EngagingCities

The Planning Report is the insider's guide to urban planning and infrastructure in Southern California

Cassim Shepard, author of "Citymakers," on how designers can act collaboratively with activists and civil servants to make cities better.

BudgIT announces launch of Civic Hive - a platform to create an intersection between citizens and the government... Civic-tech organization, BudgIT, announ

mySociety has published a report as a result of the Civic Tech Cities project, attempting to shed light on one of the more opaque forms of civic technology implementation, namely, the tech develope…

Op-Ed: “It is not enough to simply label a space as public and not do the work to think intentionally about the experiences that marginalized groups will have within that space.”

By  Stephanie Marino via Deep Roots Design affects the brain. We know this intuitively, as we get frustrated when poor wayfinding causes us to get us lost or we feel renewed after a run in the park, but only recently are we starting to understand how and why. Our immediate environment can prompt both negative and positive effects and it’s becoming evident that the way spaces are designed can exert a strong influence on our behavior. This is especially important

After having been at Code for America for two years, attended a dozen Brigade MeetUps, and led design research for the Talent Initiative, I increasingly receive inquiries about how to concretely make…

For many years, open access to data has been viewed as an important means of improving government transparency and accountability and deepening citizen engagement, and today hundreds of local and national governments worldwide are using open data portals to publish data and documents that they produce over the course of their operations.

This case study introduces students to the field of civic technology and the possibility that it could help to amplify citizen engagement.

If the program continues its successes, it could change how startups and government work together, leading to an increase in civic innovations. All interested cities must RSVP before Aug. 4 to be eligible to apply.

New research shows cities that prioritize the maintenance of public spaces and community assets are more likely to inspire civic trust, stewardship and participation in public life. Here are three key findings — and three ways city leaders can incorporate them in their communities. This is a guest post by Suzanne Nienaber. This is the…

Do you have empty spaces in your community? Do you have forgotten buildings and corridors in your city? Does your downtown have areas that are sorely underutilized, like alleys or similar spaces? Are there any former industrial areas in your community that are currently sitting vacant? Are there any other parts of your community that …

If you're a public space aficionado or transportation maven, one only needs to sign on to one of the various social media feeds to see the daily movement that…

A new handbook offers advice to cities willing to make the leap to join Frankfurt, Vancouver, San Francisco and more than 300 others in the transition to clean energy.

Plus, Code for America brings Californians human-centered access to food assistance, 18F and the FBI build Crime Data Explorer, and Austin, Texas, donates used government computers to underserved residents.

By Jean-Noé Landry and Merlin Chatwin As more and more cities take steps to adopt open data programs we have …

Last month, Ben’s Chili Bowl unveiled a new mural. The display brought a crowd of people outside to reflect on the bright colors, cultural touchstones, and iconic images that represent DC, U Street, and the history of the local black community.  It also got me thinking about how public art fits into public space.

Yes, it's possible to have a community meeting where resident voices are heard, while experts and professionals get their say as well. Here are several tips for how to do that.

And the case for nixing the NIMBY label altogether.

The private sector is important, but tech needs to be on the forefront of government and policy efforts

The Maryland Planning Commissioners Association’s (MPCA) Outreach project is off to a hot start this summer. With two focus group meetings in the books and five to go, members of Maryland’s planning community are embracing the effort and expressing their opinions. The MPCA hosted the first meeting in Calvert County and the local press took…

From grassroots organizations to civic groups, government boards and nonprofits, there’s no shortage of organizations working to make Chicago a better place. But for Chicagoans who want to contr

Middle school is fertile ground because 11-14 year olds are increasingly concerned about fairness, justice, and their own thoughts on the world around them

Mayor de Blasio Brings NYC's First Neighborhood Innovation Lab for Smart City Technologies to Brownsville

During my undergrad, one course that really struck me was, “Urban Transformations, Affective Cartography”. We studied how urban landscapes are more than just spatial. We looked at how public space, specifically, urban space, affect our physical, psychological, and emo...