Community Canvas
Mashi Zaman
Advisor: Theo Ellin Ballew
Community Canvas is a website for New Yorkers to visualize new ideas for public spaces in 3D.
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Abstract
Community Canvas is a web-based platform built to facilitate the first (idea generation) and second (project development) steps of the participatory budgeting (PB) process as implemented in NYC, particularly in the context of renovation, renewal, and repurposing of public spaces. Community Canvas invites users, i.e., community members, to express their ideas virtually using handheld devices to arrange accurate-to-scale 3D models in space. The Brennan Center for Justice identifies energetic and thoughtful outreach, clarity on what PB can and can't do, and giving residents actual control as among the key takeaways from interviews with citizens about the factors leading to PB's success. On the user end, Community Canvas presents an exciting new way to articulate ideas for how public space can be used, covering for the limitations of existing text- or map-based submissions. On the local government side, it provides an innovative means of outreach, through which representatives can not only keep constituents informed of the PB process through notifications, updates, and other important information about budget and PB limitations through the app interface, but also engage them through presenting a channel of direct communication with their representatives.
Technical Details
TBD
Research/Context
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Further Reading
https://www.participatorybudgeting.org/