Dreaming Open Cities

This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for the past month or so, and I’m not sure I can truly do it any justice, but I really wanted to share the link, so hence this incomplete, badly-thrown-together post.

I’m not quite sure where I first discovered the Open Cities project, but I’m glad I did. I’ll let you discover more about the project on the wiki because I’m not sure I can do it justice, so do go and visit the site. I’ve contacted Mark and a few other people who are involved with the project, so if anyone happens to get back to me, I promise to update this post accordingly.

All that being said, there’s a page on the wiki that is called Dreaming Open Cities that asks: “When we say ‘open cities’ what does it make you dream? What does open mean in a community context, a city context and a global context?”

Tough question indeed. Luckily, our city is filled with remarkably astute individuals, like the awesome Lori Kufner:

I dream of a city where fun, creativity, and work are all the same thing; a city of believers of magic and those who make dreams come true for themselves and others. People making up a global culture integrating technology, art and community, learning and teaching simultaneously.

Or like the percipient David Eaves:

I dream of a city where the physical, technological and political infrastructure enables citizens to create their own projects or contribute to those that are ongoing — be they private, public or non-profit. Where decision making is as flat as and transparent as possible so that an Open City both nourishes and draws from its most valuable resource: its citizens.

Or my friend — and one of the best spoken word poets in the city — Mike Smith:

Openness: horizontality. mutability. creativity. mobility. flexibility. replicability. responsibility. transparency. intimacy.
Open city: a self-aware city, a city of feedback, where democracy is a verb, its etymology open for revision. Where all citizens have access, and where citizen means only that: living in a city.
A city of ferment, which reacts to threats by relaxing, not tensing. Civic judo.
An erosion of distinction between government and governed, economy and culture, have and have-not, I and The Other. Public spaces, decision-making processes, and doors to decent housing, sustainable transit, and meaningful work open to all.
A city of networks, not pyramids. A city of a thousand city halls.

Hard to follow up on great answers like that, so here’s my brief, one-sentence, attempt at dreaming of my open city:

I dream of a city where we are not only encouraged to be who we want to be, but where our differences are celebrated and harnessed to create a culture of sharing and co-discovery; a city where people do, say, and experience things not because they have to, but because they want to.

Yeah, a bit corny, I know. I’m sure you can do better, so hop on the wiki and share your thoughts.