Case Study: Repurpose the ‘Model City’ Framework for Reduced Emissions
Air Quality is a social equity issue.
The most prosperous, growing Cities are most challenged by air pollution. Health impacts – respiratory diseases, traumas and deaths – often concentrate in low socio-economic areas.
A carefully researched, analysed and executed influencer campaign is essential to reverse social dis-order for health equity. In sometimes, fragmented local government, citizens closest to service delivery often notice service innovations that improve access to services and increase health equity.
In the London borough of Haringey, local influencer Bakarusa https://bakasurablog.wordpress.com/ found wide community support for sports participation to improve health equity. Funded campaigns in 3 boroughs removed barriers to sport and lead to creation of London Sport by the Mayor of London – a brand new body to meet fitness and public health goals for the entire capital.
To reach and engage the public in disadvantaged areas, London needs an alternative to institutional policy and eligibility-based funding. A Model City framework enables the community to nominate projects and priorities for funding.
By perpetuating the Model City framework across mobility, energy and built environment – high emission polluters – UNITE assures strategic intelligence on priorities important to citizens to:
- Re-Invent – explore opportunities and barriers to social equity that Clean Air will address
- Pivot – choose metrics that matter to citizens when evaluating opportunities and barriers
- Iterate – limited trials of Clean Air solutions before the community decides long-term priorities
UNITE enables more effective use of limited social capital; recurring funding commitments (as high as 80% of some Council budgets) are replaced by quarterly funds approvals subject to availability.
