KickstarterForum.org

[therriaultk]

The article cited below looks at whether or not crowdfunding civic projects is an appropriate method for making improvements to our communities. It references several interesting successful projects, such as the funding of a bridge to connect a separated community to its city center. This particular project was supported by Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton in the media, but only made 5% of its goal.

Called the Invisible City, it was a plan to create three giant treehouses in Regent's Park, London, which would act as platforms for culture, performance and debate – a world, as the press release put it, of “collaborative happenings”.

The author points out that for civic projects to work the focus needs to be put on the benefit to the crowd, not on the money needed to meet the project's goal or on the elite population that supports it. This article was pretty interesting and talks about a lot of different projects, and a crowdfunding website that is dedicated specifically to such projects.

What do you guys think of crowdfunding civic projects? Is it a good way for the public to fund and get a stake in projects they think they need or is it taking away responsibility from the Government to make proper use of taxes? What do you think of the Invisible City project?

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/apr/28/failed-city-crowdfunding-urban-projects-helena-bonham-carter

[sbriggman]

"Is it a good way for the public to fund and get a stake in projects they think they need or is it taking away responsibility from the Government to make proper use of taxes?"

Very interesting question. Haha. On the one hand, if I'm paying 30% of my personal income in taxes, I expect that the government has a responsibility to use that money to fix societal problems, especially "public goods"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good). I don't want to have to sink in more money to see problems fixed.

On the other hand, there are certain types of projects that we know government won't take care of in our local community, and if we care enough about them, being able to pool resources to see they are completed is a good thing!

The benefit of doing equity crowdfunding for civic projects (like a bridge) would be that the people who invest would receive returns. I think though that a lot of the community might not want to get involved with all the liability and legal requirements, so I also think donation (or reward) crowdfunding has a place there.

What does everyone else think?