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How KW can become more innovative
#1
Watching this video made me think deeper about how KW could be more innovative. Some fear we are too closely following the development ideologies of Toronto. Rather, if we analyzed successful initiatives of other cities around the world, and requested/initiated citizen-driven change, and found new ways to engage young citizens in city activities, we could create a unique point of differentiation in the development of our great city.

The think tanks 'New America' calls this “the new practice of public problem solving” - by bringing citizens into the center of the problem-solving process, trying out many different solutions and experimenting to get them right, measuring progress against people-centric goals with continuous data flows, and piloting small while designing for scale. That practice is the opposite of traditional bureaucratic decision-making, in which centralized solutions are handed down from the top and frozen in place through laws and regulations. Citizen driven change is a big part of innovation, but for change to happen, innovation in procurement is also necessary. Not only is it a formal city process that regulates how we spend tax revenue, but our evidence also shows that opening procurement allows for new ideas and better outcomes.

The broader discussion surrounds what makes a city innovative, liveable, unique, and what problems currently exist in our city... but perhaps we can start by looking at some examples of other innovative cities:

Pittsburgh, PA
- Has a simplified RFP process for startups to explore contract opportunities. Recent opportunities included an RFP for artists to design paintings on pavement to support Pittsburgh’s LGBT+ population (link)
- Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University of Pittsburgh analyzed traffic patterns and use the data to make them more efficient. They claim travel times went down by 25%, and idling time at stop lights dropped by 40% (link)

Bristol, UK
- The city is famous for street art, and the council permits graffiti have created a network of legal walls where they can create their 'art pieces' without fear of prosecution + private-building owners commission mural art work. The city set up an online poll, with 93% of those voting saying they are in favour of the street art (which also brings many tourists, and revenue to the city).

Berlin, Germany
- Busking is a part of the city's creative scene. It's estimated that Mauer Park has up-to 40k+ visitors each Sunday, and a major draw for this is the music. In other parts of the city, un-amplified music is allowed without a permit (with some restrictions - link), and amplified music permits can be applied for without much hassle. The city knows this is a big tourist draw, and enables musicians to perform their craft freely with little bureaucracy (link). 
- The city turns a blind-eye to people using the plots of grass/dirt around trees on city street for creative use. Bars and restaurants build wooden benches around trees; residents plant flowers and vegetables (see: urban farming), which simultaneously beautifies the streetscape, and eliminates overgrowth that city-park authorities would otherwise tend to. Loosely enforced by-laws and promoting DIY use of vacant outdoor space is part of what has made Berlin so unique.

Surely there are endless more examples, and so perhaps we can use this forum as a place to share ideas.  I'm uncertain how we as the public could present these (often cost effective) ideas to the city, but if we want to be an innovative city, one would hope they'll listen. 
Pooling these ideas together is a starting point... and if i'm being too optimistic, it's at least fun to discuss what kind of new innovations are developing in other cities around the world Smile
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#2
Giving this one a bit of a bump.  The various municipal governments collaborate to host Engage Waterloo Region, "a one-stop site for online engagement opportunities across Waterloo Region." I personally haven't used the tool.  Grass-roots innovation exists in Waterloo Region if you know where to look.  It can be something as minor as the weekly neighbourhood produce stand in my neighbourhood that becomes a hub during the summer months, or larger like the various Porch Parties that have sprung up over the past few years.  The Festivals and Events circuit is constantly evolving as each municipality explores different ways to get people into public spaces.
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#3
I know. How about we build a network of protected bicycle lanes, with actual barriers between the motor traffic and the bicycles? We could start by standardizing on that design for all new bridges — put the sidewalks and bicycle lanes on the outside of a pair of Jersey barriers, with a roll curb separating the bicycles from the pedestrians. How’s that for innovation?

Sorry to bring in another topic but actually quite seriously I think sometimes people are looking for gee-whiz innovation when there are really obvious improvements staring us in the face.
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#4
(08-28-2019, 07:12 AM)ijmorlan Wrote: I know. How about we build a network of protected bicycle lanes, with actual barriers between the motor traffic and the bicycles? We could start by standardizing on that design for all new bridges — put the sidewalks and bicycle lanes on the outside of a pair of Jersey barriers, with a roll curb separating the bicycles from the pedestrians. How’s that for innovation?

Sorry to bring in another topic but actually quite seriously I think sometimes people are looking for gee-whiz innovation when there are really obvious improvements staring us in the face.

Lol, the funny thing is we'd call this innovative and most of Europe and even a few cities here would roll their eyes.

You want innovative, make the official regional position be that we should decrease VMT...simple as that, that would be more unique (not totally) and quite bold.
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