City 2.: We make the city better

Gu Yuan's special contributor

"Environmental deterioration, inconvenient travel, housing shortage, declining public security, declining community and soaring cost of living ... these' urban diseases' are seriously threatening the development of the city and the quality of life of urban residents. It is against this background that the concept of City 2. was put forward and quickly gained wide recognition. The concept of City 2. not only contains the future picture of a city's development, but also emphasizes the necessary conditions for realizing it: the collective wisdom of human beings based on the participation of each individual. "

in December p>211, TED, a world-renowned organization known for spreading "ideas worth sharing", announced its 212 grand prize winner. The TED Prize was established in 25 to help realize those "wishes that can inspire the whole world". The winners over the years are all people who have made great achievements in a certain field (the first winner is Bono, the lead singer of U2). This time, the award is not given to an individual, but an "idea", an idea that will affect the future of all mankind: City 2..

the significance of cities to human life is self-evident. In today's world, more than half of the population lives in cities, and by 25, this proportion will reach 8%. By the end of this century, it is estimated that there will be 19 super cities with a population of more than 2 million. From this perspective, the fate of the city is also the fate of mankind.

In the current prolonged economic crisis, urban development is the hope to get rid of the crisis as soon as possible. Research by Brookings Institution, an American think tank, shows that the American economy basically depends on the development of 2 metropolises. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and UN-Habitat jointly issued a report, pinning the future of Asia's sustainable development on the urbanization of the region. McKinsey & Company published the research framework of "Global Cities 6", clearly pointing out that the global economy actually depends on the performance of about 6 cities.

The city is so important, but the present situation of the city is so worrying. According to the research of the United Nations Environment Programme, at present, the urban area only accounts for 3% of the earth's surface area, but it produces half of the world's waste and 6% to 8% of greenhouse gas emissions, and consumes 75% of natural resources. Environmental deterioration, inconvenient travel, housing shortage, declining public security, declining communities and soaring living costs … these "urban diseases" are seriously threatening the development of cities and the quality of life of urban residents.

It is against this background that the concept of City 2. was put forward and quickly gained wide recognition. In TED's view, the version 2. city is a sustainable city and a resource-saving city, which can effectively use various resources, reduce pollution levels and reduce the cost of urban infrastructure. In version 2. of the city, the functions of family and community will recover, social interaction will become richer and more organic, and new opportunities for innovation, education, culture and economy will emerge one after another.

this concept sounds exciting, but even the best idea is nothing more than utopian imagination without an effective implementation path. The concept of City 2. not only contains a future picture of a city's development, but also emphasizes the necessary condition to realize it: the collective wisdom of human beings based on the participation of each individual. Because of this, in March, 212, at the global conference of TED, TED not only showed the beautiful picture of City 2. with a short video, but also released a network platform (www.thecity2.org) on which anyone in the world can publish their innovative solutions. As long as your scheme is excellent enough, you will get the support of TED to realize it, thus helping your city enter the 2. era.

in the era of urban 1., the "professionals" such as urban planners and architects and high-ranking municipal officials decided the appearance of the city. Reinforced concrete constituted the main body of the city, and the originally naturally formed city was divided into such uniform functional structures as central business district, leisure and entertainment district and noble residential district. But as Jane Jacobs, a hero in the field of urban planning and the author of Death and Life in American Big Cities, said, "It is easy to design a dream city, but it is hard to think about building a living city." The city is an artificial ecosystem, in which every resident is the real protagonist, and only they can better understand what kind of design best meets their own needs. They should make their own voice and participate in the urban development planning.

In June, 212, among the award-winning projects of Urban 2. announced by TED, one project well demonstrated how professional elites can cooperate with the general public to solve social problems in cities. In this project called "WikiHouse", two London architects built a blueprint of the house and attached installation guidelines, which were released to the public on the Internet, encouraging the public to design their own houses with their own experience and wisdom and local existing building materials. Every "public designer" can test and improve the original scheme, and can also publish his improved scheme for others to use. Up to now, five different model rooms have been designed by the public.

In fact, before the concept of City 2. was put forward, people's actions to improve the city spontaneously began. It is the "guerrilla gardening" that is popular in many big cities to plant flowers and plants on the wasteland in the city, which makes the environment green and reduces crime. Some people engage in organic agriculture on their roofs, which can not only ensure food safety but also reduce carbon emissions generated by transportation. "Vertical farms" have many benefits.

The popularity of social media and mobile applications that facilitate public participation has further stimulated people's actions. The popularity of mobile apps has made it easy to do things like "municipal hand-shooting". Seeing where there are municipal facilities that need to be improved, uploading photos may lead to changes. The famous London School of Economics and Political Science has developed a mobile phone App called "Mappiness", which can draw a "happiness map" of a city by analyzing the instant "happiness" filled in by users and the "surrounding environment" at that time, and judge which urban environment can better enhance citizens' happiness feelings. After the riots in London last year, many citizens used social media to organize street cleaning spontaneously, which became a classic case of citizens' participation in coping with social crisis.

in the era of urban 2., the role and responsibility of the government have also undergone a major change, from the original top-down policy makers to the supporters and collaborators of citizens' participation in urban construction, providing them with various resources from funds and venues to tools, methods and professional guidance.

In South Korea, our close neighbor, since 26, the government has commissioned Hope Studio, a private think tank, to explore ways to encourage public participation. At first, this method only built an "online idea library" to give the public an opportunity to express their suggestions on government policies on the Internet. Since 29, the idea library has become a nationwide "social innovation competition", and the public has made their own solutions to the social problems found around them. The government provided seed money to the first five selected schemes for pilot projects. At the same time, "Hope Studio" will help optimize these programs and contact various resources that will help the implementation of the programs, including media reports. Now, the model of this national competition has been copied by many local governments in South Korea to encourage the public to solve social problems in the region.

in Finland in northern Europe, the Helsinki municipal government clearly proposed to build the city of Helsinki into a "social silicon valley" in 25-a "wiki-style city" in which everyone participates in the construction. The government has set up a network platform "citizen-wiki" for this purpose. If the public thinks that there is anything that needs to be improved in this community, whether it is that there should be a local cheese shop or a zebra crossing should be painted on the road at home, they can post their demands on the platform. As long as 4 people in this community show interest in your idea, the government will start the "Mayor Seed Fund" to help you realize your idea. In an open letter to the citizens, the mayor of Helsinki wrote: "I believe that if the future government wants to succeed ... it must be able to make people feel' I can' and' we can'."

On October 13th next year, many cities around the world will hold a "TEDxCity2." forum at the same time, and people from different fields will share their thoughts and ideas about the future of the city. At that time, perhaps more people will realize that if "the city makes life better", then first of all, we can make the city better.