New Technologies Increase Citizen Investment In Cities

It appears that new technologies are fueling a era of renewed citizen engagement. Companies such as CitySourced have taken the lead, providing multi platform applications that allow smartphone users to report problems like graffiti or uncollected trash as they come across them.

This increased investment in how the city operates is translating into a more evolved contribution to the decision making process. According to Michael Armstrong, CIO for Corpus Christi, Texas, "almost all politicians now have Facebook pages, and they're becoming very comfortable with connecting to people that way. We also have a group of young people coming up who communicate entirely differently than the past several generations. They are connected all the time, and they are social."