How can we use increasingly pervasive digital technology to re-imagine the future of the city? Using digital technologies to inspire, mobilize, and create social, economic, cultural, political, and intellectual connections to solve the complex challenges that cities face today. The initiative explores how we can build a sustainable open platform that encourages and supports a vibrant ecosystem of neighbors, entrepreneurs and communities?

Modern American cities that were built on physical infrastructure almost a century ago now face historic challenges of embracing digital infrastructure to re-invent the meaning of “urban life”. The city of Philadelphia represents post-industrial American cities facing this challenge. The Nutter Administration is particularly interested in how the City can work together with local institutions like Temple University to instigate sustainable economic and community development to transform neighborhoods.

The design challenge is to leverage Temple’s campuses and other existing technology assets along North Broad Street and the surrounding area to prototype a digital ecosystem. We envision North Broadband as a vibrant, generative, and entrepreneurial ecosystem where citizens, business and government can develop new products and services to meet various needs in our city by inspiring and mobilizing our collective efforts through the use of digital technology. The design should be environmentally responsible, economically sustainable, and humanly satisfying.