photo credit: SaGaR PuRo
At The Urban Vision, We recognize that cities are at the heart of some of the most pressing problems the world faces today – whether it is climate change or poverty. We believe that they are also at the heart of the solution to these pressing problems. We like to focus on showcasing ideas that can turn cities into an opportunity.
However, I recognise that to transform these visions into reality is not easy.
I recognize that the answer towards solving a lot of the world ‘s biggest problems whether poverty or climate change is not so much about design or ideas as much as it’s about leadership. The leadership that is desperately needed to generate transformative change is absent at this point in time.
To transform our visions into reality we need to do multiple things. But I believe empowering the citizens and the community is key. As the saying goes “The most important political office is that of the citizen”. It is ‘us’ who have to contribute to build a better community that we dream of.
One disruptive / change driver idea that could really augment citizen participation in planning is technology. We know how social media like Facebook / Twitter allows us to Connect / Collaborate and organize ourselves as a community. We have all been activists on facebook at some point or another. So it is that time we put these Web 2.0 tools to use towards a good cause.
Patrick Geddes who is widely acknowledged as the father of modern urban planning acknowledged the importance of civic engagement. His “Outlook Tower” in Edinburgh, Scotland, which can be best described as “city observatory”, “museum” or a “civic laboratory,” demonstrates how citizen engagement was at the heart of city planning process.
My big idea for this year is technology tools that create opportunities for a one-on-one and conversational relationship between policy makers / public leaders and the citizens. I am interested in “Web 2.0” tools and the opportunity it presents to enable communication and collaboration in the civic space.
I have been curating a Video Journal called www.sparksforchange.com to document some ideas in this space.
* “Web 2.0” can be described as technologies like wikis, podcasting, blogging, social networking sites which is an inventive way to connect the collective intelligence of diverse set of communities and experts.
What is your one big idea for cities in 2012? Submit a blog post to info@theurbanvision.com along with a bio & Pic.
