San Nicolás, Argentina

San Nicolás Uses Data and New Digital Infrastructure to Increase Access to Quality Health Care

Project Type:
Health and Wellbeing, Technology

At a Glance

Transformed health services to be data-driven and digitized, reducing emergency response time from nine minutes to three minutes to improve health outcomes for residents.

Used resident feedback to simplify and digitize the business application process, increasing the number of businesses authorized annually to 650 in 2023 – up from 316 in 2018.

The digital Single Citizen Service Center is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for complaints and questions about city services. It allows the municipal government to track resident satisfaction and evaluate the response time for complaints.

Undertook a digital transformation of city services beginning in January 2023. Now, renewing a driver’s license can be done completely online and takes a maximum of 90 minutes rather than two days.

For years, residents of San Nicolás without private insurance relied on 28 public health centers, scattered unevenly across the city, that offer neither comprehensive services nor weekend care, leaving families with limited options. Without the freedom to choose the right doctor or access treatment nearby, residents faced significant barriers to essential health care.

But change is underway. San Nicolás is transforming its health care system, using data, technology and new infrastructure, to make quality medical care more accessible to all.

In 2023, the City introduced Seguro Medico Municipal, a groundbreaking health voucher system designed to empower uninsured residents. This program allows individuals to choose care at public or participating private health care facilities, which gives residents more options for high-quality service closer to home. More than 40,000 of the city’s 165,000 residents participate in the voucher program, with eligibility regularly reassessed to prioritize resources for those most in need. Additionally, the City links the vouchers to residents’ National Identity Documents, ensuring accurate tracking of medical information while preventing fraud.

The City is also building three hospitals and decided on the locations for these hospitals using disaggregated data on residents’ demographics, income and health needs, with the goal of allowing residents to choose facilities based on preference rather than necessity.

Photo Courtesy of Sanatorio GO San Nicolás

The first of these, GO Sanatorio San Nicolás, opened in 2024 and has already delivered over 216,000 medical services. This hospital represents Argentina’s first public-private partnership in health care, with the municipality supplying the building while a private medical group oversees operations, staffing and cutting-edge equipment. Officials plan to replace the smaller, less efficient public health centers with the larger hospitals, creating a streamlined, centralized system.

The City has also embraced digital innovation to improve health care delivery. A virtual queuing system has reduced in-person wait times by allowing patients to join lines remotely. Digital appointment reminders and simplified cancellations have cut no-show rates from 40.6% in spring 2024 to 29.4% by fall. Emergency response times have seen dramatic improvements, dropping from nine minutes to just three, thanks to collaboration with doctors and researchers. Additional innovations include digital prescriptions, which simplify access to medications, and telemedicine, which expands options for patients unable to visit clinics in person. These services, combined with unified, digital medical records will ensure continuity of care across providers, as the system expands in 2025.

San Nicolás is setting a national benchmark for using data-driven strategies and technological innovation to build a health care system that prioritizes accessibility and quality for all its residents.

When you govern you have to have the humility to understand that you do not know everything. There are other cities that have faced the same challenges and maybe they solved something and you have to know how to take that experience and adapt it.

Mayor Santiago Passaglia

“What using data did was to professionalize management. It is like navigating before with a compass and then navigating with a GPS. It allows you to make decisions with knowledge and make management efficient.”

Mayor Santiago Passaglia

Join Our Certified Cities!

Newark, New Jersey, USA

A Group Approach to Violence Prevention

Project Type:
Public Safety, Cross-Sector Collaboration, Community Engagement

At a Glance

Established a coalition of over 50 cross-sector partners to share and strengthen public safety and infrastructure data, which led to a 25% decrease in homicides in 2024 compared to 2023.

36% decrease in auto thefts in 2024, compared to 2023. Neighborhood hotspots have seen drops of 55%.

5% of Newark’s blocks account for the majority of violent crimes in the city.

50+ organizations that are part of Brick City Peace Collective, which coordinates Newark’s violence prevention ecosystem.

When the right data gets to the right people, significant change is possible. That’s what the City of Newark has pioneered with its groundbreaking approach to reducing violence. The city of more than 300,000 residents has become a national model in shifting responses to violence to be more data-driven, collaborative, and focused on violence as a public health challenge.

