Cities have the capability of providing something for

everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by

everybody-- Jane Jacobs

Behind all the current buzz about collaboration is a discipline. And with all due respect to the ancient arts of governing and diplomacy, the more recent art of collaboration does represent something new -- maybe Copernican. If it contained a silicon chip, we’d all be excited.-- John Gardner 1990s

1960s

Brief History of a Movement

Look @ What’s Happening Today

• National League of Cities survey of U.S. Cities (2010) - 81 percent use public engagement processes "often" (60 percent) or "sometimes" (21 percent)

• American Planning Association (2012) – “More than 50 percent want to personally be involved in community planning efforts, including more than half of Democrats, Republicans, and independents as well as majorities of urban, suburban, and rural respondents.”

Facilitating Citizen-Led Change

• Local democratic wave during last 25 years• Decentralization - Neighborhood Council Systems and

Neighborhood Associations• Aggregation – there’s an app for that. Civic multipliers,

crowdsourcing/crowdfunding• Citizen-led interventions. ‘Tactical Urbanism’ – start small, scale up• Empowerment – over 100 Neighborhood College and Citizen

Academy programs

The So-called ‘Secrets’ to Community Success

• Vision• Process

– Engage the whole community• Partnerships & Collaboration

– Public/Private, Cross-Sector• Civic Leadership vs. Political

– Capacity beyond local government

Over 200 ‘DATs’ since 1967

DAT Impacts in large cities over the years…

• San Francisco (Embarcadero)• Portland (Pearl District)• Seattle (Downtown housing)• Denver (LoDo/16th Street

mall)

• Austin (Downtown Revitalization)

• Santa Fe (Railyard Redevelopment/Park)

• Process adaptation in UK and across Europe

Design Assistance Principles

• Holistic, Interdisciplinary Approach to Community Design (Customization)

• Enhanced Objectivity (Pro Bono Public Service)• COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION (Citizen Experts,

Authentic Community Process)

What distinguishes the DAT?

• We are NOT:– Another Consultant Team– A process to produce a

planning document• “Please don’t give us

another plan. We have plenty – they all sit on the shelves. We need implementation strategies.” – Almost Every community

– Government-focused– “Green”-focused– Building-focused

• We ARE:– Public Service in the Public

Interest• “Consultants work for

somebody. Design Assistance Teams work for everybody.”

– Action-Oriented – Community-focused– Holistic, Customized

• “It’s about the space between the buildings, and the people that inhabit that space”

SDAT vs. R/UDAT

• SDAT is…– 3 day process– Costs $5,000 (AIA covers

up to 15K team costs)– Community presentation– Report 2-3 months later

• R/UDAT is…– 4.5 day process– Community covers cost

of hosting the team– Community presentation– Report delivered on site

Joke Of The Week

“Except in Detroit, mayors today have more fun.”

How Does the DAT Program help?

• Transcends local political dynamics – moves beyond narrow interests and constituencies to broader, shared community interests

• Re-defines public work to include the whole community and set the stage for civic leadership and partnership

• Creates a broad sense of community ownership by collaborating on an authentic community process

• Builds customized frameworks, action-oriented strategies and priorities

• Positions a local jurisdiction for major investment (private, federal, etc)

“We have no public resources to implement”

• Volunteerism = $171 billion (only 64 mill people)• Total Charitable Giving = $298.42 billion.• Non-profits = $300 billion in investment into local

communities • Over half of all states have enacted legislation to enable

private-sector participation in infrastructure projects, where there is an estimated $180 billion to be leveraged

• Crowdfunding - $1.5 billion in 2011 alone, and growing

Recent Projects in Large Jurisdictions

• SDATs:– Tampa (downtown)– LA (downtown)– Detroit (shrinking city)– Indianapolis

(neighborhood revitalization)

– New Orleans (recovery)– Austin (waterfront)

• R/UDATs– Birmingham (recovery)– Houston (revitalization)– Miami (river corridor)– New Orleans (corridor)– Rockaways (recovery)

Quick Examples – Detroit (2008)

Austin – 2012

Rockaways, NYC - 2013

October 16-18, 2013

• Will produce 21st Century Agenda for post-industrial cities

• High-level convening of 300 delegates from US, Canada, UK, and Europe

• Prince Charles, Shaun Donovan, Richard Florida, Bruce Katz, Rip Rapson, etc