In Bowling Green, Kentucky, almost everyone agrees that historic buildings should be preserved amid developments. The same goes for having more restaurants open after 9 p.m.; investing in existing cultural institutions, such as museums; and hiring more therapists for public schools. Only a few proposals—like Bowling Green getting its own Dave & Buster's—prove deeply polarizing.
We know this thanks to a project in which nearly 8,000 residents, or about 10 percent of Bowling Green’s population, submitted their opinions more than a million times over the course of a month about the future of their city. Cities tend to run deep with disagreements about everything from infrastructure to drug legalization—just look at any local Facebook group or subreddit. But the "pro-social" algorithm used in this project revealed how aligned residents actually were on most topics.
Credit for this undertaking is due to the former first digital minister of Taiwan, Audrey Tang, who advised the project, called “What Could BG Be?” On a cheerful, interactive website, users can explore city residents’ hopes and dreams across categories like arts, education, equity and inclusion, housing and healthcare. The upshot? Most residents have similar desires, and identifying these areas of commonality allows residents to work together toward shared goals.
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