Newark’s Police Division works alongside The Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery (OVPTR), a community-based public safety entity. Under this umbrella is the Brick City Peace Collective (BCPC) that coordinates an ecosystem of more than 50 organizations working to reduce violence and increase wellbeing. Under Mayor Ras J. Baraka’s leadership, the collective launched in 2020 to coordinate and share data analysis, design interventions, and strengthen relationships between law enforcement and residents. BCPC partners include nonprofits, grassroots organizations, city agencies and the Newark Public Safety Collaborative (NPSC), an initiative of Rutgers University-Newark’s School of Criminal Justice.

“When we bring data into the conversation to understand where violence does and does not happen, we can start to move past misinformation, stereotypes and stigma, and redefine what Newark is and can be.”

Jessiah Paul, Director of Brick City Peace Collective

“Through measurable and data-driven outcomes, we can decrease violence and ultimately save and change lives.”

Mayor Ras Baraka

With NPSC providing key data analytics support, BCPC members meet regularly to discuss trends and share insights, including crime hotspots and to develop response strategies. Take bodegas: In 2023, 53% of shooting incidents occurred within two blocks of several identified small corner stores. BCPC members then zeroed in on the 10 bodegas most associated with gun violence. Additionally, further data analysis illuminated what time of day shootings were most common near stores.

By utilizing data, the city can implement targeted responses rather than relying on generalized strategies. Responses built around this kind of data involve much more than police patrols. For instance, Newark’s power utility, PSE&G, may prioritize street lighting improvements if data correlates violence with darker streets. Staff from community-based organizations conduct targeted outreach walks, actively engaging local residents to better understand what a particular neighborhood is experiencing and needs.

All data, including information gathered through community outreach, goes into the City’s data management platform, which is accessible to all BCPC members. The platform also supports the City’s belief that violence prevention should be about more than policing: Through the platform, the Police Division is able to alert community support officers when crime victims or other residents may need mental health and other stabilizing services.

With weekly data reports highlighting the location of crimes and social service needs (based on referrals), social service organizations in BCPC are able to ramp up targeted outreach and community engagement efforts. Compared to five years ago, Newark’s violence prevention leaders no longer feel they’re playing catch-up. Instead, through disaggregating data to understand crime patterns and disseminating the analysis among coalition members, public safety strategies can be effectively co-produced by BCPC partners.

Strategies to prevent homicides and auto thefts (which spiked in 2023) are working as planned. Newark has seen a 25% decrease in homicides and a 36% reduction in auto thefts in 2024, compared to 2023. Juvenile arrests are also down. It’s no surprise that other cities across the country have visited Newark and looked to the city to learn about its comprehensive approach as a valuable violence prevention model. Their success is proof that data-driven collaboration can power on-the-ground progress.

Join Our Certified Cities!

Edmonton, Canada

Edmonton Leads the Way in Traffic Safety with a Data-Driven Approach

Project Type:
Transportation

At a Glance

The Open Performance website tracks strategic goals and trends, helping the city manage performance, address community needs, and deliver results that matter to Edmontonians.

In 2015, Edmonton became Canada’s first major municipality to adopt Vision Zero. Since then, the program has leveraged data to help reduce traffic fatalities by 50% and injuries by 32%.

In 2024, Edmonton became the first municipality in Canada to introduce auto-review for housing development permits, a digital tool allowing applicants to apply for a permit and start building on the same day. Streamlined services like auto-reviewed permits and reduced fees save an estimated $5.3 million CAD and 67,600 days annually.

In just five years, Edmonton has supported the development of 5,571 affordable housing units – more than double the previous decade’s total.

The City of Edmonton has been at the forefront of traffic safety since 2006, when it launched North America’s first municipal Office of Traffic Safety. Back then, the city had one of the highest per capita collision rates among major Canadian cities. Nearly two decades later, the office remains a leader in innovation, using data as its guiding principle.

Today, a dedicated team of 50 full-time staff is driving Edmonton’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2032. Since adopting Vision Zero in 2015, the City has achieved remarkable results: traffic fatalities have dropped by 50% and serious injuries by 32% when comparing data between 2015 and 2021.

*Image Courtesy of the City of Edmonton.*

“Nobody likes change. But at the end of the day, when you see the results and when you can feel the actual extra safety, it’s worth it.”

