Building Human(e) Cities
QUESTION What is it about cities that make them such a powerful force
Riverside ParkRiverside Park
“A mix of people’s practices connected to urban space produces a public good: the park is now safe.”
— Saskia Sassen
NEW QUESTION How do we create cities that engage residents in a way that encourages civic behavior
The original Urban Mechanic
SOURCE PROJECTS
SUPPORT &STUDY
EXPERIMENTS
SCALE & SHARE
Iterative Innovation
Where are we now?
BE RELEVANTwork on what matters to people
COLLABORATE DEEPLYroll up your sleeves
GROW YOUR NETWORKthe Friends of your Friends are your Friends
engagementgamelab.org/pdfs/darg
BE PRESENTin-person is just as important as online
Bringing government to people Clicks & Bricks
Be where the people are
GROW YOUR STREETCREDthe streetscape is a perfect context for innovation
2009Citizens Connect 1.0
2010Citizens Connect 2.0
2011City Worker 1.0
Citizens Connect 4.02013
Street Bump 1.02012
Citizens Connect Text2012
New Tag on the Block2011
Commonwealth Connect2013
Can we create the same
personal approach to service
and expand our audience
via an app on a smart phone?
Citizens connect
Pulse of the City
TRANSCEND DATAthe data is only a part of your toolkit
3
2
4 BE PRESENT In‐person is just as important as online
5
1 BE RELEVANT: work on what matters to people
BUILD TRUST: roll up your sleeves and collaborate
GROW YOUR NETWORK: the Friends of your Friends are your Friends
GROW YOUR STREETCRED: the streetscape is a perfect context for innovation
TRANSCEND DATA: data is only a part of your toolkit6
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
— Jane Jacobs
Thank You!@nsjacob
@newurbanmechs
Civic engagement or civic participation has been defined as "Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern."[1] Civicengagement has many elements, but in its most basic sense it is about decision making, or governance over who, how, and by whom a community's resources will be allocated. The principle of civic engagement underscores the most basicprinciple of democratic governance, i.e. that sovereignty resides ultimatelyin the people (the citizenry). Civic engagement is about the right of the peopleto define the public good, determine the policies by which they will seek thegood, and reform or replace institutions that do not serve that good.[2]