New Series: S400—Solutions For Cities In 400 Words

Last March Citytank launched with the C200 series on why cities matter in 200 words. Over the following weeks, some 70 authors contributed.

Summer’s over and Citytank is back from a mental vacation, recharged, and primed for a C200 followup series: S400

The “S” is for solutions. In 400 words.

C200 was (mostly) about why cities matter. Building on that premise, S400 will be about solutions—specific solutions for how we can better leverage the potential of cities to both improve people’s lives, and heal the planet.

Solutions big or small; pie-in-the-sky or implementable tomorrow; local or universal; liberal or conservative. Solutions ranging in scope and scale from creating a new agency for regional planning, to scrapping Seattle’s land use code and starting over, to banning leaf blowers, to painting all sidewalks purple. Anything goes as long as it has some redeeming value (i.e. if it’s stupid it had better be funny).

Got an idea about how to make cities work better? Citytank wants to hear about it, ASAP. The series launches soon. Time’s a wastin’. Please send your S400 thoughts, proposals, and drafts to: tanked@citytank.org.

The 400 word limit is a loose guideline, intended to help keep the pieces tight and focused on one idea. If you need more words that’s fine, but remember, less is often more. And images add a lot.

When I first envisioned the C200 series I never expected it to draw so many great contributions from so many great people. Can S400 do the same?  I’m hopeful that together we can create something truly blogalicious. And maybe even help cities make progress to boot.