Why Cities Digitized Paperwork Instead of Opportunity
Municipal technology got very good at digitizing forms. The opportunity itself is still buried.
Read Note →Field Notes
Thinking in public about cities that work.
Ideas, observations, research notes and working theses on civic systems, technology, downtowns, public space and economic activation.
The Clickable City
A city should be something people can understand, access and activate without learning the bureaucracy underneath it.
Read Note →Why Downtowns Die at 6 PM
Downtown decline is not only a real-estate problem. It is an energy, participation and programming problem.
Read Note →The Permit Is Not the Product
People do not wake up wanting permits. They wake up wanting to do something. Government technology should begin there.
Read Note →I Asked 50 Cities Why This Can’t Work
A field-study framework for testing institutional friction against a simpler model for city participation.
Read Note →How AI Changes City Hall
AI can collapse the distance between citizen intent and government action.
Read Note →