I have been involved in several community outreach efforts that tried to obtain new ideas for improving a neighborhood and feedback on ideas developed by city officials and architects.
Three new small parks and a few redesigned intersections came out of one series of meetings. The hard part is providing feed back to the people making suggestions so they are know they were heard.
It can become a productive cycle of ideas and improvements when people are told their idea was selected and 3 months to a year later they see it happen. Success feeds pride and new ideas.
Sadly most local government officials treat these programs as one-time efforts that are usually run during an election year and are timed to show success just before the election. Once elected officials become entrenched they no longer have a vested interest in keeping such efforts going.
Got an idea that would make New York City a better place to live? Speak up, someone’s listening.
A new digital forum, By the City/For the City, started by the Institute for Urban Design, wants to know how you would improve NYC’s public space. The site will collect ideas — and votes and comments on the ideas — until April 30. The ideas will then go to urban designer and architects from around the world who will create proposals for some of the best ideas. Those designs will then be showcased at the Urban Design Week festival.
While it’s unclear if any of the designs will actually be implemented, this model of community-engaged, crowdsourced design is one that more city governments should consider using.
It’s a model that’s being used in Indianapolis to gather ideas to improve Monument Circle in the city’s downtown. It’s also been used in Brooklyn to reimagine the Grand Army Plaza.
But what’s great about By the City/For the City is that you don’t need to be a city planner or have any artistic abilities to share your ideas, you just need to have a great vision. Plus the ideas are open to all parts of the city, allowing residents to imagine innovative ideas to improve the city in the places they live. There are no boundaries.
Ultimately, it’s urban design that’s by the people, for the people.
Have you seen examples of successfully crowdsourced urban design?