Tag Archives: civic organizations

Rethinking Social Capital

Earlier this fall, there was a ‘Day of Civic Action’ in Phoenix. What a misnomer. What I saw wasn’t civic action, or even community building. Rather it was a ‘see and be seen’ opportunity.

The event was crawling with notable business and community leaders for the morning press release and the luncheon, but when it can time for the ‘action’ part of the day, the suits were nowhere to be seen. The vapidity of the event was succinctly summarized in the recommendation made at the dinner: “Eat dinner with your family more often.” If we need a major event to remember this, declining membership roles in the least of our problem.

Unfortunately, this type of event—and this type of recommendation—are common among most of the civic organizations that I am familiar with. Despite the stated missions of these organizations, many of their members appear less concerned about helping their community, and more concerned about social statutes and climbing career ladders. Perhaps the very term social capital itself is to blame; ‘capital’ implies, money, investment and accumulation. These are—in many ways—the antithesis of community building.

It hasn’t always been like this. Before Robert Putman and his fellow baby-boomers co-opted the concept of ‘social capital’ and narrowly defined it as joining so-called ‘civic groups’ and bowling leagues, it was a much more open concept. Indeed, in 1916, a school supervisor defined “social capital” as composed of:

“Those tangible substances [that] count for most in the daily lives of people: namely good will, fellowship, sympathy, and social intercourse among the individual and families who make up a social unit… if [an individual] comes into contact with his neighbor and they with other neighbors, there will be an accumulation of social capital, which may immediately satisfy his social needs and which may mean a social potentiality sufficient to the substantial improvement of living conditions in the whole community.” —Urban Tribes, by Ethan Watters (pg. 116)

Nowhere in this definition are press releases, luncheons, membership fees or sign-up sheets. Thus when I hear that our civic health is in trouble because we no longer ‘sign-up for things I get frustrated.

0000012c75eb443d1d9fbfce007f000000000001.Park%28ing%29%20Day%202010%201 Rethinking Social CapitalIt is easy to pay annual membership dues and sit at the back of a meeting and be considered ‘civically engaged.’ Building real social capital  is not so easy. It requires regular contact and interaction with friends and neighbors, even if it is simply sharing gossip.

By remaining in daily or weekly contact, with our friends and neighbors, we  begin to build the intimacy and trust that are integral to community building. We also get caught up on the small talk that can dominate formal ‘networking’ meetings. When it comes time to help out, there is no need to build trust or get caught up; we are ready to jump right in and do what is necessary to help our friends.

Actively engaging with our neighbors  and friends will build a lot more social capital than sitting in a sterile conference room listening to yet another speech by yet another talking head.  Keep this in mind next time you want to ‘build community .’

Rethinking Social Capital
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Open Source Urbanism: Where Data Meets Urban Form

“The streets are now alive with data, invisible but all pervasive.” —Dan Hill

4527509160 f7e08f9114 Open Source Urbanism: Where Data Meets Urban FormMeaningful community input in urban development is a common rallying cry, but is rarely achieved.  Power, and more importantly, information, remains tightly controlled by cities and there agencies. It is usually only shared in controlled public meetings and charrettes. Recent advances in technology and social networks offer an opportunity to change this.

Open source urbanism works to develop intersections where a cities urban form connects with information to directly inform and shape our urban environment. In doing so it is changing the way we think of our communities and city life in general. It is rooted in the idea of open source, most commonly associated with free computer programs that can be shared, adapted, and further developed by anyone with the ability to contribute.

Cities are a logical extension of the open source movement. The city is both a product and a generator of immense amounts of data. Much of this information—including temperature, light rail delays, population density, accident locations and stock prices—can be mapped, recorded and shared in real-time through the Internet.

Some early success in open source urbanism are Portland’s TriMet transit system map and the closing of Times Square to traffic. Based in part on these early successes, cities such as Portland; Vancouver, B.C.; and San Francisco passed sweeping policies requiring departments to use open source software and open data. In addition, the White House has set a high standard for federal agencies to adopt. As more cities and civic agencies see the benefit of sharing their data, such successes will multiply.

Other ‘O’ Urbanisms

Open Source Urbanism: Where Data Meets Urban Form
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A Call to Action

Community A Call to ActionYesterday I wrote about some of the strengths that Phoenix has, and how they are building blocks for creating a great city. However, too many of us still look to the politicians, developers and civic organizations to arrange these building blocks and create new ones. The trouble is they keep squandering this responsibility by chasing after the next big block, instead of finding ways to pull together what we already have. Put another way, we have allowed city-building to become so problematic, so institutionalized that it has lost all but the most rudimentary citizen input.

Part of this is our own problem. We have sat back and watched the real estate industrial complex and kookocracy take over our city. We are satisfied with the odd positive outcome and accepted their empty platitudes. Sure a few people have complained from the sidelines, a few more have attempted to get involved, and fewer still have been able to affect some positive change.  This makes the rest of us victims.  As Derek Neighbors has said “the biggest faux pas that creative class has made in downtown Phoenix is not getting involved in the right organizations and making an impact.”

If enough people do not care to do more than whine among themselves; if enough people don’t have the passion to get involved, then there isn’t a platform for positive change to build on. Sure we can stand around and hope that Kimber will enter the Mayor’s race, but without a critical mass of ACTIVE supporters there isn’t much she can do, even as mayor. We all need to prove to our civic leaders that there is a market, not only for denser downtown, but a vibrant downtown created by community involvement. We need to give them with not only good ideas, but also the confidence to enact them.

The decisions made today were conceived months–if not years–ago. They weren’t pulled out of thin air; they were built and negotiated by city staff, developers, and business groups. Some of them may have been referred to a committee for consideration. By the time they reach the public, it is too late to do much more than smooth a few rough edges. If we want to affect sustained change, we need to have impact earlier in the decision-making process.

Quite simply we need to GET INVOLVED. Instead of simply complaining, find an organization you would like to see changed (or influence change) and start attending their meetings. Try to get on their board od directors. At the city level, there are dozens of citizen based boards and committees, many with vacancies (I have listed several vacancies with the City of Phoenix in another post). Find one and apply to be on it. In the meantime, start attending your council district, neighborhood association, and/or HOA meetings and learn about what is going on and who the key influencers are.

Be warned that this won’t change things overnight. Those with the power wont hand it over because you attend a meeting or two. Real change takes perseverance and patience. The developers have it. This is why they are so often on the winning side. If we want to balance the tables, we need to have it as well. If we love our city, then a little effort put into making it better is a small price to pay. If enough of us get involved in a concerted way, I guarantee that real change WILL occur.

A Call to Action
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