Effective city planning together with the residents

The City of Denver was looking for ways to engage its residents in city planning, when they found out about the map-based survey tool Maptionnaire. It enables the citizen to contribute their ideas for future changes to their hometown.

Denver is a fast-growing, economically strong and vibrant city. Over the past two years, several city departments have been working together to plan the entire city. In order to find out what the residents think about their hometown, Denver started using Maptionnaire for creating surveys.

– We were looking for a map-based survey tool that would be responsive for mobile and easy to use on the back end, but would also allow us to stay in touch with the respondents, Andrea Burns from Denver’s Community Planning and Development Department says.

Smooth communication between the city and its residents

In 2016, Denver launched Denveright, a two-year-long citywide planning effort that focuses on land use, mobility, parks and recreation.

– We ask people questions about what they want their city to be, what they love about Denver or what they would love to change about the city, Burns explains.

The project started with a single map-based survey, but the number of questionnaires has increased throughout the process. Everyone is invited to share their future vision, and all comments are valued.

– We really want to capture the goals and needs of the people who live here today and also of those who are coming tomorrow, Burns continues.

Maptionnaire reaches people wherever they are

Burns points out that the number of residents who attend public meetings often varies from meeting to meeting, whereas surveys reach people regardless of time and location. Each questionnaire now has several hundreds of respondents.

– It is important to reach a broad range of people and get quality feedback in city planning, and we have been able to do that using these map-based surveys, Burns concludes.