Every day, governments around the world find new and creative ways to use our platform in their communities. From environmental improvement programs to new neighborhood developments, discover our curated selection of exemplary community engagement projects and get inspired by peers from around the world.
Vienna redesigns one of the city’s main streets to be a more human-centric community (Austria)
As the most important connecting axis and a hub for community exchange and local supply in the 6th district, Gumpendorfer Straß is one of the backbones of Vienna. To make it fit for the future, the Mariahilf District and the Department of Architecture and Urban Design in the City of Vienna teamed up to gather community input and develop a new plan.
This participation and planning project is split into 6 phases and quickly received over 1,000 participants. Their first step and large success have been with our new in-house survey tool that allows them to gather and analyze resident feedback on the same platform, making it easy to review and report on. Below are the next five phases:
- Street interviews and information booths
- Workshops with residents, organizations and experts in the district
- Feedback phase with information stands and mini-exhibition
- Elaboration of the preliminary design and presentation
- Design and implementation
To ameliorate their efforts on the platform, they also had “Gumpi-Standls” at various locations in the neighborhood where residents could come and see the work being done and talk to people first-hand about their ideas.
With this strong hybrid approach and initial engagement success, we look forward to seeing what else Vienna has in store and how our platform will help them reach success!
The City of Rexburg used a three-phase approach and surveys to hear what’s missing in their community (United States)
Looking to reimagine Rexburg, local officials launched a project to gather ideas directly from its residents.
In Phase 1, residents had the opportunity to submit their ideas, on any topic, either as an open submission or as pinpoints directly on the map using our mapping tool. In Phase 2, the City reviewed each individual idea and assessed the feasibility of the most popular ideas to formulate priority projects. Rexburg took away six key ideas to improve their community, and the city is now continuing to gather feedback from the community on how they would prioritize the final ideas. Here are the 6 top projects:
- Preserve rural values in Rexburg.
- Improve bike/walking paths.
- Increase rec center/family activities.
- Address the housing shortage.
- Repair park grounds This included specific requests for park grounds to be repaired.
- Local Restaurants. This included requests for additional food service industry businesses in town.
They are now in Phase 3, which consists of a survey to the community for residents to elaborate on their top priorities and how they would envision them coming to life in Rexburg. Explore the platform.
Planting trees and caring for them: Wokingham Borough Council’s Tree Project (United Kingdom)
As part of its 2020 climate emergency plan, Wokingham launched the Tree Project, which includes initatives around creating a new tree planting strategy and community tree planting, seeking to raise awareness about the importance of trees in urban environments.
On the project folder page, a resident can easily give their say and get involved all in one place, while staying up to date on the information around the plan that the city regularly updates. As a multi-phase, multi-touchpoint, and long-term initiative, their use of the CitizenLab platform can help them grow an informed and involved community when it comes to environmental policies.
This project is an excellent example of how community engagement and the use of technology can promote environmental sustainability and better decision-making in urban planning and development. By consolidating information in one location, stakeholders are better informed, leading to more significant community involvement, improved outcomes, and a more transparent and accountable decision-making process.
Renovating one of the city’s neighborhoods in Utrecht using community engagement (Netherlands)
To bring the historic part of Utrecht back to its former glory, the city turned to the residents for ideas and to ensure a human-centric regeneration approach.
The first phase of the project focused on gathering information about the Zuidpoort area, such as its history, current use, and future potential. This information was used to create a comprehensive analysis of the area’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The second phase involved a questionnaire, where residents and stakeholders were invited to provide feedback, ideas, and concerns about the area’s development.
The Zuidpoortstudie project’s ultimate goal is to create a consultative plan for developing the Zuidpoort area that is sustainable, inclusive, and reflective of the community’s needs and aspirations, showing how important community engagement can be in urban planning and development.
Riga cleverly uses our mapping tool to capture how people feel about the city (Latvia)
In a four-stage process, the City of Riga used our most visual tool, the mapping tool, to garner insight into what people liked and disliked about the city and its various attractions. Residents could select directly on a map of their city which location most fit the theme of each phase, such as “The pride of Riga”.
To help make sure people come back to the platform, every registered user gets an email notification that the next phase is open to help create more repeat and long-term engagement.
The “Sajūta Pilsēta” platform has been successful in engaging residents in the decision-making process and promoting community involvement in the city’s development. The project has recorded 261 participants, who have submitted a total of 85 ideas and cast over 1,300 votes for their favorite suggestions.
Overall, the “Sajūta Pilsēta” platform is an innovative and effective way of gathering feedback and ideas from community members. The project’s success highlights the importance of community engagement in promoting accountability, transparency, and sustainability in urban planning and development.
Thoughts on the latest traffic change? Dendermonde launched a poll to hear directly from the residents it affects on a daily basis (Belgium)
The primary objective of Dendermonde’s community engagement project was to involve the local residents, businesses, and stakeholders in developing a new plan that increases the efficiency and safety of the traffic flow in the area, while also considering the unique needs and concerns of the local community.
The project’s approach comprised two distinct phases. The first phase consisted of eliciting feedback from the community using an online survey, public meetings, and on-site visits. The second phase involved developing and presenting a proposed traffic plan based on the feedback collected during the first phase.
According to the project’s official website, the first phase recorded 174 participants, with 89 responses to the online survey and 85 attendees at the public meetings. The second phase featured a smaller group of stakeholders responsible for developing the proposed traffic plan.
