Skip to content
Apply
Stories

The Urban Commons: How Data and Technology Can Rebuild our Communities | Dan O’Brien

People in this story

Dan O’Brien, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Criminology and Criminal Justice; Director, Boston Area Research Initiative

The future of smart cities has arrived, courtesy of citizens and their phones. To prove it, Dan O’Brien explains the transformative insights gleaned from years researching Boston’s 311 reporting system, a sophisticated city management tool that has revolutionized how ordinary Bostonians use and maintain public spaces. Through its phone service, mobile app, website, and Twitter account, 311 catalogues complaints about potholes, broken street lights, graffiti, litter, vandalism, and other issues that are no one citizen’s responsibility but affect everyone’s quality of life. The Urban Commons offers a pioneering model of what modern digital data and technology can do for cities like Boston that seek both prosperous growth and sustainability.

Analyzing a rich trove of data, O’Brien discovers why certain neighborhoods embrace the idea of custodianship and willingly invest their time to monitor the city’s common environments and infrastructure. On the government’s side of the equation, he identifies best practices for implementing civic technologies that engage citizens, for deploying public services in collaborative ways, and for utilizing the data generated by these efforts.

More Stories

The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston.

Why the OpenAI drama matters in Massachusetts

12.06.2023
Line graph showing the rise and fall of teen employment. The line peaks at 04/01/20, then dips severely.

Teen unemployment spikes, signals potential weakness in US labor force

12.06.2023
Image of a hand holding a graphic that displays the ChatGPT logo.

Generative AI and Policymaking for the New Frontier

12.06.23
Op-eds