Gov 2.0 means your data is accessible (open), portable (standards-compliant), and feedback-friendly (able to engage in citizen-to-government dialog). It creates transparency and opens opportunities for a higher level of civic engagement. For urban planning, it can mean publishing your zoning data in a format that can easily be downloaded, shared, or networked with 3rd party applications which could provide a level of citizen services to streamline processes to save time. Comprehensive plans can be published on a website so they can be tracked, networked, and updated throughout the implementation process.
It is a new way of thinking about how to deliver planning through interactive applications that make government services more accessible, useful, and timely.
In 2009, I met Dan O’Neil, co-founder of Everyblock. Shortly thereafter, he and Joe Germuska, a web developer with the Chicago Tribune interested in civic technology, formed the Open Gov Chicago group which brings together web experts and those interested in government transparency to collaborate on web-based applications that inspire meaningful, government to citizen engagement. In February 2010, the first ever CityCamp, sponsored by O’Reilly Media, was held in Chicago. Government officials, technology, and non-profit professionals converged to talk about ways local government can become more transparent, innovative, and collaborative. There I met Jon Tolva, with the IBM Foundation Smarter Cities Initiatives to create more intelligent cities. Steven Clift , co-organizer of CityCamp, is making giant strides in citizen engagement by providing them with collaborative tools to communicate about issues in their neighborhoods and become empowered to fix them. I also met Jennifer Pahlka, the founder of Code for America whose organization is working to connect city government to Web 2.0 talent. Cities identify applications they would like to have developed to build a deeper understanding of how technology can be put to use to make city government more collaborative, participatory, transparent, and efficient. Nick Grossman at Open Plans, a non-profit technology organization focused on civic engagement and open government, heads up the development of software such as Open Geo, a fully-integrated open source geospatial platform for serving maps and data through web applications, mobile devices, and desktop clients.
At South by Southwest 2010, I finally connected with Ben Berkowitz, founder of SeeClickFix. If you haven’t heard by now, SeeClickFix has become one of the leading neighborhood awareness apps, especially for 311 notifications.
Few local governments have enough sophistication to run functional websites or 311 hot lines. Most do not have the resources to do much more than brochure-ware. Our site is a place for citizens from anywhere to give their local government a website that tracks local issues. No set-up time. No hiring consultants to study the issue. Just SeeClickFix.
As for me, I want to give urban planners the power to do more with less. This might entail capitalizing on applications that have already been built and proven to be successful or we can build on top of existing technologies. My mission will require the right blend of innovation and resourcefulness but the pay off to create more livable cities will be well worth it!
Social networking is gaining traction. It changes the way we share information and communicate with our friends. It provides the opportunity to meet people we might not ever come across in the physical world. Now we can track our proximity to just about anything on our cell phones. As a result, our physical and virtual worlds have become seamlessly blended.
Social networking is the dissemination of information to subscribers on a web site or mobile device. People are linked together in groups enabling them to share stories, photos, and video with each other. Planners can use social networks to disperse materials on the web and garner feedback from citizens. Community members who join your network can reply to your information with ease. Social networks drive virtual traffic to your web site for specific purposes such as surveys, FAQs, visualization, and mapping components of the project. In several cases it has greatly effected the level and quality of civic involvement.
Social media provides an opportunity to meet people we might not in the physical world. For example, using a program called TweetDeck, I follow the messages (called Tweets) sent from Twitter by people I have never met in person. As these experts travel to conferences, they send messages about the speakers and notes live from the event enabling followers to “tag along” virtually.
Messages and updates can be sent to mobile devices as well. We can send and receive information on the go. As a result, our physical and online worlds are becoming seamlessly blended.
Once a technology becomes mainstream by consumers, it gets adapted for marketing and government use. Why? Because citizen expectations have been raised. President Obama’s vision for a more transparent, participatory and collaborative government is becoming a reality. Conferences such as the Open Government and Innovations Conference, the Personal Democracy Forum, and the Gov 2.0 Expo are exploring how technology will make government more transparent and collaborative. One of the ways to maintain open communication is through social networks.
Existing and emerging technologies can expand your reach. Some can be used for participation, others for collaboration, but all of them help planners and citizens create a story to build a deeper sense of place together.
Consumers who have learned how to use these tools immediately see their benefit. The gap between citizen expectations and government is gradually narrowing. You might face barriers suchas access through municipal firewalls, privacy, and maintenance cost, however the benefits far outweigh the setbacks. A steward to support your online community participation can help you overcome these obstacles and gain higher levels of citizen involvement to create a better plan.
The Facebook group, “Online Social Networking Applications for Planning” was created as an extension of an APA Ohio webinar. Approximately 500 people attended and half joined the group to continue the conversation about integrating online tools into the planning process and overcoming obstacles. I’ve become active in this group by posting information about the benefits of Facebook and Twitter integration into web sites. As a result, I was invited to speak at the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council’s conference in Grand Rapids on June 5, 2009 and the National Association of Development Organizations conference in Chicago on September 1st, 2009. This article supplements these presentations.
Consumer driven tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are shifting our expectations; they are inevitably changing the way we communicate in business and with our government. Over the last year, municipalities and organizations have been creating groups and pages on Facebook and YouTube to engage participants. Social networks are being integrated into planning project web sites to reach as many residents as possible.
A comprehensive plan is the prefect project to engage citizens online through social networking and graphics that make planning fun. A web site, accessed 24 hours a day, can be linked to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and a blog to simultaneously push content onto multiple sites with little effort. The right infrastructure will save time and create a feedback loop where citizen comments are consolidated on the project web site for response from a central location. A library of existing conditions can be built by community residents who post their photographs to Flickr. As a result, they could see their contributing images and stories featured on the project site. It has been proven that residents take ownership in a plan when they were able to contribute to the development of it, tell their story, and follow along passively or actively, even if they can not participate in person at a meeting.
Social networking as a marketing tool for the plan will drive traffic. Visitors won’t stay at the site long or revisit if the content is not updated and engaging. Graphics explain streetscape, design, and economic development options. Before and after scenarios can be visualized then used to promote appropriate development and signage, as well as recruit businesses after the plan is adopted.
Google Earth can be linked to Flickr and Picasa image galleries to map community assets. Google products are a good alternative to complicated GIS maps and allow planners to import layers for presentation purposes. Community residents could potentially add comments directly to the map with a little programming.
Projects in Austin, Manor, and San Antonio, Texas, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Orange County, California have increased the turn out at public meetings and captured interest in the future of their cities from more than just residents. They have creatively used web-based technology to construct a future vision, economically prosper, and provide services to residents more efficiently. You can be more effective while saving time with the right technology support. Is your city the next role model for successful community participation and innovation?
