In Detroit and New Orleans, open data proponents are pushing local government to share public data in ways that help citizens in these struggling cities to improve their communities.
Next American City's Christian Madera spoke with Kurt Metzger, executive director of Data Driven Detroit, Denice Ross, information systems designer at the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, and Amy Liu, deputy director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution about what role open data has in improving the lives of citizens.
"Next American City: Can you talk about the importance of data in the revitalization process?
Kurt Metzger: Right now in Detroit we're talking about reimagining, reengineering, rightsizing - any number of terms have been used to describe it. Along with partners including the Detroit Office of Foreclosure, Detroit Vacant Properties Campaign and the University of Michigan, we recently did a survey of all the residential parcels in the city to get a feel for what exists in terms of vacant land, vacant buildings, occupied buildings and building conditions. We're trying to develop a broad set of indicators so as to better understand and describe our neighborhoods. In this way, the process of city redesign will be informed by very detailed information, which will be available to decision-makers and community members alike."
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