community narrative projects
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About Me
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About the Founder v3
Daniel Latorre is regularly called a visionary product executive, a leading digital placemaking pioneer with 25+ years of experience driving innovation across tech, urban planning, and social impact sectors, adept at harmonizing digital technology with community values to create transformative solutions. Daniel's work has consistently driven growth and secured millions in funding, including: co-creating human-centered digital consulting (CKS, Razorfish), social networking with K-12 teachers (Scholastic), cutting edge next gen decentralized protocol apps with Twitter’s first engineer (Planetary/Nos), created inovative cultural production methods (Rockstar Games), helped land global marketing and rebranding for Intel (McCann), creative collaboration groupware (Photoshelter), and local community crowdsourcing apps (OpenPlans, Project for Public Spaces, Participatory Budgeting NYC, The Wise City). In AI, Daniel has worked in computer vision SaaS (Photoshelter). He's advised the UN, local and national governments, & startups globally. A Zen practitioner bringing mindfulness to tech, Daniel has spoken at the UN, White House OSTP, and top universities around the world.
Through his digital tech consulting practice and socially-engaged art, Daniel has worked with organizations across sectors to develop innovative approaches to responsible digital tech and placemaking. Now, he's building a community of practice to expand this work and create greater impact.
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