South-Korean product designer Hanyoung Lee has come up with a safety device that could make traffic lights obsolete, or at least improve their effectiveness. His so-called Virtual Wall is designed for busy city streets. Instead of showing a red light when it’s time for pedestrians to cross the street, Lee’s Wall projects a curtain-like, two-dimensional image of giant people crossing the street. The real pedestrians walk behind their virtual counterparts.
Lee’s design—which hasn’t made it off the drawing board yet—works thanks to a stack of laser projectors installed in poles on opposites sides of the street. Digital renderings of the Wall can be found on Yanko Design, and while there’s no word on an actual prototype, the device would likely cost more than traditional traffic lights. Thus, any city thinking of commissioning a Virtual Wall might consider flashing advertising messages over the heads of the virtual pedestrians in order to help offset the system’s cost. Another potential issue might be how to activate the Wall so as not to startle motorists approaching an intersection.
We generally don’t feature concepts that haven’t yet made it to market, but this one seems to present a host of business opportunities, as well as great PR potential for the first cities that implement it. Besides halting traffic at intersections, the projected images could be used to direct crowds at large events or form temporary virtual fences to warn motorists that road construction crews are working nearby. And how about smart deer crossing walls, that can both detect and project oncoming deer?
Website: www.yankodesign.com/index.php/2008/04/21/cant-cross-a-virtual-wall
Contact: hanyoungs@gmail.com
Spotted by: Harry van Praag
The internet, which has succeeded in democratizing so many other parts of life, has now set its sights on one of society’s most stalwart professions: democratic lawmakers. A recently launched Australian political party called Senator On-Line promises to let its members vote on every bill that comes before the nation’s parliament. The party’s representative then votes in accordance with the majority. Talk about direct democracy!
Anyone enraged by the power of special interest groups, back-room deal making and partisan bickering will be struck by the compelling alternative Senator On-Line presents. The party has no political agenda or platform, remains independent of lobbying groups and vows to help its members decide how to vote on issues with impartial online information detailing the pros and cons of any particular stance. Some might argue that such an extreme form of direct democracy could easily take on a dark side. What’s to prevent party members from voting against needed taxes, for example? Similarly, could they vote to strip away the rights of minority groups?
An FAQ on the party’s website attempts to answer these questions. To prevent a malevolent majority from taking over the country, Senator On-Line will only field candidates in Australia’s Senate (upper house), whose powers are limited to approving and rejecting bills. Under Australia’s parliamentary system, it’s the lower house, the House of Representatives, that proposes and debates bills.
Still, web-based democracy is an untested idea. And like all social communities or networks, Senator On-Line and its imitators will likely evolve in unexpected ways. Special interest groups might shift their efforts from lobbying legislators to reaching out directly to grass roots party members, who—for good or ill—may be more susceptible to their message. Candidates and their parties have traditionally provided a check when their rivals make false statements. With a web-based democracy, that role would likely fall more urgently on the press and on watchdog groups.
On the other hand, the gridlock that exists in many of the world’s legislative bodies remains in dire need of new thinking. And as the web continues to grow in importance, political parties are bound to rely on it more and more. No direct business opportunities connected to this concept (for now), but the model should be of interest to anyone tracking the workings of online crowds and communities. And anyone who'd like to start their online party ;-)
Website: www.senatoronline.org.au
Contact: www.senatoronline.org.au/contact
One day you pass that quaint row of shops in your neighbourhood only to discover it’s being demolished to make way for a parking lot. If only you’d known about the tear-down plans well enough in advance you could have lodged a protest. That’s where PlanningAlerts.com comes in. The UK startup functions as a targeted search engine, digitally scouring local government agencies’ online records for news of construction projects destined to affect the lives of local residents. Residents can sign up, enter a postal code and receive alerts by email. Result: if there’s a public meeting scheduled to discuss zoning changes in a nearby subdivision, users receive word of the meeting’s time and place. So far, the non-profit venture has sent out 21,686 alerts for 156 local authorities.
