A fictitious night view of my home municipality Kungälv makes for an enjoyable GIS exercise before the summer holidays kick in. The image is constructed from open geographic data, with municipality borders, roads and buildings, completed with a bit of shadow and gradients.

Access to open data like this is growing more important in urban developments. It forms the basis for analyses, investigations and presentations of the ever more complex world we are working with. To be able to visualize issues and matters that previously were hidden in text, numbers and tables means they are made accessible to broader audiences. And as geographic information systems and other digital tools keep developing, this field of knowledge just grows more and more exciting.

In a few weeks I start working on new commissions that will allow me to focus on the cities of Stockholm and Copenhagen. I very much look forward to that. But first, the personal batteries need to be recharged together with family and friends during a few weeks off. This would of course be easier, if the clouds looming around both global and domestic horizons were not so many and so dark.

To cope, we need to focus on the bright things that are always there in front of us, but rarely make it to the news headlines. The best possible summer holidays to all!