# Innovative Cities
# Lecture 1
9/10/2020
# Reading
- https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/capacity-development/English/Singapore%20Centre/PS-Reform_Summary.pdf
# Notes
- public administration
- cons
- loss of control
- cons
- NPM - new public management
# cons
- NPG - new public government
- cons
- how do you reach concensus ?
Margaret Thatcher - copy private sector for managing sectors
# Transparency in Government
What are the top 2 things people want to know from their government
- how money is being spent.
- how are decisions made?
- what key factors went into the decision.
How do citizens access information about their government?
- Freedom of information act (FOIA)
Pros
- NYC Open Data
- https://stackoverflow.com/
- Stack Overflow
Cons
- creates performance metrics for public jobs which can be unfairly harsh on the employee
- https://www.boston.gov/innovation-and-technology/cityscore
# Lecture 2
# Readings
Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning Hosrts w. J. Rittel Melvin M. Webber
Terms
malignant - very virulent or infectious benign - gentle and kindly laity - ordinary people, as distinct from professionals or experts.
"The search for scientific bases for confronting problems of social policy is bound to fail, because of the nature of these problems. They are "wicked" problems, whereas science has developed to deal with "tame" problems. Policy problems cannot be definitively described. Moreover, in a pluralistic society there is nothing like the undisputable public good; there is no objective definition of equity; policies that respond to social problems cannot be meaningfully correct or false; and it makes no sense to talk about "optimal solutions" to social problems unless severe qualifications are imposed first. Even worse, there are no "solutions" in the sense of definitive and objective answers."
Every pronoun is of a he/him/men
society has moved from piping water to buildings, to focusing on societal outcomes and social tasks. By using proxies for these desired outcomes, we look at systemic issues and assign broad policy to address.
This paper is odd - says revolt of the blacks, then by the revolt of the students, then by the widespread revolt against the war. Black Americans did not revolt - they fought for rights...
"Candide is dead??" what is this??
"This belief comes in two quite contradictory forms. On the one hand, there is the belief in the "makeability," or unrestricted malleability, of future history by means of the planning intellect—by reasoning, rational discourse, and civilized negotiation. At the same time, there are vocal proponents of the "feeling approach," of compassionate engagement and dramatic action, even of a revival of mysticism, aiming at overcoming The System which is seen as the evil source of misery and suffering."
efficiency has been seen as low input resources for higher gains... this breaks the rule of equivalent exchange.
Do these authors hate professionals? What are they trying to argue, that we rely to heavily on professionalism?
identifying a problem - knowing what distinguishes an observed condition from a desired condition.
locating the problem - finding where in the complex causal networks the trouble really lies.
Wicked problems are not easily definable compared to an engineering or optimization problem.
What makes a wicked problem wicked?
- There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem.
The information needed to understand the problem is based upon one's idea for solving it.
The formulation of a wicked problem is the problem!
- Wicked problems have no stopping rule.
In chess, there is an end move, when the opponents king hits the board, but in societal problems, there really is no end.
Since there is no true formulation of the problem, how can you ever say it is solved? Since you can formulate a different understanding of the problem.
- Solutions to wicked problems are not true-or-false, but good-or-bad.
Options in societal problems are often framed as good or bad based on the speaker's point of view, or ideological differences.
- There is no immediate and no ultimate test of a solution to a wicked problem.
Since there is no end to the wicked problem, there is no way to concisely test when the problem is solved or even take appropriate measurements that will solidify the given solution as the right solution. Each solution has the potential to have shortwaves of consequences given an unbounded time frame.
- Every solution to a wicked problem is a 'one-shot operation'; because there is no opportunity to learn by trial and error, every attempt counts significantly.
In engineering problems such as mathematics, chess or puzzle solving, the user can try different methods to see which one works best without penalty. The outcome does not matter to the given system since many of these systems are simulated. A loss chess game is seldom consequential for other chess games or for non-chess players.
In a wicked problem, every attempted solution is consequential. It leaves 'traces' that cannot be undone. One cannot build a freeway to 'see how it works', and then easily correct it after unsatisfactory performance. Every trial counts!
- Wicked problems do not have an enumerable (or an exhaustively describable) set of potential solutions, nor is there a well-described set of permissible operations that may be incorporated into the plan
There are no unit tests for a problem to see which component failed. It takes time to assess the solution as a whole, and even longer to diagnose the pieces.
- Every wicked problem is essentially unique.
Of course we can draw comparison between problems, but has a solution in one city for instance worked exactly the same in another? Does every city needs skyscrapers, or massive highways, or adobe houses ? FUCK NO
- Every wicked problem can be considered to be a symptom of another problem.
Problems can be described as discrepancies between the state of affairs as it is and the state as it ought to be. The process of resolving the problem starts with the search for causal explanation of the discrepancy. There is not an observed 'good' level of a wicked problem, is has connections to others and often multi-faceted.
- The existence of a discrepancy representing a wicked problem can be explained in numerous ways. The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problem's resolution.
How you chose to explain a discrepancy in understanding a wicked problem can change by who you ask.
- The planner has no right to be wrong.
As Karl Popper argues in The Logic of Scientific Discovery,'^ it is a principle of science that solutions to problems are only hypotheses offered for refutation.
Defining Actionable Problems
Matt Andrews
What happens when you run into problems you have not seen?
We usually rely on a process. Such as a small group of people in government.
leadership - taking risks on behalf on things that you care about.
What is the problem - you may get several different answers based on who you ask.
Why does the problem matter? How would you measure that problem?
Who does it matter to? Identify all the groups who need to be at the table to solve the problem.
Who does it need to matter to more? How do we prioritize our response?
How can we get it to matter to them more? Advocate to those who can make a change to the problem.
Snowflake Leadership model. Creating common understanding of the problem.
Defining Problems: The Most Important Business Skill You've Never Been Taught link
Definting the problem toolkit
Anna Piperal
E-governance expert
Only Once - the state can only ask for a given piece of information once. You should not need to submit the same information over and over again unless it needs to be updated.