To track and share uses of real-time or crowd-sourced data to drive decision-making and place-making in cities.
MIAMI — Sept. 18, 2018 — The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced a five-year, $5,250,000 initiative that brings residents to the center of self-driving vehicle pilot projects happening in five U.S. cities: Detroit; Long Beach, California; Miami; San Jose, California; and Pittsburgh.
The investment is the largest of Knight Foundation’s efforts to develop people-centered Smart Cities, which aims to harness the growth of digital technology to improve how communities respond, connect to and engage with residents.
The pilot projects will be designed to engage local residents around self-driving car deployments to ensure that they reflect community input and meet local needs. Leaders from the five pilot cities will share what they learn and meet regularly to generate insights and lessons for other communities trying to keep up with the increasing pace of testing and deployment of self-driving vehicles.
The initiative comes at a pivotal moment for defining the role of residents in the development and roll out of autonomous vehicles. While there is growing interest and investment in self-driving vehicles — with more than 70 cities deploying pilots worldwide — cities are struggling to fully capture the technology’s long-term impacts. According to a National League of Cities report that assessed the transportation plans of 68 large U.S. cities, only six percent of plans considered how driverless vehicles would affect urban mobility. Now is a key time to bring residents and cities into the conversation.
“Autonomous vehicles are one of the most disruptive technologies of our time, holding significant implications for the way we move, work and interact within communities,” said Lilian Coral, Knight Foundation director for national strategy and technology innovation. “Important conversations are happening among government and industry on what these changes mean for the future, but residents have largely been left from the table. Without their input, we risk designing cities for new kinds of cars, rather than for people.”
The five cities will engage residents on the following pilot projects, all of which involve some form of autonomous vehicles:
Detroit: To address challenges getting to/from bus stops that connect Detroiters to employment hubs.
Long Beach, California: To provide residents with more short-distance travel options by better integrating electric or human-powered transit (e.g. bikes, scooters, etc.) and other transportation methods, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions; improving air quality; and creating a safer, healthier, and more sustainable city.
Miami: To develop driverless, on-demand shuttles as an alternative to buses that drive a fixed route.
Pittsburgh: To develop sustainably and support neighborhoods by slowing the growth of single-occupant vehicle trips.
San Jose, California: To better integrate autonomous vehicles with other forms of transit and help improve public life by connecting residents to jobs, and destinations for retail and nightlife, in downtown San Jose.
The participating cities were selected based on their level of readiness, openness to incorporating a resident-centered approach and connection to Knight Foundation. Four of the five participating communities are places where Knight regularly invests and has a physical presence. Pittsburgh was selected to join the cohort as the first American city to allow self-driving Uber vehicles on its streets.
“Knight believes that a true Smart City puts people first,” said Sam Gill, Knight Foundation vice president for communities and impact, and senior adviser to the president. “Self-driving cars have the potential to remake the face of cities. We want to work with city leaders to ensure those changes respond to residents — instead of putting residents at the whims of technology. Further, by involving residents on the front end, cities can facilitate a smoother rollout of new technologies and programs on the back end.”
While each city will develop a tailored strategy to engage its residents, the projects share a common objective: to creatively foster community engagement; to use technology to better understand local needs and preferences; and to establish best practices for other cities looking to innovate.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visitkf.org.
Contact:
Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646,[email protected]
Image (top): Photo from autonomous vehicle exhibit at San Jose’s Computer History Museum. Credit: Justin Cook
To support an international competition to design an iconic landmark in downtown San Jose.
MIAMI – Sept. 16, 2018 – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced $19 million in funding to organizations focused on building a more informed and engaged Philadelphia by advancing quality journalism, fostering the arts and creating public spaces where people can meet and connect.
“Strong communities move with the times — creating new ways to engage citizens and connect people to place. There is no secret sauce. But our research and experience show that providing people with the information they need to make good decisions, spaces where they can gather and feel ownership, and art that inspires and meets people where and how they live, are key elements of sustainable engagement,” said Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation president.
The organizations receiving support include:
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism ($10 million): Knight will match a $10 million contribution from the Lenfest Institute to create a Philadelphia-based local news accelerator that will help strengthen local journalism in Philadelphia and around the country. The joint $20 million fund will provide a national leadership programs and shared technology resources hub, supporting local news sustainability, journalistic excellence and community engagement. The fund will include dedicated resources for the Philadelphia news ecosystem. This initiative will position Philadelphia as a testing ground for journalism innovation by supporting new business models and new digital acumen throughout the Philadelphia news marketplace. New grant programs will also focus on serving the information needs of diverse communities and the region’s multi-cultural news media.
Penn’s Landing ($4 million): Support will help propel citizen engagement in the design and maintenance of a new, flagship 11-acre public space on top of I-95 that will reconnect residents to the waterfront. Led by Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, the development of this new space will include a citywide engagement process, enabling residents to shape the project at every stage and to build a place for all Philadelphians. Learning exchanges locally and nationally will help foster and sustain resident involvement. The effort is supported by a host of public and philanthropic partners. This standout public space will serve as a new destination for residents and visitors to connect, while fostering vibrant activity along the river.
