What makes City Swipe similar to Tinder?
Yes, you read it right. City Swipe is no less than Tinder but in this case it’s used to show your interest and love for your city. “The fastest way for you to tell what you like and don’t like about your Downtown!” By far one of the most easiest form of inclusive planning. City Swipe makers did something very interesting. They empowered residents to give feedback about what they liked in the city and what needs improvement with just a swipe!
Tinder for urban planning might sound far-fetched, but it is already being tested in the sun-kissed Californian city of Santa Monica. Concerned city departments and authorities are working hard to get feedback and opinions of citizens on everything from street furniture and parking, to murals and market stalls for their forthcoming urban plan, using a digital tool similar to a mobile dating app.
We are sure that people will love the way City Swipe functions and will agree on the fact it can be called as tinder for cities. Like something, simply swipe right, don’t like something than swipe left. In case you wish to address your concern or give feedback, use the comments option available from the app makers.
What makes City Swipe a truly public participatory software?
Public participation is very tiring and demanding when it comes to actual participation. You need to prepare yourself and do a bit of research about the question you will ask or the concerns which you will put forward to decision makers. You might not even get time to be heard or even not be able to attend the workshop or meeting! But this is not the case with City Swipe as:
- It empowers the end-user
- No need to attend boring meetings
- Give feedback of what you see on the ground
- Give feedback in micro seconds!
- No need to be an urban planner
- Stay away from all the jargon
- Its fun!
How City Swipe works?
CitySwipe presents local residents with images of potential scenarios and simple yes/no questions, encouraging people to swipe through the options, as if assessing prospective partners. For the time being, it’s fairly basic: a photo of some street art appears with a caption asking: “Do you want more of this?” Folding cafe tables and chairs are shown next to pink park benches, asking: “Which do you prefer?”
Each slide will show an image and a question pertaining to a different element of Downtown. There are two different types of questions:
- City Swipe presents you simple “Yes or No” question with images
- Images through which preference can be shown
What the makers of City Swipe wants you to know?
- If you have more to say about a certain question, please click the chat button on that question’s slide and leave your comments. Then swipe to the next slide
- Your feedback will be incorporated into Downtown Santa Monica’s recommendations for the City of Santa Monica’s Downtown Community Plan. This plan will help guide the future of Downtown for the next 15 years. So please take a moment to share your thought with us, and have some fun!
What to expect?
Feedback from the residents have a big positive impact on the planning process. The attitude of people towards various transportation modes, necessity for green and open spaces, parking spaces, sitting places and street infrastructure helps to identify the actual needs of a city. Use of technology will help in saving time as the physical presence is eliminated by use of City Swipe. It is one of the many tech tools cropping up in the world of town planning, in a bid to make what has always been an opaque and notoriously confusing system more transparent, inclusive and efficient for the public, planners and developers alike.
Read about: Primate Cities, What Makes you love a city, City Branding, Urban Planning & Technology – A never ending chase
