Odysseus Pyrinis

EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley

Technical Report No. UCB/EECS-2022-102

May 13, 2022

http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2022/EECS-2022-102.pdf

A common theme documented in previous studies indicates a lack of trust between the citizenry and civic authorities which is exacerbated by the public’s “black box” view of public projects approved by city governments. Proposed solutions predominantly focus on improving civic engagement by designing platforms enabling active channels of dialogue between elected officials and the citizenry such as public polling efforts or civic tech initiatives. These solutions place the people in a position to actively identify problems and develop viable solutions to be employed by the appropriate civic authority. Although designing tools to enable a more convenient and actionable platform for civic engagement is of great importance in overcoming the sense of mistrust between governments and the people, developing an easily accessible and intuitive platform that informs the citizenry of public initiatives and projects is of equal value. People adopting a position that democracy is stagnant at the local level or that their opinions would not be considered by elected officials even if conveyed in a public setting contributes to an unwillingness to engage with civic authorities, even if accessible platforms and tools were made available. This paper presents an analysis of user studies conducted prior to and following the introduction of a prototype application designed to provide quick and easily interpretable information regarding publicly funded development projects. We also discuss the limitations associated with this design and future research of incorporating bi-directional dialogue between the community and city governments in a greater capacity than simply reporting issues regarding infrastructure failure.

Advisors: Eric Paulos

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BibTeX citation:

@mastersthesis{Pyrinis:EECS-2022-102,
    Author= {Pyrinis, Odysseus},
    Title= {City Alive: Interactive Tools to Improve Local Civic Engagement},
    School= {EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley},
    Year= {2022},
    Month= {May},
    Url= {http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2022/EECS-2022-102.html},
    Number= {UCB/EECS-2022-102},
    Abstract= {A common theme documented in previous studies indicates a lack of trust between the citizenry and civic authorities which is exacerbated by the public’s “black box” view of public projects approved by city governments.  Proposed solutions predominantly focus on improving civic engagement by designing platforms enabling active channels of dialogue between elected officials and the citizenry such as public polling efforts or civic tech initiatives.  These solutions place the people in a position to actively identify problems and develop viable solutions to be employed by the appropriate civic authority.  Although designing tools to enable a more convenient and actionable platform for civic engagement is of great importance in overcoming the sense of mistrust between governments and the people, developing an easily accessible and intuitive platform that informs the citizenry of public initiatives and projects is of equal value.  People adopting a position that democracy is stagnant at the local level or that their opinions would not be considered by elected officials even if conveyed in a public setting contributes to an unwillingness to engage with civic authorities, even if accessible platforms and tools were made available.  This paper presents an analysis of user studies conducted prior to and following the introduction of a prototype application designed to provide quick and easily interpretable information regarding publicly funded development projects.  We also discuss the limitations associated with this design and future research of incorporating bi-directional dialogue between the community and city governments in a greater capacity than simply reporting issues regarding infrastructure failure.},
}

EndNote citation:

%0 Thesis
%A Pyrinis, Odysseus 
%T City Alive: Interactive Tools to Improve Local Civic Engagement
%I EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley
%D 2022
%8 May 13
%@ UCB/EECS-2022-102
%U http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2022/EECS-2022-102.html
%F Pyrinis:EECS-2022-102