Entrepreneurs know that every breakthrough starts with trial and error. We should expect — and demand — the same understanding and ability from our local governments: that they test, learn and adapt in real time, failing fast to succeed sooner.
And they can. Public officials have as much ingenuity and passion as their private-sector counterparts. Many of humanity’s defining leaps forward began as urban experiments, from a street grid in ancient Athens to a sewer system in Victorian London.
Yet too often today, city halls are where ambition meets constraint. Google X CEO Astro Teller rewarded colleagues for scrapping projects that weren’t panning out, but in elected office, as Beaverton, Ore., Mayor Lacey Beaty has observed, “failure means the end of someone’s political career.” Tech startups can raise millions to test half-formed products, but municipal budgets are under duress, making it harder than ever for mayors to carve out the funding and flexibility to try something new.
This has to change. If we want better schools, safer streets and more livable neighborhoods, then mayors deserve the runway to prototype that entrepreneurs take for granted.
Prototyping — trying, testing and tweaking — allows cash-strapped municipalities to zero in on the make-or-break assumptions behind new proposals, reducing the investment needed to explore. Instead of a full-blown pilot, they can build just enough for stakeholders to grasp, gaining valuable feedback about a project’s viability before committing extensive time or assets toward implementation. It also ensures that the people most affected by government decisions help to shape them.
As part of Bloomberg Philanthropies Government Innovation program, I see the power of local imagination every day. I lead our Mayors Challenge, a global competition that has helped 38 winning municipalities realize their ideas for addressing pressing issues. Our 2025 edition drew more than 630 applications. We are currently providing technical expertise, operational support and $50,000 to help 50 finalist cities — from Boise to Budapest, San Francisco to Seoul — each prototype their boldest plan for reimagining a core municipal service.
Barges as Parks
Take Pasig in the Philippines, a bustling, high-density metropolis where green space is at a premium. City officials want to turn riverside buffers into community parks to expand access to public gathering places. Their ambitious solution? Transforming barges into floating commons where kids can play, grandparents can relax and neighborhood groups can hold events, all while inspiring locals to feel a deeper civic responsibility for helping keep waterways clean.
The proposal rests on important hypotheses — logistical and human alike. Can barges be sourced and retrofitted? Will citizens of all ages feel safe on the water? What kinds of activities will attract them?
To find answers, Mayor Vico Sotto leveraged the Mayors Challenge to launch a living prototype, Hope Floats. On a sunny September Saturday, Pasig residents were encouraged to experience the concept for themselves — to board a barge set up by the city team, see renderings of a fully designed park, take part in face painting, live music, Zumba lessons, a fishing contest and more. Markers and paper invited children to imagine how they’d use the facility; they soon filled easels with colorful drawings of skateboards, swing sets and slides. Adult residents tacked wish lists on posters for everyone to read: “Videoke.” “Aesthetic lights for Instagram.” “Exercise activity.” “Night market.” Now, Pasig officials are using this feedback to refine the parks’ design.
Other finalists are moving their pilots into the digital realm. For example, South Bend, Ind., is reinventing the next generation of one of its most fundamental services: its 311 line. Some calls to the help line are entirely predictable. For example, roughly 10 percent of reports come from households that have fallen behind on utility bills. South Bend has programs to help these at-risk homes keep the water on, but too often the outreach comes during a moment of crisis, creating difficulty in getting residents the help they need when it’s required.
Mayor James Mueller’s team wants to get ahead of the problem, literally. By using existing data sets and novel artificial intelligence tools to anticipate issues, the city can identify at-risk homes, proactively offer assistance and fix other problems before they escalate or even emerge, saving time for front-line staff and improving delivery and outcomes — from well-kept roads to functioning streetlights — for those they serve.
While the system could be engineered in-house without residents’ input, success depends on how people respond. Will unsolicited messages feel helpful or intrusive? What offerings would be most useful to hear about? How often should they reach out? These are the kinds of questions South Bend is asking in its prototyping stage as it invites citizens to weigh in through individual interviews, group panel conversations and digital surveys.
High-Yield Investments
Skeptics may argue that public funds should not be spent on unproven interventions. But when the stakes are people’s well-being, playing it too safe is even more perilous. If families are struggling, kids aren’t graduating from school and homes sit empty while unhoused people sleep on the sidewalk, then as Mitchell Weiss, a professor of management practice at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, points out, “sometimes the old things are actually the riskier options.” Helping mayors try new things, expand what works and swiftly drop what doesn’t reinforces effective stewardship and faith in government’s ability to do its job.
Our 50 finalists embody this enterprising spirit. And they’re high-yield investments. The private sector spends more than $670 billion on research and development annually in the United States alone; yet with just $50,000 in seed money and hands-on expertise, Belfast, Northern Ireland, where citizens were once divided by walls, is now transforming 126 miles of neglected alleyways into shared community spaces. Surabaya, Indonesia’s reusable diaper experiment is cutting river pollution by 80 percent. And Boston is using AI-enabled traffic sensor technology to speed school buses through record-high congestion so students get to school on time.
Imagine the possibilities on issues as critical as these if every city hall got the same capital and capacity. But scaling this kind of innovation won’t happen on its own. If we want local governments to deliver essential services as seamlessly as the apps we use each day, we must equip mayors everywhere with the confidence and capabilities to prototype.
That means citizens must expect the same spirit of exploration from public officials that they assume in the private sector. Voters should insist on it. Civil society activists, corporations and more nonprofits should help resource it. Community-based organizations should engage in it. And when their city halls call on them to contribute, residents and every one of these stakeholders should step up.
Aparna Ramanan leads the Mayors Challenge program as part of the Government Innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Governing's opinion columns reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of Governing's editors or management.
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