Of course, this information is already made public—as required by law—in a local newspaper’s official notices section. Likewise, truly determined neighbourhood advocates can find news of planning and zoning commission meetings and city council agendas posted online. However, like another service we recently profiled—Cleanscores, which posts restaurant health inspection reports online—PlanningAlerts.com unlocks the information, making it easier for people to stay informed. Especially by adding social features like comments and discussion boards that would make it easy for neighbourhood residents to coordinate action.
PlanningAlerts.com is currently in beta, covering only portions of the UK, but it doesn’t lack potential. The site’s super-local focus serves a role traditionally taken up by community newspapers and illustrates how the most mundane and obscure information can hold huge importance to those affected by it—something that publishers like Gannett are picking up on, and that many other established newspapers should take to heart.
Website: www.planningalerts.com
Contact: team@planningalerts.com
Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
There are plenty of government-run websites aimed at collecting feedback and generating involvement among residents of a particular city or town, but we hadn’t seen many aimed directly at local youth until we came across Derby KidzTalk. Operated by Derby Homes, a non-profit property management organization established by the Derby City Council, the site is geared toward kids between 9 and 16 living in Derby, offering them local information and ways to express concerns and get involved.
The site was originally motivated by a government requirement that Derby Homes involve users in the development of its services. "We are expected to include everyone—young and old, representing the broad spectrum of ethnicity—and this site helps us talk to young people who don't really like coming to formal meetings that adults feel more comfortable with," explains Mark Crown, tenant involvement manager for Derby Homes.
But Derby KidzTalk quickly took off beyond Derby Homes' expectations, reaching 80 registered users and 3,000 hits per month soon after its launch earlier this year. "KidzTalk is bigger than we anticipated for what was a step in the dark," Crown explains. The company is now scrambling to create a marketing plan and approaching other social landlords about the possibility of sharing and co-funding the site. It's also considering selling the format to other organizations. Our advice? Add 2.0 functionalities as featured in our posts on Love Lewisham, Amsterdam’s Google Maps mashup and Neighbourhood Fix-It. Take a playful approach to civic awareness by creating scavenger hunts with an online component: find a broken streetlight, report a pothole, etc.
Website: www.derbykidztalk.co.uk
Contact: getinvolved@derbyhomes.org
Spotted by: Amy Leung
We previously wrote about initiatives that are using the web to allow residents to report issues that local councils or city governments need to take care of. Things like graffiti, fly tipping, broken paving slabs, or street lighting. Both London's Love Lewisham and Amsterdam's Google Maps hack were created by local government. Now, a new venture is moving the concept forward by offering a nation-wide solution in the United Kingdom.
Launched last month, Neighbourhood Fix-It lets residents all over the UK pinpoint problems, which are then sent to their local council to deal with. After entering a postcode or location, users are presented with a map of the area. They can view issues that have already been reported, or add something they've just spotted, simply by clicking on the map. The site is free to use and run by mySociety, a charity that also created civic-action websites like TheyWorkForYou.com and PledgeBank.com. In a quiet beta test prior to Neighbourhood Fix-It's launch, several hundred problems were reported. Local councils fixed paving slabs, got rid of redundant estate agent signs, filled pot holes and removed graffiti.
As mySociety's Tom Steinberg explains: "Neighbourhood Fix-It aims to change the act of reporting faults - turning it from a private one-to-one process into a public experience where residents can see if anyone else in the neighbourhood has already spotted and reported a problem, and to see how their council is acting on it. We hope the website will make the process of reporting faults more efficient, possibly reducing the number of individual reports that councils receive because people will be able to see that their neighbours have already made the call."
Definitely the most efficient way for residents to request repairs, and it makes sense for local governments to encourage citizens to be their eyes on the street. If you’d like to influence how your own local government works, this is one to copy to your country, state or province! Making it easy to get started, Neighbourhood Fix-It gives free access to the website's source code.
