Officials in Oregon, New York, and California have embraced crowdfunding as a way to push forward with environmental projects in a time of constrained budgets. Though the emerging tool is attractive to many, others see danger.
"Online crowdfunding has been around for a little while. But it’s a new approach for governments, especially for environmental projects," writes Elizabeth Daigneau. "Since the recession, revenue has primarily supported essential services; there hasn’t been extra for new parks, energy-efficient retrofits or renewable energies. So states and localities have had to get creative."
With the support of public officials, and in partnership with crowdfunding websites, an off-road bicycling park in Portland and solar energy projects in New York and California are looking to the Internet to find financial support.
"As exciting as this idea is to many public officials, eco-crowdfunding raises questions. A project’s ability to attract Internet investors may not be the best way to determine how worthwhile it is to a city as a whole," adds Daigneau. "And over-relying on crowdfunding could leave some more-necessary environmental projects behind."
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research