‘Mi Parque’ Wins Metro Chicago Illinois Contest

Posted by on October 20, 2011 in Education | Comments Off on ‘Mi Parque’ Wins Metro Chicago Illinois Contest

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - EducationResidents of Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood are working to transform a 23-acre capped site into a vibrant, open green space for all of its residents to enjoy and make their own – and now they have technology on their side: Mi Parque, a bilingual participatory web and smartphone application that helps residents of the community contribute and share their vision for the future of Little Village’s new park, has won the Metropolitan Planning Council’s (MPC) $2,500 Placemaking award, sponsored by IBM, in the Apps for Metro Chicago Illinois contest.

Mi Parque can be accessed through the web or a smart phone, and is available for download in English and Spanish at miparquelv.wordpress.com/. Designed as a participatory community building and planning tool that not only draws on data from the city but from the crowdsourcing efforts of the people who live there, the app’s main features include:

  • Mi Idea: Users can view and submit ideas for Mi Parque, as well as vote on ideas they like best. By integrating the app with their Facebook accounts, users can share their favorite ideas with their Facebook friends (or simply do so via text messaging) and encourage them to vote them up, too.
  • Mi Voto: Users can participate in community polls and vote on ideas posted about how to best use the park.
  • Mi Aviso. Users can learn about upcoming community happenings and volunteer opportunities and receive safety, weather and health alerts impacting Little Village.
  • Mi Mapa. Users can locate park sites, open lands, and community gardens in Little Village and view where alerts are being posted block by block.

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