Paper by Fengli Xu et al: “The lived experience of urban life is shaped by personal mobility through dynamic relationships and resources, marked not only by access and opportunity, but also inequality and segregation. The recent availability of fine-grained mobility data and context attributes ranging from venue type to demographic mixture offer researchers a deeper understanding of experienced inequalities at scale, and pose many new questions. Here we review emerging uses of urban mobility behaviour data, and propose an analytic framework to represent mobility patterns as a temporal bipartite network between people and places. As this network reconfigures over time, analysts can track experienced inequality along three critical dimensions: social mixing with others from specific demographic backgrounds, access to different types of facilities, and spontaneous adaptation to unexpected events, such as epidemics, conflicts or disasters. This framework traces the dynamic, lived experiences of urban inequality and complements prior work on static inequalities experience at home and work…(More)”.
Local Government: Artificial intelligence use cases
Repository by the (UK) Local Government Association: “Building on the findings of our recent AI survey, which highlighted the need for practical examples, this bank showcases the diverse ways local authorities are leveraging AI.
Within this collection, you’ll discover a spectrum of AI adoption, ranging from utilising AI assistants to streamline back-office tasks to pioneering the implementation of bespoke Large Language Models (LLMs). These real-world use cases exemplify the innovative spirit driving advancements in local government service delivery.
Whether your council is at the outset of its AI exploration or seeking to expand its existing capabilities, this bank offers a wealth of valuable insights and best practices to support your organisation’s AI journey…(More)”.
Path to Public Innovation Playbook
Playbook by Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation: “…a practical, example-rich guide for city leaders at any stage of their innovation journey. Crucially, the playbook offers learnings from the past 10-plus years of government innovation that can help municipalities take existing efforts to the next level…
Innovation has always started with defining major challenges in cooperation with residents. But in recent years, cities have increasingly tried to go further by working to unite every local actor around transformational changes that will be felt for generations. What they’re finding is that by establishing a North Star for action—the playbook calls them Ambitious Impactful Missions (AIMs)—they’re achieving better outcomes. And the playbook shows them how to find that North Star.
“If you limit yourself to thinking about a single priority, that can lead to a focus on just the things right in front of you,” explains Amanda Daflos, executive director of the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation and the former Chief Innovation Officer and director of the i-team in Los Angeles. In contrast, she says, a more ambitious, mission-style approach recognizes that “the whole city has to work on this.”
For instance, in Reykjavik, Iceland, local leaders are determined to improve outcomes for children. But rather than limiting the scope or scale of their efforts to one slice of that pursuit, they thought bigger, tapping a wide array of actors from the Department of Education to the Department of Welfare to pursue a vision called “A Better City for Children.” At its core, this effort is about delivering a massive array of new and improved services for kids and ensuring those services are not interrupted at any point in a young person’s life. Specific interventions range from at-home student counseling, to courses on improving communication within households, to strategy sessions for parents whose children have anxiety.
More noteworthy than the individual solutions is that this ambitious effort has shown signs of activating the kind of broad coalition needed to make long-term change. In fact, the larger vision started under then-Mayor Dagur Eggertsson, has been maintained by his successor, Mayor Einar Þorsteinsson, and has recently shown signs of expansion. The playbook provides mayors with a framework for developing their own blueprints for big change…(More)”.
The Case for Local and Regional Public Engagement in Governing Artificial Intelligence
Article by Stefaan Verhulst and Claudia Chwalisz: “As the Paris AI Action Summit approaches, the world’s attention will once again turn to the urgent questions surrounding how we govern artificial intelligence responsibly. Discussions will inevitably include calls for global coordination and participation, exemplified by several proposals for a Global Citizens’ Assembly on AI. While such initiatives aim to foster inclusivity, the reality is that meaningful deliberation and actionable outcomes often emerge most effectively at the local and regional levels.
Building on earlier reflections in “AI Globalism and AI Localism,” we argue that to govern AI for public benefit, we must prioritize building public engagement capacity closer to the communities where AI systems are deployed. Localized engagement not only ensures relevance to specific cultural, social, and economic contexts but also equips communities with the agency to shape both policy and product development in ways that reflect their needs and values.