Website: www.neighbourhoodfixit.com
Contact: www.neighbourhoodfixit.com/contact
Going green has gotten a lot more enticing to consumers in communities served by Philadelphia-based RecycleBank. Households can earn RecycleBank Dollars, redeemable for discount coupons at select retailers, just for putting their recyclables out to be collected. But the incentives don't stop there. It's also great promotion and community recognition for participating businesses. Sound too good to be true? Well, you may be surprised to learn that it's even more cost-effective than most traditional recycling programs.
How does it work? RecycleBank containers are embedded with identifying barcodes, and households can throw all of their recyclable waste into one bin (single stream recycling system, also known as making it easy for customers to be green). Collection trucks scan and weigh the containers to track how much each household is recycling. The more customers recycle, the more they earn in RecycleBank dollars—up to 35 USD per month. Customers can track their points online and redeem points for coupons that can be used toward purchases at major chains such as Whole Foods, RiteAid and Starbucks, as well as local companies that choose to be part of the program. More than 250 businesses currently participate.
While many recycling programs have proven to be more expensive to run than they monetarily are worth, RecycleBank wins by driving higher utilization of trucks and manpower. The cost of running the program is far exceeded by the money saved in landfill fees: RecycleBank charges municipalities USD 24-30 a household, and guarantees clients they will save at least that amount in disposal fees as waste is diverted from landfills and incinerators. Meanwhile, residents are racing to fill their bins with recyclable paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, tin and aluminium: in test neighbourhoods, the amount recycled per household went from an average of 5 lbs to 35 lbs per week. Demonstrating that it pays to reward good behaviour. RecycleBank's reach is currently limited to West Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, but it's generating some great buzz and could easily be expanded to other areas. For another example of incentive-driven recycling, check out our earlier coverage of reverse vending machines.
Website: www.recyclebank.com
Contact: gonen@recyclebank.com
Spotted by: Bob Staub
In March last year, we wrote about a city council project in Lewisham, UK that allows citizens to send camera-phone pictures to their local council to report stray garbage, unwanted grafitti, etc.
Two new spottings show that the concept is catching on. The local government of Amsterdam's Geuzenveld district just launched an online tool that lets people pinpoint neighborhood problems on Google Maps. After filling out an online form, a marker is placed on a Google map of the area, along with information on how the complaint is being dealt with.
The district is counting on the service to save time and money. Currently, a street lantern that's out of order will lead to numerous calls and emails to the district (roughly 40% of all complaints are sent by email/internet forms). Once people get used to checking the map to see if someone else has already reported an issue, the amount of redundant notifications will presumably decrease.
Geuzenveld also hopes residents will feel more involved now that they're actually able to track how their complaint is being followed up, and that local maintenance crews will be motivated to keep the map as empty as possible, solving close to 90% of all issues within 2 days.
New York, meanwhile, isn't one to fall behind. Later this year, the city's 911 call centers will be able to receive camera-phone pictures and videos taken by residents and visitors, straight from the scene of a crime. 311 non-emergency call centers will be similarly equipped at a later stage, allowing New Yorkers to document and photographically report on 'quality of life problems'.
Has (local) government in your neck of the woods found smart ways to use new consumer technology? Share it in the comments!
Initiated in February 2005, Love Lewisham involves residents in keeping the southeast borough of London clean. After installing special software on their cameraphone, observant townspeople can snap a picture of 'offending graffiti' or overflowing litter bins, enter location details, and send it to the local council.
The picture is then posted on the council's website, and cleaning crews are sent to resolve the issue. (Probably not immediately, but still...) Reminds us of New York's 311 phone number, which also provides residents with quick, easy access to government services.
Judging from the number of recent snapshots on Love Lewisham's pictures page, local people really have become involved. Besides the system's user-friendliness, the other reason this experiment hasn't withered into disuse, is that the council understands the need for feedback. People can track the progress of their submissions online, as well as having the option of receiving information directly from the council. Governing authorities everywhere: get with it! Follow Lewisham's lead and start interacting smartly with your residents. Come to think about it; not a bad idea for companies either ;-)
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