Philadelphians enjoying the opening of the first phase of the Rail Park, an elevated park built on revitalized rail lines. Credit: Betsey Suchanic.
In addition, Knight has established the $5 million Philadelphia Art and Technology Fund. The fund is part of its arts and technology initiative, which aims to help institutions develop and implement strong digital strategies that take advantage of technological advances to meaningfully engage visitors in the art — both on and off-site. As audiences increasingly demand personalized, interactive and shareable experiences, the initiative recognizes the opportunity technology presents to engage audiences, encouraging institutions to take risks, adapt new approaches and share what they have learned.
Support will be split equally between two local museums that have made the integration of technology a key component of their institutional missions. Funding will help propel their innovation efforts. They include:
The Barnes Foundation: The Barnes will create a digital engagement center that will work collaboratively across its museum departments — curatorial, education, web, public programs — to engage visitors in high-quality art. Examples of projects already under way include: a collections database searchable by visual criteria; a custom mobile-ticketing system that includes an audience survey; and a GPS-enabled gallery touring tool. It will further create new partnerships with community-based organizations to connect with audiences outside of museum walls. Tech tools developed at the center will be open-source and the museum will work to share learning with the field.
Philadelphia Museum of Art: The museum will use technology to enhance how visitors experience its physical space, as well as its collection — in the galleries and online. It will advance its digital roadmap and develop new online, mobile, in-gallery and personalized experiences. Support will allow the institution to create new audience-centered digital resources such as its award-winning A is for Art Museum app for kids, to transform its website to provide richer and deeper content, and to develop groundbreaking digital-born publications. Programs like the annual “Hacking is Art” hackathon will engage a broad creative-class community, expanding access to its collection resources and encouraging innovative uses of its digital assets.
The support was announced today at a community dinner for foundation partners, local grantees, staff and trustees, held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Funding for these projects is part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to foster more informed and engaged communities, as essential to a healthy democracy. Since 2005, Knight Foundation has invested more than $80 million in Philadelphia.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visitkf.org.
CONTACT:
Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646, [email protected]
To support the continued revitalization of downtown Macon through Mercer University’s reactivation of the historic Capricorn Music Studio.
To leverage neighborhood-based digital hostspots in three Detroit neighborhoods to share information about local civic issues and neighborhood resources.
SAN FRANCISCO–August 30, 2018–Code for America will strengthen its national Brigade network of community organizers, developers and designers that use technology to improve how local government serves the American public, with $2 million in new funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The support will help expand the network over the next 2 years, building on Knight’s early support of the initiative.
“Code for America launched as an experiment, testing whether engaged citizens could use tech to make government work better for people; it has made great progress in this goal,” said Lilian Coral, Knight Foundation director for national strategy and technology innovation. “This next phase is about establishing a stronger infrastructure for these efforts, as technology becomes ubiquitous in our communities and building strong connections between government and people becomes even more essential.”
Code for America and its local Brigades sit at the intersection of communities, city government and technology. Founded in 2009, Code for America is, in many ways, the seminal organization that founded what we know today as the civic tech movement.
Since 2012, the Code for America Brigade network has worked with local government and community partners to build and implement technology tools that help address local civic issues. Knight Foundation’s early support of the initiative helped the network grow substantially and mainstream the integration of technology in city governance. Since Knight’s initial investments, Code for America’s network has grown from 3 to 77 Brigades; the initial group of under 100 volunteers has grown into a network of 25,000 people—techies and non-techies alike.
New Knight support will now help support the next phase of growth for the Code for America Brigades, expanding its capacity and establishing advisory councils to amplify its impact within communities. The support will further allow Code for America to implement a redesigned fellowship model with a deeply local focus, connecting technologists from the community with city initiatives. The refreshed model will enable these technologists to better collaborate with government in building tools that help address local civic issues.
In addition, the organization will foster and develop the Code for America Brigade network through trainings, workshops and forms that bring Brigades together across cities. It will also work to expand local Brigades in communities where Knight invests; the number of members and the number and quality of the projects they work on; and the partnerships they develop within their communities and with local governments.
Participants brainstorm at the 2016 Code for America Summit. Photo by Drew Bird (Drew Bird Photography, San Francisco Bay Area Photographer).
“Code for America believes that making government work for the people, by the people in the digital age creates strong, vibrant communities. In the last five years, volunteers in Brigades have defined a ‘new kind of public service.’ Strengthening the capacity for this kind of civic engagement is critical if we hope this impact to spread,” said Jennifer Pahlka, founder and executive director at Code for America. “We are grateful to the Knight Foundation for their continued vision and commitment to this work.”
