Citizen Collaboration at the Heart of the City | Bristol, UK

The City of Bristol is my favourite city out of all five exemplar cities researched for this assignment. Collaboration and innovative design thinking are truly at the heart of this city. The tech for good Bristol projects examined were Flourish, highly technical self-driving vehicles in the trial phase to combat mobility challenges, and Bristol Approach, where little sensors were designed to monitor air quality for concerned citizens. It was powerful listening to the videos and reading content about each project because the passionate voices of the individuals shined through above all else. Elders fearing their lack of mobility will force them to live in isolation, and citizens with asthma fearing how their city’s extreme air pollution can harm them, are both real issues that are important and need to be addressed. With these particular projects and others, Bristol sets an exemplary example of how a city should embrace and empower the voice of vulnerable citizens to combat challenges they face in their daily lives, as well as, extending to other challenges that impact the city as a whole.

My involvement in this civic innovation course, and being given the opportunity to learn from guest speakers, has tremendously added to and complimented my learning experience as an information designer. I have become more critical of how The City of Calgary is shaping the community for all Calgarians, including myself. As discussed in class with representatives from The City of Calgary, we need to continuously ask ourselves how the city can be more inclusive or exclusive. To better understand the answer, there needs to be collaboratation with those whom often have their voice unheard or overlooked. Knowing that I will assist in advocating for a user-testing group in Calgary, and personally pursuing a career that works with people to solve problems, there were several things I was reminded of while immersing myself in this exemplar cities research. These lessons include that involving the user has only ever added value, and it does not typically require extensive work to achieve this value.

I hope in referring to these exemplar cities researched, The City of Calgary can find ways to create space for citizens to be engaged and empowered, using tech for good, and always thinking ahead.

KP

Detroit – Resiliency and Advocacy in Tech

One would not think of, Detroit, Michigan as an “exemplar” in anything, let alone an exemplar in tech. This is a city that has suffered a catastrophic economic collapse, went through a bankruptcy, and currently has a hemorrhaging population and an extremely high poverty rate.

So, why did I choose Detroit, out of all the advanced cities I researched, as my favourite exemplar, or as an exemplar at all? For a simple reason. That is, when you understand adversity, you understand resiliency, and when you understand inequality, you understand advocacy. Detroit is exemplary in the way the city’s residents and organizations here have built resiliency and fostered advocacy through technology.

Through organizations like the Detroit Technology Community Project and initiatives i.e. Equitable Internet Access and the Data Justice program, going in and building networks in communities, facilitating discussions, sometimes literally installing internet, are prime models our city should look towards when it comes to addressing digital inequalities.

Despite the many chronic shocks that Detroit has already endured, the city has developed a very resilient and robust technological network of advocacy, a citizen-led network unlike any of the other more technologically advanced cities one might think of as exemplars.

– MT

Exemplar Cities – Reykjavik, Iceland

If you take a look at the OECD’s Better Life Index, you’ll find that Iceland ranks at the top for social connection. It also ranks above average in income, wealth, well-being, heath, personal security, civic engagement, and education. It is safe to say that Icelanders enjoy a high quality of life. I can’t help but think that this is thanks to Reykjavik’s (Iceland’s capital city) passionate commitment to social innovation. There are three social innovation testbeds around the city established by Reykjavik Smart City, that develops and tests social innovation technology projects, and these testbeds aren’t just for policy makers. Everyday Reykjavik citizens can contribute, pitch ideas, and evaluate current projects through a website called Better Reykjavik. By including everyday citizens in the built environment of their city, Reykjavik is improving the livability and happiness of its inhabitants.

IL

Democratic Data in Barcelona

I think that the way Barcelona as a city is innovating in the digital space is nothing short of exemplary. Barcelona wanted to increase public engagement in the civic process, including the utilization of public data, while still respecting personal privacy. The municipal government has done that by creating their own manifesto for open data in an effort to become a “digitally sovereign” city. The manifesto’s values have been realized in practice by the civic user testing group and European consortium DECODE, who has run pilots in Barcelona and Amsterdam to increase civic engagement and give them ultimate autonomy over which data they choose to share. My favorite example of the pilots empowered users to activate city services, creating a sensor network that detected noise in a community. It was a tangible, scalable example of how technology can improve city life.

Ben D.

Smart City and City of the Future.

In the exemplar cities project, I found many new and innovative ideas that have contributed to the world’s “smart cities”. While many cities are utilizing the use of innovation labs and data collection to build their smart city. Oslo, Norway, has begun the construction of a small completely self-sufficient Smart City. In theory, it’s the “City of the Future.”(Kosowatz. J, 2020). A fully sustainable city located on 260 acres of land near their airport (2020). These small sustainable cities will run off sustainable energy that will run the city with sensors. The sensors will control the automatic lighting in streets and buildings as well as the security and waste systems (2020).

