Fiction books may have you believe that future smart cities are full of flying cars and robots, but some simple things like being able to report vandalism, litter, potholes, etc. through your phone using mobile apps, twitter, websites, or phone calls can help you get closer to the future smart city of your dreams. This is possible through Boston 311 systems where the citizens can report on urgent matters.
“Originally it didn’t have any purpose of its own except to not get in the way of an emergency system,” says O’Brien, associate professor of Public Policy, Urban Affairs, Criminology, and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. “It was actually a really efficient way to organise public works inspections and really to manage services that were needed by communities.”
A few years before, you would have to know someone in the public work department if you had to get anything fixed in your city, so this service is really democratising. It makes collaboration between the government and public efficient. O’Brien wanted to understand what motivates people to use the system. He thought it was people’s sense of civic duty that motivated them to use the service. But he found out that nearly 80% of reports were from people who lived within 2 blocks. The people who report were not always the people who would vote or volunteer, there were people who really cared about their neighbourhood. They believed the Boston 311-system helped them in improving their communities in a more efficient manner.
“It turns out to be a little bit more what we would call ‘territoriality’—not in a bad way, but in the sense of ‘I care about the space; I feel some sense of ownership over it, either on my own or in conjunction with my neighbours, and I’m going to take action,’” says O’Brien.
Mayuri Talgaonkar
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