Code for America Brigade volunteers get to know the people in City Hall (and sometimes, in fact, work in local government as their day job); advocate for digital practices that will benefit the public; and build solutions. They have increased youth access to local job opportunities in Boston; improved access to justice in Salt Lake City; tackled the affordable housing crisis in Asheville; developed tools for planners to build better bike routes in Philadelphia; and improved the delivery of health and human services in Missouri, among other successes.
In addition to organizing its volunteer Brigade network, Code for America builds easy-to-use technologies that improve government services in the areas of health, food, criminal justice and jobs, then it shares what it has learned with its broad network to enact long-term systems change.
Support for Code for America forms part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to harness the growth in digital technology to enable more informed and engaged communities. The foundation seeks to invest in strategies that increase responsiveness, connectedness and engagement to residents through the use of technology.
About Code for America
Code for America believes government must work for the people, and by the people, in the digital age, starting with the people who need it most. We build digital services that enhance government capabilities, and we help others do the same across all levels of government. We organize thousands of volunteers across nearly 80 chapters nationwide who improve government in their local communities. Our goal: a 21st century government that effectively and equitably serves all Americans. Learn more at codeforamerica.org.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org.
To develop a multilingual, voice-powered community engagement platform.
Cities across the country – big and small – are investing in linear parks and urban trails. Communities are prioritizing these important and substantial investments for a variety of important reasons: they effectively connect public assets – like parks and libraries – with diverse neighborhoods; activate underused spaces (think New York City’s High Line crafted from a former rail line); and spur economic development in nearby areas.
But designing, promoting and funding linear parks can be challenging, often spanning miles of multiple municipalities, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, with support from complicated funding models.
Photo by Lilly WeinbergSo, what happens when three unique cities get together to talk about their signature linear parks and trails? A whole lot of learning. Knight Foundation funded an information exchange between two Knight cities, Lexington, Ky. and Miami, and Atlanta to do just that . Last month, a team from The Friends of The Underline (a 10-mile linear path in Miami-Dade) and Townbranch Commons (a 3-mile linear trail and park in downtown Lexington) met in Atlanta to have a deep-dive exchange about their future projects with the city’s Beltline team. As many know, Atlanta’s Beltline is a multi-billion dollar, 22-mile light rail and bike/pedestrian trail that has transformed the communities it passes through. While most community members love their Beltline, not everyone is thrilled. We wanted to hear it all: the good, bad and indifferent. And while we came from very different communities with unique projects, we had four shared takeaways:
Prioritize Maintenance: Atlanta’s Beltline, like many public spaces across the country, has not figured out a sustainable revenue model for maintenance. If you build a world-class public asset, it is going to be used a lot. The wear and tear costs money to repair. Maintenance isn’t sexy and is often not a priority for funders. But it is critical for long-term success. And while the Beltline has been extraordinarily successful at raising funds with what are called Tax Allocation Districts, these funds can’t go towards maintenance, like many other special taxing districts do. We discussed alternative methods like the formation of a business improvement district, the monetization of fiber networks and the leasing of land. We left with an urgency to figure this out.
Make Bold Commitments but Remain Nimble: The Beltline had very ambitious goals to create affordable housing and a commitment to spend equal amounts along the entire trail. These goals backfired, for various reasons. The affordable housing goal became quickly unattainable, while the spending allocations did not appropriately correlate with how people were using it. (The east side is used almost 10 times more than the west side). And while ambitious goals are often a good thing, there should be wiggle room to adapt with usage changes or market forces.
Design and Observe for User Experience: A design review committee that is flexible and reacts to people’s observations is critical. We experienced the Beltline first hand. It was lovely, but one thing was clear: the different users conflicted with one another. The bikers, often commuters, were sharing the same path with joggers, walkers and families with strollers. Add in electric scooters, which can go up to 15 m.p.h., and the experience gets downright scary. We also observed many joggers on the grass, which packed the soil to a degree harder than the concrete. If possible, create separate, designated lanes and think about the right material for each user.
Create Strong Signage:The Beltline is working on Photo by Lilly Weinbergimproving its wayfinding and signage. This is simple but important: strong wayfinding is critical for users to find the linear trail and signage is important for the activation of spaces along the path, from restaurants and retail to parks to splashpads. The signs should be clear and helpful. We noticed a lot of signs starting with “no” or a rule. Research shows that a simple switch to more eye-opening, entertaining, positive signs boosted neighborhood pride and feelings toward the City about their park space.
We were also left wondering how technology can be better leveraged for all of the above. We each committed to investigating this.
Thank you, Beltline team, for your openness. You are the pioneer and a veteran in linear park design and execution. We learned an equal amount from your successes and challenges. Onwards and upwards for both The Underline and The Townbranch Commons and Park – there’s work to do be done!
Lilly Weinberg is the director, community foundations, at Knight Foundation, where she manages Knight’s $140 million investment in 18 small to midsize Knight communities.