Paul Kyler, Edmonton resident

“Data allows us to foster trust and confidence in the organization overall because it lays everything out and says, ‘Well, here’s where we’re at. Here’s where we probably should be and where you expect us to be. Let’s talk about that gap and let’s talk about what are the trade offs in order to close that gap – provide more funding or moderate those expectations.’”

Councillor Ashley Salvador

The key to this success? Data. By analyzing where, how and why collisions occur, as well as improving how data is shared across departments, Edmonton has identified and tackled collision hotspots with targeted solutions. For example, 74% of crashes resulting in fatal and serious injuries for a pedestrian were found to result from drivers failing to yield at intersections. To address this, the City has completed over 560 Safe Crossing projects since 2015, with 200 more planned for 2026. These include implementing a wide variety of safety updates such as pedestrian scrambles that halt all vehicle traffic and allow pedestrians to cross diagonally, pedestrian activated signals and curb extensions, all of which have drastically reduced intersection collisions. Residents can track progress on the Safe Crossings Dashboard.

Improving crossings is just one part of Edmonton’s data-driven Safe Mobility Strategy. In 2021, the City lowered the default speed limit to 25 mph (40km/h) on residential, downtown and high-pedestrian streets. Data showed the change would only add a minute or two to commutes while significantly improving safety, helping to gain public support. To implement the change, the City installed 1,508 signs and launched an Estimated Time of Arrival Tool, allowing residents to see how the new limits affect travel times. Within four months of enforcement, 88% of drivers were complying with the new speed limit.

While Edmonton and many cities across North America have seen a rise in fatalities following the pandemic, Edmonton’s Vision Zero foundation enables the City to better understand the underlying causes to make data-informed safety decisions. Additionally, as Edmonton plans for 2 millions residents, the City is integrating traffic safety into urban planning and aligning Vision Zero with broader priorities like transit, climate resilience and community health, Edmonton is creating a vibrant, sustainable city where people can thrive.

Join Our Certified Cities!

Corrientes,
Argentina

A Digital Transformation in Corrientes Improves Resident Experiences and Services

Project Type:
High-Performing Government, Technology

At a Glance

The Citizen Service System allows residents to ask questions and register complaints and concerns online, by phone and in person. Expansions and improvements to the system have enabled the City to resolve complaints in an average of 7 days instead of 30.

Launched in 2022, Muni Bot assists residents using the Citizen Service System on WhatsApp and the city’s website. In 2024, it had 60,000 new users and sent 1.4 million messages, a 2,000% increase from the previous year.

The Open Data Portal gives the public access to 70 datasets, encouraging a more informed community and holding the government accountable.

Digital inclusion programs, such as free public Wifi and training for government employees and the public, help bridge the digital divide. Public WiFi is available at 57 locations with around 450 daily users.

Electronic signatures for City paperwork enhance security and efficiency, reduce the time and cost of traveling to City Hall, and support paperless processes, aligning with the City’s goals of modernization, improved services and environmental stewardship.

In Corrientes, Argentina, the government has undertaken a profound digital transformation of its services, making life easier and government interactions smoother for residents. For instance, renewing a driver’s license–once a task that could mean hours spent in a waiting room–is now streamlined through a digital platform that allows residents to complete paperwork and book appointments online, reducing the in-person process to under 30 minutes.

We are focused on the fact that we are an organization that is there to provide services, to guide and order the functioning of the city and to serve and provide services; it is not a political slogan.

Mayor Eduardo Tassano

This improvement is part of Corrientes’ broader push to digitize city services, modernizing everything from document access to resident engagement.

The Muni Bot virtual assistant, launched in October 2022, embodies this shift towards efficiency. Accessible on WhatsApp and the city’s website, Muni Bot responds to questions around the clock, addressing about 80% of inquiries automatically and referring more complex issues to city staff. In 2024, Muni Bot added over 60,000 users, sent 1.4 million responses and helped residents settle over 4,000 fines, often needed for transactions like vehicle sales or license renewals. Digital upgrades, paired with the mapping of complaints, have improved resolution times from 30 days to seven.

Corrientes has also introduced digital tools like the Turnero Web, an online appointment management system which has cut wait times for services, such as appointments for licenses and health documents or scheduling transportation, to an average of seven minutes. As a result, the Subsecretariat of Transportation was able to serve more than 13,000 residents between 2022 and 2024. Meanwhile, the Open Data Portal offers over 70 datasets for public review, enhancing transparency and allowing residents to stay informed about city projects and policies. QR codes for online validation of official documents reduce fraud and improve access, while electronic signatures have sped up processes, cut costs and supported environmental sustainability.

