Case Study: Collecting citizen's voices through the Your City Idea installation

In 2016, the Your City Idea installation was featured at the parCitypatory blog which documents "different approaches to successful participation and modes of urban development in cities all over the globe".

From the blog: How to collect citizens’ voices and ideas? How to start a conversation? How to enable participation in the planning of a city with a history as segregated as Cape Town’s?

The South African NGO Future Cape Town asks these questions and develops innovative answers, as you can see in the video above. An especially intriguing example is the ballot box installation called Your City Idea, which allowed citizens to vote and give input on certain issues in Cape Town. The installation encourages active public participation in the public sphere. The project was, according to its developers, “created to break away from the traditional techniques of gathering information from the public while at the same time facilitating meaningful public engagement on social and urban issues.” It is both a creative urban design feature and an encouragement for citizens to rethink their city in terms of service delivery, access and sustainability.

In the last few years, the large, bright yellow boxes were installed in several public spaces. They attracted many curious onlookers and pedestrians and all were encouraged to cast their vote. Venues included a public square, a bus station, a busy street and several indoor spaces.

Read the full case study here.