Back in 2007, we at Urbanite were trying to find a way to encourage innovation in the city, and we knew one of the best ways to do that was to bring together folks from different disciplines and viewpoints. So we launched the Urbanite Project. We matched up unlikely teams of two or three, putting an architect with a neurosurgeon, or a writer with an environmental lawyer, and asked them to collaborate on a project of their choosing. To us, the end result wasn’t the point—although several projects had physical manifestations, including the 2007 “Black + White = Green” project, which brought together a multi-racial crowd under the banner of care for the environment during the inaugural EcoFest. It was the collaboration between these people from very different worlds—who might never have met had we not introduced them—that we thought was vitally important.
Last year, with our Open City Challenge, we took the project a step further by focusing on ideas coming to fruition. This year, we’re seeking to do the same thing. Read more about the 2012 Urbanite Project.
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