This sustainable city project will set the ground for new sustainable practice and set an example for cities around the world. Not only will this small-scale sustainable city help Oslo achieve its goal of reducing emissions to 0% by 2030, but it will also provide information and insight into what a fully sustainable city looks like. This sustainable city can then be used to research how we might be able to implement that in other cities to help achieve a global initiative for climate change.

This city stuck out to me amongst the five I research because of their focus on attacking climate change on their own. Their initiatives have the power to make a real difference in their community. As well, the actions they are taking are setting an example for other cities and giving them the opportunity to learn from the project they have produced.

TS

Seattle: Tech for Good, Tech for Community

Seattle’s Tech for Good journey, while still in it’s earlier stages, has already made waves in the local community. With groups like DemocracyLab, Open Seattle, and Seattle Tech4Good developing initiatives to engage with community stakeholders in the Seattle area, it is quickly becoming a North American hub for Civic Tech. In 2019, Seattle hosted a Civic Tech Volunteer Hackathon with the specific goal to make strides toward facilitating new opportunities for long-term volunteer engagement between Seattle residents skilled in tech and local organizations (Frischmuth, 2019).

Through projects like this- with an emphasis on community building- the Seattle tech innovation sector has developed a strong base from which to keep working towards larger projects, and scale their impact. With Calgary’s rapidly growing tech sector paralleled to Seattle’s flourishing one, we might look to Seattle as a window into the Calgary sector’s near future and take note of how impactful Tech for Good can be, especially to support and learn from our neighbours.

MM

Singapore - from the worst to the best housing system in the world:

Singapore has one of the world’s most sustainable housing planning systems, with more than 80% of the population lives in public housing and 90% of which own their own house, according to the Housing and Development Board. This is possible thanks to the government's housing provision strategy and financial support since the 1960s, including the Home Ownership Scheme, Allocation and pricing, Financial planning, and Home Protection Scheme. Today, Singapore is becoming a smarter city by using technology in housing planning to achieve sustainable living for its citizens. Some of the highlighted technologies include My Waterway @ Punggol (Singapore's first man-made waterway that won numerous awards for transforming the town into a "waterfront town of the 21st century") the Living laboratory (where the new sustainable initiatives in urban planning, design, and green building solutions are test-bedded). HDB also sets the goal to achieve net-zero-energy for common services through the solar capacity building program, in which the design of the solar photovoltaic systems has been optimized to maximize solar power generation for each HDB residential block.

Sunny P.

Innovation in Barcelona

Barcelona was one of my favourite exemplar cities I researched. There were many significant cities that had an interesting aspect of Tech for Good but I enjoyed learning about IoT: the Internet of Things. The array of IoT technologies that are available already gives Calgary plenty of opportunities for utilization.

There are five main categories in which cities can receive their data that can improve a person’s quality of life: Economic Development, Housing & Engagement, Healthcare, Mobility, Security and Utilities (Smart City Hub, 2018). There are 55 main applications within those categories, many of these technologies Barcelona and other cities have already adopted which is what makes them a Smart City. This has been most impactful for a city’s energy conservation due to the introduction of LED light sensors that only turn on with the detection of movement. In fact this has reduced energy consumption by 30% (Eden Strategy Institute and ONG&ONG Pte Ltd., 2018). These sensors also detect air quality, humidity and noise levels (Eden Strategy Institute and ONG&ONG Pte Ltd., 2018). A way that Calgary could work towards becoming a Smart City is starting small with some of these technologies that we know can be effective. Many of Barcelona’s initiatives revolved around bettering the future of not only the city but also the rest of the world. When it comes to the environment and ways that we can become independent from our reliance on natural resources, it is something that is significant for all our future generations.

Sam H.

Into the Future: Digital Governance in Shanghai.

When I think of impressive, I think of Shanghai. With a population of over 24.3 million people, this mega city is one of the most innovative and populated areas in the world (Populationu.com, 2021). Located just south of the Yangtze river, Shanghai is a global center for development in finance, research and technology. With such a large population and an immense amount of global influence, Shanghai is striving to become a leader among smart cities and digital social innovation.

One of the most innovative elements of this city is its transition towards

E- governance: seamless, paperless and boundless government support to every citizen in Shanghai. This model of government interaction will allow citizens to save time, government to save money and will provide everyone with more time to do the activities that bring value to their lives.

