If you had to guess where the next big, paradigm-shifting idea in planning and governance was to come from, your first thought might not be Utah.
But Daren C. Brabham and his peers at the Next Stop Design project have turned transit for the people into transit by the people by harnessing the power of crowdsourcing to design a Salt Lake City bus station. The project, which Brabham outlined in a guest post at WorldChanging.org, brings to governance an online problem-solving model that has benefited private companies for years: give the people who will actually benefit from a service the chance to improve it.
Next Stop Design is an open competition, allowing anyone to submit ideas and designs for a bus stop to be constructed in Salt Lake City. Interested people then log onto the project’s website and take the time to rate and comment on those images and concepts. When the competition closes on Sept. 25, the highest rated designs will be considered for construction.
Brabham’s post at WorldChanging has much more information on the project and educated speculation on the potential future of crowdsourcing in governance. He makes the point that public input from town halls and other events often comes from a narrow cross-section of society, while crowdsourcing can mean input from a broader swath of the population.
Is it time for Seattle to consider turning to its public for creative ideas on viaduct replacement, public transit and other infrastructure projects?
