New Urban Mechanics

We want to streamline the process for homeowners looking to create a rental unit.

The tool allows residents to partner with Boston Fire to make sure a specific fire hydrant is cleared of snow.

Getting around Boston, you might be above someone’s basement. We call these hollow sidewalks “areaways.”

Our plans for testing autonomous vehicles and their potential future in the City of Boston.

Bank On Boston connects Boston residents with reliable financial products and services that can help them save, grow, and access their money.

We're challenging how Boston thinks about the "smart city" and building an equitable community around civic experimentation.

Can we make the block party permitting process easier, clearer, and more delightful?

A public art initiative designed to inspire communities through inspirational quotations.

One of the first municipal reporting apps in the world.

Boost Bags provide an opportunity to increase weekend food access for vulnerable student populations within Boston Public Schools.

The Boston Area Research Initiative connects university professors and students with community groups and city officials.

Advancing civic media research, teaching, and practice in Boston.

A mobile app that measures safe driving performance and turns it into a game.

The children’s savings account program makes saving for college and career training available to all Boston Public Schools kindergarten (K2) students.

We’re expanding the critical role of Boston Public Library (BPL) branches as community resource hubs.

We helped BPS install air quality sensors to and report real-time indoor air quality data through a public dashboard.

What new services could result from uniting public libraries with public transit?

A look into how we work with communities to build a civic knowledge base.

Inspired by food trucks, our bright and friendly mobile City Hall truck is about serving City residents where they live, work, and play.

The City Worker App is a Public Works companion to BOS:311.

We’re working to improve the air quality in our neighborhoods.

A partnership with civic crowdfunding platform ioby.org to support the creation of “third spaces” around Boston.

An online game for more engaging community planning.

The program gives developers incentives in exchange for more affordable units.

Design Action Research with Government (DARG) is a guide for creating civic innovation projects.

What if you could learn about the technology around you just by scanning a QR code?

A web app that helps parents find which available schools might be the best fit for their child.

A safe space for people navigating housing insecurity and substance use issues.

Turns out, students actually want to eat salad at lunch.

An opportunity to identify creative design solutions to produce more middle-income and elderly affordable housing in Boston.

Could building housing on top of — or next to — City buildings, such as libraries and community centers, benefit our communities?

A virtual reality game for engaging residents in community planning.

We made a kid-friendly play space in the depths of City Hall. Did it make visitors and colleagues feel more welcome and connected?

Can we now encourage employees to use a zero-emission vehicle for work trips?

To make streets safer for pedestrians at night, we experimented with the use of street name signs lit by LED lights.

We tested take-home sensing kits that can teach residents about about their indoor environments.

Lunch on the Lawn was the first-ever youth summer meals site on City Hall Plaza.

We're using collaborative storytelling, dance, and movement to prototype a new form of engagement with Boston residents about the City Budget.

Is there such a thing as “healthy” data collection without surveillance?

Parklets are sidewalk extensions which occupy parking spaces, creating community spaces to hang out on, much like front porches or stoops.

We built a character-driven virtual world that allowed residents to explore Chinatown for a master planning process.

A city-wide, youth-led challenge to create new PokéStops around Boston for the popular app, Pokémon Go.

Circle less and park easier in Boston's busiest neighborhoods.

The pilot program in the Fenway dedicates curb space for pick-ups and drop-offs for all passenger vehicles, including rideshare vehicles like Uber and Lyft.

A public design competition for making Boston's spaces more playful for all.

We believe playfulness is a vital part of thriving democracies, caring communities, and resilient cities. Presenting a series of playful programs.

The Plugin House demonstrates the possibilities of backyard homes and smaller living to provide housing affordable to all.

Project Oscar is Boston’s 24-hour community compost pilot program.

A playful project at the intersection of public art and public health.

A tap card system prototype for Boston Public Schools buses.

How can we have all the bleeps and bloops but fewer of the bloopers?

We drafted a living "playbook" to align with tech, academia, and the media on what makes a city smart.

Providing drivers with real-time parking information.

Using technology — like cameras and sensors — to learn more about how people navigate and interact on and with the City’s streets.

A solar-powered seat that can charge smartphones and collect data on the environment.

We're bringing equity to street repairs in the City of Boston.

A mobile app that gathers data about Boston’s streets using a smartphone’s built-in sensors.

Through this $1 million fund, we experimented with new ways of designing and equipping City streets.

Our Summer Fellowship is designed for civic entrepreneurs interested in working in public service.

Can we use emerging technology to support and enhance our tree inventory?

Our interactive tree and Menorah change color when people tweet a color using the hashtag #WickedCoolTree.

Through our interactive exhibit, we heard from the community about what they think about smaller living.

Protecting cyclists with vehicle sideguards.

We made a video series exploring the technology on Boston's streets.

An app that allows parents to track the arrival and departure of their child’s bus.

We're giving those interested in civic entrepreneurship deep insight into working creatively in City government.

Exploring ways to better collaborate with our younger generation of civic designers.

A brief highlight of some of our work from 2017

A brief highlight of some of our work from 2018

A brief highlight of some of our work from 2019