Increased government efficiency is only a part of digital transformation: Corrientes is actively empowering residents to use wifi and digital tools.The City has boosted digital inclusion with 57 free public WiFi locations and training programs, like coding workshops for youth and the Munijoven IT Academy. The digital shift has also empowered residents to participate more actively in the community’s development. For example, 16 institutions helped craft an environmental action plan for the city and over 1,000 residents voted online for their priorities, including planting more trees and improving recycling. With these advancements, Corrientes is realizing the potential of digital governance to bridge the gap between the government and the people it serves.

Mayor Eduardo Tassano meets with the What Works Cities team. Photo Courtesy of the Municipality of Corrientes.

“We have closed the distance between the resident and the municipality. Residents have become empowered and demand more from the municipality. What they see that works in one area they demand it from another.”

Maria Cruz Silvero, Director General for Government Coordination

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Belo Horizonte Reduces the Digital Divide and Creates Opportunities for Residents

Project Type:
Technology, High-Performing Government

At a Glance

Belo Horizonte uses demographic data to offer free Wi-Fi points in all Villages and Favelas, territories with high social vulnerability and low income, and train more than 17,000 residents through free technology and digital entrepreneurship courses.

The Open Data Portal makes more than 500 datasets available, encouraging transparency and public innovation.

Belo Horizonte Operations Center (COP-BH) brings together 20 institutions to share data used in managers’ daily decision-making, in major events, catastrophes and crises.

As of February 2025, citizens can interact remotely with Belo Horizonte City Hall by requesting 1,435 services on the BH Digital platform, including 128 quick request services via PBH APP.

The Belo Horizonte City Hall Data Lake brings together 10 databases from Resource Planning, Urban Mobility, Taxes and Citizen Service.

Belo Horizonte’s strategic planning is 100% aligned with Sustainable Development indicators.

Millions of people in Brazil, especially in low-income communities known as favelas, do not have access to the internet and computers, which is a barrier to education, professional opportunities and essential services. Belo Horizonte, however, is changing this reality. Digital inclusion is essential for universal access to digital public services. Inspired by the motto “Don’t leave anyone offline”, the Digital Inclusion Program, led by the City’s digital infrastructure and IT company, PRODABEL, is bridging the digital divide and transforming lives. The initiative is based on three pillars: connectivity, equipment and training.

Belo Horizonte uses demographic and geographic data as a tool to reduce social inequality and the lack of access to quality internet. In 2023, the City reached an important milestone by providing more than 2,100 free Wi-Fi points in Belo Horizonte’s 220 vilas and favelas. Across the capital, more than 4,800 access points now offer free internet, with a simplified login system available in Portuguese, Spanish and English, already used by more than 3 million people. For residents without their own technology, more than 130 telecenters — located in libraries, cultural centers and other public spaces — offer free access to computers and online services. Moreover, a mobile digital inclusion unit expands this effort, bringing technology and training directly to the most vulnerable communities, enabling access to recently digitized municipal services and educational programs.

Image Courtesy of the City of Belo Horizonte

“I am grateful for the learning opportunities that the basic IT course provided me. In my 39 years of life, this was the first time I had contact with a computer. When I arrived to take the course, I didn’t even know how to turn it on, and I had this wonderful opportunity to acquire knowledge that will open many doors for me.”

Adriana Lima, Belo Horizonte resident and graduate of a training course offered by the Municipal IT and Information Company (quote provided by the City)

“We work to improve people’s quality of life. That’s the most important thing.”

Mayor Fuad Noman

The program also increases digital inclusion by renovating and donating equipment — more than 50,000 to students and 1,300 to low-income families and telecenters in non-governmental institutions as of December 2024. Free technology courses, covering everything from computer basics to programming, robotics and digital entrepreneurship, enable residents to prosper in the digital economy. Available to anyone over the age of 16, these courses have already issued more than 17,000 certificates, with a focus on involving women, young people and the elderly.

