The Responsive City (PDF)

Leveraging Big Data and 21st century technology to renew cities
and citizenship in America

The Responsive City is a guide to civic engagement and
governance in the digital age that will help leaders link important
breakthroughs in technology and data analytics with age-old lessons
of small-group community input to create more agile, competitive,
and economically resilient cities. Featuring vivid case studies
highlighting the work of pioneers in New York, Boston, Chicago and
more, the book provides a compelling model for the future of
governance. The book will help mayors, chief technology officers,
city administrators, agency directors, civic groups and nonprofit
leaders break out of current paradigms to collectively address
civic problems. The Responsive City is the culmination of
research originating from the Data-Smart City Solutions initiative,
an ongoing project at Harvard Kennedy School working to catalyze
adoption of data projects on the city level. The book is
co-authored by Professor Stephen Goldsmith, director of Data-Smart
City Solutions at Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor Susan
Crawford, co-director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and
Society. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg penned the
book's foreword.

Based on the authors' experiences and extensive research,
The Responsive City explores topics including:

* Building trust in the public sector and fostering a sustained,
collective voice among communities;

* Using data-smart governance to preempt and predict problems
while improving quality of life;

* Creating efficiencies and saving taxpayer money with digital
tools; and

* Spearheading these new approaches to government with innovative
leadership.