Shanghai is an exemplar city for digital social innovation and is setting the bar high for the rest of us!

Dawson

Singapore’s Underground City

Singapore is a beautiful, bustling city. Though, their population is far exceeding their land mass. In order to keep the island from becoming overcrowded Singapore decided to start building below ground.

How does this relate to Calgary? Well, although we have the ability to build outward, and we have done just that -to the point that we may even consume all of Alberta one day- the problem in Calgary draws into its downtown core. The heart of our city is severely congested with traffic, transit lines, bike lanes, and very little parking. Unfortunately, a congested heart is just as bad for a city than it is for a human being.

Despite this fact Calgary has a well-known secret, a hidden tunnel in its downtown core right under city hall. It was constructed to be part of a train line decades ago, but the project was never completed. The infrastructure is there; the question is now, what can we do with it today to implement a better, healthier Calgary tomorrow? Perhaps the city’s +15 could be accompanied by a fifteen below in the future in order to reduce the congestion in our city's core.

Heather J.

Palo Alto - Improving mobility for all

When I was doing this project I think I enjoyed researching about Palo Alto the most because this is where Tesla‘s headquarters are located. Not to mention, this city is a part of the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area where other famous technology companies like Google, SpaceX, and Apple operate. According to one of the articles I was reading, mobility is a challenge for this city. The city is trying to become a more digital, carbon-free, and environmentally sustainable place. With the utilization of Tesla vehicles and other electric methods of transportation, future generations will not have to face issues like global warming. Not only that, individuals who have a hard time parking or simply operating a vehicle can command the electric car to function autonomously. This is unbelievably beneficial for wheelchair users as their workload while driving is reduced greatly. In a regular vehicle, disabled users are consistently using their hands to alternate between the brake and acceleration throttle which can be exhausting. Calgary would have a reduction in traffic and casualty collision rates through this digital social innovation, making it a smart mobility city, along with a smart environmentally sustainable city. As a result, more people will be likely to purchase this product, adopt eco-friendly practices, and possibly look into Palo Alto’s other sustainable technology, some of which Musk is responsible for the creation.

~A.N

Connecting Traditional Knowledge and Technology in Grafton, Australia

In the exploration of five Smart Cities and the impact that they are having on civic innovation and urban resilience, an interesting method of community engagement captured my attention: makerspaces. Makerspaces have not only provided places for people to access technology, tools, knowledge, and community, but they have also been catalysts for change among vulnerable populations across the world.

In Grafton, Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have faced a dramatic population decrease due to British colonization across the country in the late 1700s (Australians Together, n.d.). This has led to a loss of cultural identity among these communities and contributed to a culture of lost identity (Australians Together, n.d.). In an attempt to protect the traditional heritage of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence launched the program IDX (Indigenous Digital Excellence) which promotes the use of technology in learning about the land and one's heritage (2017). Participants have access to robotics, 3D printing and drones and learn about their land and ancestors through this program (National Centre for Indigenous Excellence, 2017).

Grafton, while a seemingly unremarkable country city, stands out to me through their ability to embrace technology as a way to tell stories and learn about their culture. I found it particularly inspiring that they used drone technology to teach high school students about the river and to recognize its importance to the Aboriginal communities that rely on it (National Centre for Indigenous Excellence, 2017).

Sydney H

Amsterdam - A world leader of innovation

Amsterdam is the capital city of the Netherlands and is home to a wealth of historical knowledge, as well as a large artistic scene (Vincent, Wintle, & Werkman, n.d.). Relating to Amsterdam’s involvement in Digital Social Innovation (DSI), the history of the city of Amsterdam must be looked at. Since Amsterdam is a largely coastal port city, issues of flooding have caused the city problems since the 16th century (Digital Social Innovation Europe, Amsterdam’s Take On Digital Social Innovation, n.d.). This issue caused the citizens of Amsterdam to work together to find different ways to protect the city, thus giving rise to Amsterdam’s current large-scale involvement in social innovation (Digital Social Innovation Europe, Amsterdam’s Take On Digital Social Innovation, n.d.). As identified by Digital Social Innovation Europe (n.d.), Amsterdam’s holistic approach to innovation is one of its biggest success factors relating to why it is one of the world’s leaders for innovation (Digital Social Innovation Europe, Amsterdam’s Take On Digital Social Innovation, n.d.). By considering the opinions of all citizens and stakeholders, Amsterdam is able to bring “together multiple ‘forces’ in the city.” (Digital Social Innovation Europe, Amsterdam’s Take On Digital Social Innovation, n.d.).

Aiden M.