Belo Horizonte is also a model in digital governance. City Hall trains employees in the use of technology to increase efficiency and improve decision-making. Through a pioneering Data Intelligence Policy, the City ensures that data is collected, stored and shared with security and transparency, in addition to prioritizing the responsible use of artificial intelligence. The Belo Horizonte Operations Center (COP-BH) puts this policy into practice, integrating data from more than 20 institutions to improve public services, coordinate major events and respond preventively to crisis situations.

The City is not only filling the technology gap, but also building a future in which every resident can thrive in a rapidly changing world.

In Belo Horizonte, we are committed to institutionalizing digital transformation, structuring processes and providing tools for decision-making. Furthermore, we understand the importance of everyone involved having digital literacy to take ownership of the digitalization of services.

Jean Mattos, president of Prodabel

Join Our Certified Cities!

Hamilton, Canada

A Data-Driven Approach to Innovative and Collaborative Solutions for City Operations

Project Type:
Community Engagement, Cross-Sector Collaboration, Education

At a Glance

237 CityLAB projects completed since 2017

156 City staff members involved in CityLAB projects since 2017

Complex challenges can be overcome through creative collaborations grounded in data. That’s a core premise of CityLAB Hamilton. This innovation hub in the Lake Ontario city unites government, academic leaders, and students to conduct research, gather data and propose evidence-based solutions. Since 2017, hundreds of CityLAB projects have tackled a range of challenges—from housing to city hiring practices to bike infrastructure—with support from more than 4,100 students across Hamilton’s three post-secondary academic institutions. CityLAB Hamilton facilitates strong and meaningful partnerships that enhance mutual understanding of City processes and encourage a more open and transparent government through collaborative problem-solving.

Each project starts with City staff, who identify a specific work-related challenge and request a deliverable aligned with a City strategic priority. CityLAB’s Program Committee then matches the project with a faculty member at Mohawk College, Redeemer University or McMaster University who integrates the project challenge within their coursework. A professor then guides a team of students as they research the problem, collect data, conduct fieldwork, and pilot and/or recommend solutions.

CityLab students. Image Courtesy of the City of Hamilton.

Case in point: one project assessed the risk and impacts of extreme heat on city facilities in Hamilton, which faces rising temperatures due to climate change. A group at Mohawk College mapped at-risk facilities and made recommendations for energy efficiency and cooling strategies, as well prioritization criteria for mitigation efforts. Other projects have focused on optimizing public transit services, analyzing city hiring practices to foster inclusion, closing the gender gap among Hamilton cyclists, and assessing the feasibility of pole-mounted WiFi networks in public spaces.

One key benefit of CityLAB for the City of Hamilton is that the program lowers the risk of investing in new solutions. With more than 60,000 student hours dedicated to City-identified needs, student project teams conduct research and (in some cases) prototype new approaches, helping the City to identify evidence-based strategies for the City. By leveraging student expertise, the program reduces City research and data costs, creating efficiencies that benefit taxpayers. At the same time, students directly apply their skills and knowledge in real-world scenarios, expand professional networks, and develop a deeper connection to their municipal government while improving the City.

CityLab Student Showcase. Image Courtesy of City of Hamilton.

In 2022, CityLAB’s success propelled it to become a permanent city program after five years as a pilot effort. In many ways, it serves as an external research and innovation hub that supports performance evaluation and fosters a culture of data-driven decision-making and governance. And it’s just getting started.

“I’m proud of our team for their dedication to building a stronger, more responsive city. At the end of the day, this is about making life better for the people who live in, work in, and visit Hamilton. By using data in smarter ways, we can solve problems faster and improve the services we deliver. And this is just the beginning of what’s possible!”

City Manager Marnie Cluckie

“I am so proud of the City of Hamilton for earning the Silver What Works Cities Certification for 2024. This recognition highlights our commitment to using data-driven decisions to enhance customer service, transparency, and efficiency for all Hamiltonians.”

Mayor Andrea Horwath

Join Our Certified Cities!

Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Smart Water Conservation, Big Savings

Project Type:
Infrastructure & Utilities, Technology, High-Performing Government

At a Glance

Enhanced water infrastructure to provide real-time data for better resource management, leading to a 90% reduction in field investigations and more than $1 million in cost savings.

Installed 290,000 new smart water meters between 2019 and 2022.

Used data to ensure that the federal financial assistance available during the pandemic was reaching customers who had the most need.

23 systems sending data into Fort Worth Water’s central database, detailing work orders, customer usage and payments, water main breaks and more.