While a Global Citizens’ Assembly sounds like a great idea on the surface, there is no public authority with teeth or enforcement mechanisms at that level of governance. The Paris Summit represents an opportunity to rethink existing AI governance frameworks, reorienting them toward an approach that is grounded in lived, local realities and mutually respectful processes of co-creation. Toward that end, we elaborate below on proposals for: local and regional AI assemblies; AI citizens’ assemblies for EU policy; capacity-building programs, and localized data governance models…(More)”.
Smart cities: the data to decisions process
Paper by Eve Tsybina et al: “Smart cities improve citizen services by converting data into data-driven decisions. This conversion is not coincidental and depends on the underlying movement of information through four layers: devices, data communication and handling, operations, and planning and economics. Here we examine how this flow of information enables smartness in five major infrastructure sectors: transportation, energy, health, governance and municipal utilities. We show how success or failure within and between layers results in disparities in city smartness across different regions and sectors. Regions such as Europe and Asia exhibit higher levels of smartness compared to Africa and the USA. Furthermore, within one region, such as the USA or the Middle East, smarter cities manage the flow of information more efficiently. Sectors such as transportation and municipal utilities, characterized by extensive data, strong analytics and efficient information flow, tend to be smarter than healthcare and energy. The flow of information, however, generates risks associated with data collection and artificial intelligence deployment at each layer. We underscore the importance of seamless data transformation in achieving cost-effective and sustainable urban improvements and identify both supportive and impeding factors in the journey towards smarter cities…(More)”.
State of Digital Local Government
Report by the Local Government Association (UK): “This report is themed around four inter-related areas on the state of local government digital: market concentration, service delivery, technology, and delivery capabilities. It is particularly challenging to assess the current state of digital transformation in local government, given the diversity of experience, resources and lack of consistent data collection on digital transformation and technology estates.
This report is informed through our regular and extensive engagement with local government, primary research carried out by the LGA, and the research of stakeholders. It is worth noting that research on market concentration is challenging as it is a highly sensitive area.
Key messages:
- Local Government is a vital part of the public sector innovation ecosystem. Local government needs their priorities and context to be understood within cross public sector digital transformation ambitions through representation on public sector strategic boards and subsequently integrated into the design of public sector guidance and cross-government products at the earliest point. This will reduce the likelihood of duplication at public expense. Local government must also have equivalent access to training as civil servants…(More)”.
Local Government and Citizen Co-production Through Neighborhood Associations
Chapter by Kohei Suzuki: “This chapter explores co-production practices of local governments, focusing on the role of neighborhood associations (NHAs) in Japan. This chapter investigates the overall research question of this book: how to enhance government performance under resource constraints, by focusing on the concept of citizen co-production. Historically, NHAs have played a significant role in supplementing municipal service provisions as co-producers for local governments. Despite the rich history of NHAs and their contributions to public service delivery at the municipal level, theoretical and empirical studies on NHAs and co-production practices remain limited. This chapter aims to address this research gap by exploring the following research questions: What are NHAs from a perspective of citizen co-production? What are the potential contributions of studying NHAs to the broader theory of co-production? What are the future research agendas? The chapter provides an overview of the origin and evolution of the co-production concept. It then examines the main characteristics and activities of NHAs and discusses their roles in supplementing local public service provision. Finally, the chapter proposes potential research agendas to advance studies on co-production using Japan as a case study…(More)”.
What Could Citizens’ Assemblies Do for American Politics?
Essay by Nick Romeo: “Last July, an unusual letter arrived at Kathryn Kundmueller’s mobile home, in central Oregon. It invited her to enter a lottery that would select thirty residents of Deschutes County to deliberate for five days on youth homelessness—a visible and contentious issue in an area where the population and cost of living have spiked in recent years. Those chosen would be paid for their time—almost five hundred dollars—and asked to develop specific policy recommendations.
Kundmueller was being invited to join what is known as a citizens’ assembly. These gatherings do what most democracies only pretend to: trust normal people to make decisions on difficult policy questions. Many citizens’ assemblies follow a basic template. They impanel a random but representative cross-section of a population, give them high-quality information on a topic, and ask them to work together to reach a decision. In Europe, such groups have helped spur reform of the Irish constitution in order to legalize abortion, guided an Austrian pharmaceutical heiress on how to give away her wealth, and become a regular part of government in Paris and Belgium. Though still rare in America, the model reflects the striking idea that fundamental problems of politics—polarization, apathy, manipulation by special interests—can be transformed through radically direct democracy.
