Digital reporting platforms: «Click» and the street is clean – impact on society and administration

Administrations have recently been increasingly relying on digital platforms to manage public space. The dissertation by Marine Benli-Trichet from the Center for Democracy Studies Aarau examines the social impact of this. It shows that the platforms are increasingly involving citizens. However, there may also be undesirable side effects.

Many people know the image and the feeling that goes with it: broken chairs, graffiti, abandoned bicycles – trouble can quickly arise. Many cities and municipalities have launched so-called digital participation tools so that they know what is disturbing in public spaces. Citizens can use these tools to report disturbances digitally, allowing the administration to act more quickly. The «Züri wie neu» platform, for example, looks like this: Reported in the waste/collection point category (12:56, April 30, 2024): «There has been cat litter strewn across the sidewalk for 3 weeks». Answer (14:15, April 30, 2024): «Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich will clean the public ground mentioned by Friday, May 3 at the latest, so that you can enjoy the cleanliness of this city.» Kind regards, your City of Zurich.

Figure 1: In Zurich, citizens can report pollution and disturbances on «Züri wie neu». Source: Screenshot of «Züri wie neu», 30.04.2024.

How is the relationship between citizens and the administration changing?

As practical as the use of platforms is for citizens, managing them can be challenging for a city administration. This is where Marine Benli-Trichet’s dissertation comes in. Her comparative case study examines the socio-political issues raised by digital participatory tools. Marine Benli-Trichet outlines her dissertation project as follows: «When cities and municipalities introduce digital participatory tools, the way in which an administration looks after its public space changes. The digital reporting platforms influence, for example, who takes care of getting rid of the annoying cat litter on the street and how the information flows. This is a significant change in who is involved in the detection of litter and how individual citizens can get involved in the management of their immediate environment.»

When cities or municipalities introduce digital error reporting platforms, this is always done in the context of specific administrative traditions. In France, for example, the administration is organized in a highly centralized and hierarchical manner. In contrast, the English administrative tradition is characterized as decentralized, locally anchored and pragmatic. This has an effect. Marine Benli-Trichet’s study therefore examines the differences in the introduction and application using four examples in Western European cities. Each city represents a typical administrative tradition: «FixMyStreet» in Bristol, «Züri wie neu» in Zurich, «Nantes and ma Poche» in Nantes and «Felanmälan» in Malmö, Sweden.

Population moves closer to administration – with challenges

A key finding of the study is that administrations can respond more to the needs of the population by introducing digital participation tools. The detailed results of the study can be summarized in four points:

The way in which a city or municipality introduces, uses and manages a digital error reporting platform varies from city to city. This depends, for example, on whether a municipality develops the platform itself, as in Nantes or Malmö, or whether it purchases a ready-made product, as in Zurich or Bristol.

The results also indicate that the introduction of these platforms for the management of public spaces can present municipalities with unexpected structural challenges. For example, the platforms have to be managed around the clock, which can lead to work overload. This highlights a potential dilemma: the idea of involving citizens in the management of public space can ultimately impair the functioning of local administration.

It is also evident in all four cities surveyed: The introduction of incident reporting platforms shifts the management of urban infrastructure from a service-oriented to a demand-oriented approach. This has an impact on bureaucratic structures and administrative silos can be dismantled. The professional identity of employees is also changing as they take on more front-desk tasks and thus work closer to the population. Marine Benli-Trichet interprets this result as follows: «Administrations are adapting more and more to the way of life of their population and are becoming more service-oriented. For example, citizens no longer need to know exactly who to contact if their bike is causing a nuisance or know the opening hours. They can report their concerns directly via app. In this way, citizens will be more directly involved in shaping their environment.»

However, one possible effect of digital participation tools is that a small and specific group of people are more likely to participate via the app. This can create an imbalance between neighborhoods if more well-off people who already live in a proper neighborhood sign up. Marine Benli-Trichet says: «The tools lose their leverage if people participate the least where support from the population is most needed. This also prevents the integrating effect between the population and the administration.»

The dissertation

Benli-Trichet, Marine. From Screens to Streets: Understanding the Impact of Digital Fault Reporting Platforms on Urban Governance in Contemporary Western Europe. 2023, University of Zurich, Philosophische Fakultät.

Contact

Marine Benli-Trichet, Research assistant
marinecharlotte.trichet@zda.uzh.ch

About the CDA

The Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau is a scientific research centre supported by the University of Zurich, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, the Canton of Aargau and the City of Aarau. It conducts basic research and addresses current issues relating to democracy – regionally, in Switzerland and worldwide. www.zdaarau.ch