Ped Shed over Drive Shed
Cities could close and re-purpose or retrofit parking garages to create incentives for walking or riding bikes, mixed with unique spaces for work, play, art, learning, farming, and other sustainable, entertaining, and productive experiences.

This is part 19 of a continuing brainstorm on the future of cities, inaugurated at the CEOs for Cities Velocity conference in September, 2009. We’ll post a new idea each day until we run out, at which point we’re counting on…

Citizen Recruiters
Every single citizen should be engaged in the city, valued, and respected. Citizen Recruiters are analogous to military recruiters who go out and get people “in the game.” They would issue a personal invitation to be involved, and help the recruits navigate the system to find the right opportunities to “play.” They could get involved in city services, learning, or apprenticeships. Supported by a technology infrastructure, CRs would invite citizens both in person and…

Prosper.org
The Ingenuity Ringmaster (blessed and supported by the city) would commit to a problem worth solving, and citizen innovators would submit ideas, and then the city would create a portfolio of projects with design criteria and guidance. Leveraging a micro-financing engine, citizens could vote with their dollars to decide which problems were solved. Personal investment would also drive involvement and contribution (anyone can volunteer to mentor the team, etc.). People would share, learn, and improve…

Ingenuity Ringmaster
This official would set the tone for inhabitants through open leadership and a malleable infrastructure, encouraging opportunities for risk-taking, seeding innovation, suggesting process and projects, and rewarding innovators by supporting imagination and invention. This is the coach that blows burning embers of ideas into rising flames of success.

This is part 16 of a continuing brainstorm on the future of cities, inaugurated at the CEOs for Cities Velocity conference in September, 2009. We’ll post a new idea each…

Free-agent Portfolio
Every citizen should be an entrepreneur and a free-agent. From the time you graduate junior high school, citizens would collect learning credits and acquired skills in a portfolio for every kind of demonstrable learning—from engineering and skateboarding to car sales negotiation and waitress skills. All learning would be applicable and a value-add to employers. The city would operate more like a talent agency, providing citizens with the infrastructure and resources to leverage and market…

Talent Districts
Cities could convert some neighborhoods into learning districts for personal, professional, and entrepreneurial development. They could provide a curriculum for development supported by the infrastructure (buildings, technology, services, mentoring, and community) within the district, and further provide certain non-financial “commitments” that families in these districts must meet to stay there. People would “win” or be granted a location in the district for 2 to 7 years depending on the development challenge and goal (DUMBO…

Decentralized Design Hubs and Work Centers
Neighborhoods could function as local “offices” by creating workplaces for citizens. Employers would therefore support and encourage employees to work in these hubs rather than driving or commuting to an employer-owned workspace. The employer instead “subscribes” to the pool of design hubs or work centers to enable employees to work there, much like a fitness studio membership. There are larger spaces for company and team meetings on occasion (weekly or…

Pedicab infrastructure
Some streets could be zoned for pedicabs (and bicycles) only. Themed pedicabs would make alternate transportation more fun, and would make this method of commuting a “destination” instead of simply a mode. It would also provide healthy work for the employees. Pedicab themes could be anything from music, to luxury, to branded experience, to learning lessons (TED Peds).

This is part 12 of a continuing brainstorm on the future of cities, inaugurated at the Velocity conference in…

Wide-walks
Cities should narrow streets to make room for wider sidewalks, which would provide spill-out space for businesses and restaurants; green space for landscaping, urban farming, and picnicking; jogging and bike paths; and noise reduction through elimination of “noise canyons.” Cities could also create a walking rewards program that would provide tax credits for those streets with the highest walkability, and offer citizen reward vouchers for food, entertainment, and public transit as calculated by the citizen…

Street Activity Stimulation
Cities could mandate street-level space that was open to the public. Every building would dedicate their ground floors to retail or activities that invite citizens in, which would avoid activity vacuums along city streets. This would foster greater opportunity for small businesses through greater availability of retail stores, dining rooms, studios and working space, and community and learning centers. The goal is highly walkable districts with rampant “boredom snuffers” and magnets for happy…