New Urban Mechanics

We work across departments and communities to explore, experiment, and evaluate new approaches to government and civic life.

The Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) was formed in 2010 as the Mayor's civic research and design team (one of the first in the nation). We explore and tackle experiments and prototypes that cover a range of topics. This includes everything from the future of mobility to City infrastructure to collective well-being.

Have a creative idea to improve the City? Let us know through email, or schedule an in-person brainstorm during an upcoming office hours. We have two slots on Tuesdays, from 2 - 4 p.m., and one slot on Wednesdays, from 9 - 10 a.m.

While don't have any current open positions, this is where they would first appear. Summer and annual fellowships open in late November each year and close in mid-January. 

Contact

We occasionally post content on our Medium blog.

Applications for 2023 fellowships will re-open in November 2022.

2021 Year in Review

We've put together a brief year in review of some of our 2021 projects and reflections.

The Mechanics

Highlights of our work

Common questions

Where do ideas for New Urban Mechanics prototypes come from?

All over! We are constantly keeping an ear out for interesting ideas to tackle. They come from:

From those ideas, how does New Urban Mechanics decide which prototypes to actually work on?

We’re generally looking for three roughly outlined criteria:

Can I or my organization work with New Urban Mechanics?

We’d love to find a way to collaborate! Check out our civic research agenda to see if we’re asking questions about a topic you’re an expert on. You can also sign up for an upcoming office hours (by sending us an email) to come chat with us about your ideas for improving civic experiences in Boston.

What are your impact measurements? Do you have innovation Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?

Alas, we don’t have a standard set of metrics across projects. We use a mix of approaches — quantitative and qualitative — to determine if our prototype "worked." Generally, if we learn something that informs a future service or program the City can put in place, that’s a win. More broadly, we try to get a sense of whether people liked the prototype. If it brought delight or inspired wonder or built better trust with government. Or whether the prototype physically survived the experimental phase (sometimes they don’t!).

What is the governance model of the lab?

We sit in the Mayor’s office, literally and figuratively. We report to the Mayor’s Chief of Staff. We have no specific content-focused mandate, but rather a broad purview to work collaboratively across departments and topic areas. There are two co-chairs who guide and inspire the team, while also doing project work themselves.

Does New Urban Mechanics collaborate with startups? Universities?

Yes! See “Can I / my organization work with New Urban Mechanics?” above. Since 2010, we have been one of the “front doors” for startups and researchers who want to help Boston tackle some of its thorniest civic challenges. For example, we worked with Soofa while it was still a research lab out of MIT to field-test their solar-panel bench, which also charges devices via USB port. Additionally, our Autonomous Vehicle testing program, in partnership with the Transportation Department, is working with two local startups, nuTonomy and Optimus Ride.

Can you provide information on how your Fellows programs work?

Check out our summer fellowship website and our yearlong fellowship website for more information.

How does New Urban Mechanics work with the departments in the City?

As you can probably guess, it depends project by project. If you asked some of our original partners, they’d probably tell you they think of us as an extra member of their team. With our newer collaborators, we can sometimes be their partners who ask hard (or basic) questions like, “Who isn’t at the table for this conversation, but should be?” We can also connect them into our network of partners outside of City Hall. Sometimes we’re project managers, sometimes conveners, sometimes standing-out-on-the-street-asking-people-if-they-can-read-the-parking-sign (-ers), and always a little playful.

What are the sources of funding for New Urban Mechanics?

The most up-to-date information is always available in the Budget Book. Historically, we have had a mix of City funding and philanthropic funding. Some of the philanthropies we’ve received funding from in the past include:

What elements are key to ensure the sustainability of a civic innovation lab?

We think close collaboration with our partner departments who will ultimately own the experiment is key. Nurturing cultural change across the organization is also important for sustainability. After all, we are all Urban Mechanics. We are also relied upon as a talent pipeline for other departments through our various fellowships and university partnerships. And to get down to brass tacks — so to speak — we have to deliver. We have to learn, explore, fail, talk about the work, and share the work as much as we can, so it’s clear how the City benefits from keeping us around.

Why does government need to worry itself about innovation?

As Kris’s grandmother says, “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” We don’t need to look much further than Amazon Prime’s service rollout in Boston in 2016, or Haystack’s 2014 attempt to turn public street parking into a private amenity to see why governments, particularly those at the local level, need to pull up a chair and get into the mix. We see our role as:

Innovation isn’t always new and shiny, and it certainly isn’t always an app. It often occurs in the gray areas between two fields, departments, or existing ideas. Sometimes it’s as simple as combining a grape and a slice of cheese to create ... fireworks.

What advice would you give to an emerging lab or a place thinking about starting a civic innovation lab?

What is human-centered design in a civic context, when city populations can be so diverse?

Simple: think about people first. Government is about helping people, not creating internal efficiencies, not cutting costs, not necessarily making things easier for internal staff (although those are always possible and good outcomes). Aim to design with, not for. When you can, co-create with the people closest to the challenge. Get out of your office and go to where people actually are experiencing the City. Simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy.

News

Jul 19

New City of Boston Block Party Kit Pilot Program Announced

May 4

2021 Public Space Invitational: Community Compost

Apr 14

Join us at Zero Waste Earth Week Events

Dec 15

City of Boston donation drive for Haitian immigrants

Press

Here are some pieces that have been written or recorded about New Urban Mechanics and our way of working.

Podcasts

Articles

All Projects