The City of Logan, Queensland and the City of Canada Bay, New South Wales have been chosen as the only two councils in Australia to take part in a ground-breaking study on social media interaction between ratepayers and local government.
The University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, with the support of the Australian Government through the Smart Cities and Suburbs Program, is launching a new research project called Participatory Local Government: Enabling Community Participation for Logan and Canada Bay.
The aim of the project is to produce a digital platform that allows local governments to capture and analyse conversations on social media.
Currently there are no easily accessible means for governments and industry to access and conduct analysis of online conversations.
Logan City Image and Innovation Committee Chairperson, Councillor Laurie Smith, said social media is great way for councils to understand the needs of residents.
“We already engage effectively with ratepayers through traditional means but with social media we have an opportunity to increase our reach.
“This gives residents another option to have their say on how their city develops and feel included in council decision making.”
The University of Sydney’s Smart Urbanism Lab will use its findings to develop new algorithms and tools to capture the diversity of citizens’ voices.
Director of Urban Design, University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning, Dr Tooran Alizadeh, said, “We are excited to be partnering with the City of Canada Bay and Logan City Council for this project,
“Forward thinking, engaged local government is vital to ensuring citizens are part of smart urban decision-making processes.”
