Chicago led the pack with three mentions in the “10 Creative Ideas for Thriving Cities” list, created by The Center for an Urban Future, a New York think tank. The innovative ideas that made the list:
- Chicago’s 311 Service Tracker, the open platform through which citizens can report issues to city administration. The issues are trackable, and the reporting party receives an alert when the issue has been resolved by the city.
- Chicago’s modern day suggestion box for city employees. Any employee with a great idea can apply for funding, as long as the program become self-sufficient within five years.
- Chicago’s adoption of “digital badging”, which allows students to receive credit for activities outside of school, such as attending a museum or lecture, thus dissolving the barrier between school and the world.
San Francisco, the other leader, got mentions for its encouragement of public transportation use by offering tax benefits, its “Kindergarten to College” program, which starts every kindergartener with $50 seed money for college, and its second-to-none recycling rate of 77%.
See the full report, here: http://nycfuture.org/research/publications/innovation-and-the-city#idea1