When water pipes leak, the City of Fort Worth loses money. Without its own aquifer or reservoirs, the City buys its entire supply—82 billion gallons in 2023—from Tarrant Regional Water District for over 1.4 million customers in Fort Worth and 33 surrounding communities. When water is conserved, the financial benefits are tangible: Less water needs to be purchased (and treated), reducing operating costs.

This was a major impetus behind MyH20, a program launched in 2016 to both establish a more data-driven approach to water infrastructure management and maintenance and enable customers to better manage their water use.

The first step was installing nearly 300,000 new advanced water meters across Fort Worth Water’s service area. With near real-time data wirelessly transmitted to the utility, customers who register in the online portal are now alerted when possible leaks (i.e., continuous water flow) are detected on their property. Plus they can track usage and pay bills via the online portal. Meter and billing information now flows into a central data management platform, allowing Fort Worth Water to more easily identify who is behind on bills.

When federal water bill assistance was available during the Covid-19 pandemic, the utility was able to use the data to determine if those in danger of service termination for non-payment were the ones receiving assistance through the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), which was managed by third-party entities. (The LIHWAP program is no longer in place.)

Also, MyH20 has dramatically improved Fort Worth Water’s ability to understand the cost of water main leaks and prioritize pipe replacement projects. The utility is now able to systematically track and analyze not only the location of leaks but also the age and type of pipe leaking. Of course, officials knew that older pipes were more likely to have problems. But the ability, for example, to show that cast iron pipes accounted for 92% of water main breaks in 2023—and then detail the exact cost of those breaks—helps build the case for infrastructure improvements. This year, City Council doubled funding for the utility’s pipeline rehabilitation program, allowing it to replace 20 miles of cast iron pipes per year, rather than only 10. The most at-risk pipes are being replaced first.

These upgrades do more than ensure more reliable water service across the city. Strategically upgrading infrastructure—along with helping residents manage their water use—means the entire system loses less water and keeps costs down. Long-term it means less service disruptions to customers. That’s good for the planet, the City and paying customers.

“Because we can use data from multiple systems to see what is happening, we are able to refine our models and improve the water loss estimates for each leak and main break.”

Shane Zondor, Assistant Director of Management Services, Water Department

“We’re building a culture where you have to have data to make decisions, to make recommendations to City Council on policy initiatives. Momentum is building: When people see that data is the key to the treasure, to resource allocation, then they start using data and tracking outcomes.”

David Cooke, City Manager

Join Our Certified Cities!

Burlington, Vermont, USA

A Data-Driven Approach to Building More Housing

Project Type:
Community Engagement, Economic Development, Housing

At a Glance

Passed data-driven zoning changes that are boosting the amount of housing that can be built in neighborhoods across the city.

Used disaggregated data and community outreach to design a small business loan program that complies with Sharia law, allowing Muslim residents to more easily start businesses.

Novel approaches to opioid response have grown out of regular CommunityStat meetings where elected leaders, community members and subject-matter experts review overdose data and collaborate on responses.

In Burlington, a city of 45,000 on the shore of Lake Champlain, one of the biggest challenges today is the same problem that cities 10 and 20 times its size are wrestling with: How can we build enough housing to bring down the skyrocketing cost of living?

To answer this question, Burlington looked at one common obstacle for housing supply: zoning laws. City leaders started by assembling data to understand the existing state of the local homeowner and rental markets, and how those have changed over time. The resulting Housing Report set the stage for extensive resident engagement (including housing trivia) and public debate around housing needs. It also showed clearly that the city would not meet its goal of building 1,250 new housing units over five years without trying new approaches.

“We’ve used data to inform this [zoning amendment] process, and we’re tracking and evaluating the work that we’ve done.”

Sarah Morgan, Planner, City of Burlington

Another analysis produced data on the character and typologies of different neighborhoods in the city and what zoning does and does not control. Both datasets informed the text of the final zoning amendment approved by the City Council, which aimed to be sensitive to the existing context of residential neighborhoods while offering the flexibility necessary to encourage construction of more housing types.