Kundmueller, who is generally frustrated by politics, was intrigued by the letter. She liked the prospect of helping to shape local policy, and the topic of housing insecurity had a particular resonance for her. As a teen-ager, following a falling-out with her father, she spent months bouncing between friends’ couches in Vermont. When she moved across the country to San Jose, after college, she lived in her car for a time while she searched for a stable job. She worked in finance but became disillusioned; now in her early forties, she ran a small housecleaning business. She still thought about living in a van and renting out her mobile home to save money…(More)”.
How cities are reinventing the public-private partnership − 4 lessons from around the globe
Article by Debra Lam: “Cities tackle a vast array of responsibilities – from building transit networks to running schools – and sometimes they can use a little help. That’s why local governments have long teamed up with businesses in so-called public-private partnerships. Historically, these arrangements have helped cities fund big infrastructure projects such as bridges and hospitals.
However, our analysis and research show an emerging trend with local governments engaged in private-sector collaborations – what we have come to describe as “community-centered, public-private partnerships,” or CP3s. Unlike traditional public-private partnerships, CP3s aren’t just about financial investments; they leverage relationships and trust. And they’re about more than just building infrastructure; they’re about building resilient and inclusive communities.
As the founding executive director of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, based out of the Georgia Institute of Technology, I’m fascinated with CP3s. And while not all CP3s are successful, when done right they offer local governments a powerful tool to navigate the complexities of modern urban life.
Together with international climate finance expert Andrea Fernández of the urban climate leadership group C40, we analyzed community-centered, public-private partnerships across the world and put together eight case studies. Together, they offer valuable insights into how cities can harness the power of CP3s.
4 keys to success
Although we looked at partnerships forged in different countries and contexts, we saw several elements emerge as critical to success over and over again.
• 1. Clear mission and vision: It’s essential to have a mission that resonates with everyone involved. Ruta N in Medellín, Colombia, for example, transformed the city into a hub of innovation, attracting 471 technology companies and creating 22,500 jobs.
This vision wasn’t static. It evolved in response to changing local dynamics, including leadership priorities and broader global trends. However, the core mission of entrepreneurship, investment and innovation remained clear and was embraced by all key stakeholders, driving the partnership forward.
2. Diverse and engaged partners: Successful CP3s rely on the active involvement of a wide range of partners, each bringing their unique expertise and resources to the table. In the U.K., for example, the Hull net-zero climate initiative featured a partnership that included more than 150 companies, many small and medium-size. This diversity of partners was crucial to the initiative’s success because they could leverage resources and share risks, enabling it to address complex challenges from multiple angles.
Similarly, Malaysia’s Think City engaged community-based organizations and vulnerable populations in its Penang climate adaptation program. This ensured that the partnership was inclusive and responsive to the needs of all citizens…(More)”.
Towards Civic Digital Twins: Co-Design the Citizen-Centric Future of Bologna
Paper by Massimiliano Luca et al: “We introduce Civic Digital Twin (CDT), an evolution of Urban Digital Twins designed to support a citizen-centric transformative approach to urban planning and governance. CDT is being developed in the scope of the Bologna Digital Twin initiative, launched one year ago by the city of Bologna, to fulfill the city’s political and strategic goal of adopting innovative digital tools to support decision-making and civic engagement. The CDT, in addition to its capability of sensing the city through spatial, temporal, and social data, must be able to model and simulate social dynamics in a city: the behavior, attitude, and preference of citizens and collectives and how they impact city life and transform transformation processes. Another distinctive feature of CDT is that it must be able to engage citizens (individuals, collectives, and organized civil society) and other civic stakeholders (utilities, economic actors, third sector) interested in co-designing the future of the city. In this paper, we discuss the motivations that led to the definition of the CDT, define its modeling aspects and key research challenges, and illustrate its intended use with two use cases in urban mobility and urban development…(More)”.