This Place Is…

How to Engage the Community in Urban Projects?

September 18th, 2006

“Community Planning Centers are customized websites designed by Project for Public Spaces whose purpose is to involve local people more directly and effectively in a public space project.”

These websites make information about planning projects publicly available and invite community participation and feedback. Their example sites…

Omaha by Design

Littleton Places

The principle is excellent, but I’d like to see sites like these take the interactive dimension even further, making it easier for people to share their experiences with places (and not just their feedback, which these sites seem to primarily solicit, because not everyone knows they even have opinions!)

Food for thought: How can a community website engage ordinary, busy, everyday residents? What engages YOU?

• Google’s gotten people to tag their images by turning it into an addicting and relatively mindless game (Google Image Labeler).
• The City of Pittsburgh’s Map Hub has gotten resident cyclists posting their bike accidents and bike resources on a collaborative map.
• An interesting enough flickr photo pool can get thousands of people to expose their habits under the guise of self-expression (while unwittingly providing valuable insights for designers!)

How can urban planners take advantage of collaborative web technologies to understand people’s experiences and needs and in turn create places that succeed?

LINK: About Community Planning Centers

Entry Filed under: Methodology, How To