The end result is the city’s new Neighborhood Code, launched in 2024. The plan changes zoning in every neighborhood in the city to allow more multi-family dwellings to be built. This upzoning solution aims to solve the problem of “missing middle housing”, which are multi-unit properties such as townhomes, duplexes, triplexes and cottage clusters, that fill the gap between single-family homes and large apartment buildings. It offers residents more options based on their budget and increases Burlington’s housing supply. Where similar proposals in other cities around the country have proven controversial, Burlington’s City Council passed the plan unanimously.

There are early signs that the code changes are making a difference. Since March 2024, 40 new housing units were permitted under the new code – well more than the 10 per year city planners expected. That alone won’t fix Burlington’s housing supply problems. But over time, the Neighborhood Code stands to play an important role in how the city meets its housing goals, which are tracked real time on a public-facing Housing Dashboard. “There is evidence in other cities that real increases in housing supply have led to lower rents,” says Nancy Stetson, Senior Policy and Data Analyst. “We want to be able to show that in Burlington, too.”

“Being a What Works Cities Certified city affirms the direction we’re on as a city that’s going to innovate around problems we face and also let the vibrancy of Burlington reemerge.”

Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak

Join Our Certified Cities!

Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

Fast-Tracking Climate Resiliency

Project Type:
Community Engagement, Environment, Infrastructure and Utilities

At a Glance

25.6” – Amount of rainfall recorded in Fort Lauderdale on April 12th, 2023, a new one-day record for the city.

$500 million – Cost of stormwater infrastructure improvements planned across 25 Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods over the next 10 years.

On April 12th, 2023, Fort Lauderdale was unexpectedly inundated by a 1-in-1,000 year storm. More than two feet of rain fell in just 12 hours, the most ever recorded there in a single day. Stormwater infrastructure was designed to handle a maximum of three inches of rain in 24 hours and was quickly overwhelmed, flooding wide swaths of the city of about 189,000 on Florida’s southeastern coast. More than 1,000 homes and City Hall were severely damaged, with water chest-deep in some places.

The unprecedented precipitation coupled with a very high tide underscored how climate change makes storms both more intense and less predictable. For Mayor Dean Trantalis and his leadership team, it also made clear the City needed to make Fort Lauderdale’s stormwater infrastructure stronger—and they needed to do it now.

*A flooded street in Fort Lauderdale where climate change is creating more intense and unpredictable storms.* *Image Courtesy of the City of Arlington.*

“We use data to think about everything. It’s all data-driven, from flood mapping and risk modeling to infrastructure planning and asset management. And now we’re really starting to tackle the challenge of figuring out what’s going to flood, when and where.”

Dr. Nancy Gassman, Deputy Director of Public Works

“Prioritizing the right climate adaptation projects requires careful location-specific risk assessments. I’m proud of our enhanced infrastructure strategy, and I’m proud that Fort Lauderdale is being recognized through What Works Cities Certification for putting data at the center of our climate resilience work.”

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis

In November 2023 at the State of the City address, the mayor unveiled Fortify Lauderdale, a $500 million initiative to speed up and expand flood-prevention infrastructure projects across the city through 2034. The City had already been planning to upgrade infrastructure in eight neighborhoods before the April 2023 flooding. After the disaster, leaders ramped up data gathering efforts to identify high-risk areas and refine stormwater infrastructure plans for another 17 neighborhoods.

During Phase 1of the Stormwater Master Planning effort, city employees and consultants attended neighborhood association meetings asking residents to mark up a map detailing exactly where flooding occurred. They also gathered flooding data from residents who called the city’s customer service hotline. Internally, the City conducted a comprehensive stormwater asset management inventory, leaning on its GIS team to detail not just the location of every drain and pipe but also all maintenance work done on each piece of infrastructure in recent years.

All of this data informed the citywide stormwater master planning effort, which allowed leaders to prioritize infrastructure projects based on specific needs and risk levels. The result: 25 additional neighborhoods will see flood prevention upgrades over the next decade, more than triple the number that had been set to receive improvements prior to 2023.

“We have to manage through data given the organization’s finite resources. The ability to segment and analyze data in targeted ways is crucial for navigating where resources should go.”

Susan Grant, Acting City Manager, Fort Lauderdale

As of August 2024, about half of Phase 1 of the Stormwater Master Plan neighborhoods were complete or in construction. Spanning eight neighborhoods, the plan provides 50 miles of new stormwater pipe, 10 new stormwater pump stations, higher seawalls and enhanced swales, among other improvements. These will help get water out of neighborhoods faster, preventing costly damage. The new stormwater improvements are expected to improve the drainage capacity from 3 inches of rain in 24 hours to 7-10 inches. Fortify Lauderdale also includes developing guidelines that will strengthen outreach to owners of vulnerable properties to help them improve their own climate resilience practices. Together, these efforts are showing residents that when the next storm comes, the City can reduce the intensity, duration and frequency of flooding to roads passable, protect homes and prevent life-changing damage.

“A successful infrastructure resilience strategy needs to be anchored in community engagement and solid data,” Mayor Trantalis says. “We’re determined to maximize the value of every dollar we spend on these projects—there’s no time to waste.”

Join Our Certified Cities!

Maipú, Chile

Data Transformation and Transparency in Maipú Water Services

Project Type:
Health and Wellbeing, Infrastructure and Utilities, Public Safety

In 2021, Maipú was going through a serious crisis in the drinking water and sewage service: more than 20,000 water leaks flooded its streets that year, affecting the quality of life of more than half a million inhabitants. A neighborhood came to be nicknamed “the Venice of Maipú”, and one resident mentioned that some leaks in her neighborhood had been going on for more than two years.

The Municipal Drinking Water and Sewer Service (SMAPA), the only municipally managed water company in Chile, was struggling with aging infrastructure, inefficiency and limited resources, while public trust in local government was low due to measures taken by the previous administration: bad management and a deficit of $31 billion pesos ($31 million dollars).

In response, since taking office in June 2021, Mayor Tomás Vodanovic has prioritized the management of SMAPA as a cornerstone of his administration’s agenda. It was decided to invest an additional $5 billion ($5 million dollars) for the maintenance of drinking water and sewage networks. However, the key to success was improving tracking and analysis. To save resources, city staff inspected water infrastructure and worked closely with the public safety team. Through mixed patrols between professionals from different areas, the tours were more efficient, since they only needed a mobile phone to travel. They then took this data in the field and created comprehensive dashboards, allowing real-time monitoring and analysis of water and sewer service reports. Today Maipú can better allocate resources and proactively address more problems.

Image courtesy of the City of Maipú, Chile.

This work was supported by administration support, with a commitment to building a data culture across government. Maipú joined the Digital Transformation Leaders Network, participated in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, and city leaders are active members of the What Works Cities Certification Community. In each of these networks, Maipú has learned from other cities and has developed a disciplined, consistent and challenging approach to data.

For example, the Urban Advisory Department developed the Maipú Territorial Information System (SITMA), powered by technology with ArcGIS. This platform helps the City optimize resource allocation by breaking down data by neighborhood and provides transparency by allowing residents to monitor projects and report issues.

“We only measure in terms of improving people’s lives. It makes no sense to use graphs, numbers and bars just because of our love of numbers and figures, they must effectively push municipal management to have a greater impact on the people.”

Mayor Tomás Vodanovic

“Teams no longer come with proposals unless they have data. “Hey, I think that’s a good idea” isn’t enough. Now people come with a georeferenced proposal, analyzed or compared with other municipalities. In other words, analysis is already part of the process.”

Natalie González, leader of the Government Center in Maipú, Chile

Transparency and rebuilding public trust have been integral to Maipú’s efforts to improve SMAPA. Management launched a robust communications campaign, using social media, newsletters and community meetings to inform and engage residents. In addition, educational initiatives, such as the Museum of Water, share the history and importance of SMAPA as the only municipal water service in the country.

Maipú’s efforts bore fruit: the City went from 29,000 water leaks in 2021 to less than 2,000 in 2024. Today, Maipú’s innovative approach serves as a model for other cities that want to make their public services reliable for the community. This is a testament to what can be achieved when technology and transparency drive public service.

“The What Works Cities Certification is an important tool for recognition and internal mobilization. It shows that we value the good performance of city workers and is an example for others to follow.”

Mayor Tomás Vodanovic

Join Our Certified Cities!

Why Certify

Assessment

News

Resources

San Nicolás, Argentina

At a Glance

Newark, New Jersey, USA

At a Glance

Edmonton, Canada

At a Glance

Corrientes,
Argentina

At a Glance

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

At a Glance

Hamilton, Canada

At a Glance

Fort Worth, Texas, USA

At a Glance

Burlington, Vermont, USA

At a Glance

Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

At a Glance

Maipú, Chile