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  • The Dawn of the Evidence-Based Budget

    When we consider the vast sums that governments spend — and the responsibility public officials bear — it seems crazy that policy makers don’t routinely make good use of evidence. The new White House effort to base spending decisions on hard evidence is a step toward delivering more social good per taxpayer dollar.

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  • Green Roofs in Big Cities Bring Relief From Above

    New York City black tar roofs cause a number of environmental problems, including air pollution, heat absorption that raises energy consumption, and storm water runoff in the sewer system. Efforts to turn these old roofs into green spaces cool the buildings, enable the containment of more rainfall, reduce sewer discharge, generate energy, and absorb carbon emissions. New York City has a pilot program offering financial help for green roofs.

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  • Fighting Crime With Architecture in Medellín, Colombia

    Medellin, Colombia has looked to architecture to help combat its high homicide rate and other problems. Over the past few decades there have been massive public architecture development, transit improvements, creation of public spaces that have all contributed to renewing this city.

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  • The Multiplier Effect: Driving Haiti's recovery by spending aid dollars locally

    Building Markets, an NGO, has connected Haitian businesses with foreign NGOs who can funnel humanitarian aid through the local suppliers and manufacturers in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of 2010. Typically, the majority of contracts are granted to international contractors which are easier for foreign NGOs to vet but when contracts are granted to local vendors, the "multiplier effect" allows more money to flow through the local economy and employ Haitians. A directory built by Building Markets allows foreign investors to easily find trustworthy local businesses.

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  • Armed With Data, Fighting More Than Crime

    CitiStat has show great success in cities like Baltimore, where it has improved city services' efficiency (removing snow, fixing potholes, etc.). Many cities use Stat programs, but Baltimore has been a particular case of success. Looking at how it implemented its CitiStat program holds lessons for other cities.

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  • Why the Streets of Copenhagen and Amsterdam Look So Different From Ours

    When Amsterdam and the Netherlands were facing an urban dilemma between building bicycle or automobile friendly streets, citizens organized to promote the prioritization of cyclist safety above all else. This public outcry and strategy lead to these cities becoming a model for livable streets.

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  • Innovation for the People, by the People

    In a vast country like the United States in a world of lightning-fast change, it no longer makes sense to presume that governments possess, or even understand, the best ways to address pressing needs and promote “the happiness of the people.” The White House strategy of offering prizes to the public for their solutions to critical problems is working.

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  • Innovations in Light

    Solar lighting will revolutionize Africa - but access infrastructure is a difficult thing to build. Three different, innovative business models get lights into the hands of the people who need them most.

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  • To Maintain Water Pumps, It Takes More Than a Village

    Water pumps often break and no one locally has the skill or parts to fix them. Two columns on Water Aid’s program in India to train women to be handpump mechanics.

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  • Outsourcing Is Not (Always) Evil

    The United States can outsource certain kinds of "microwork," such as accurately digitizing large swaths of information, to developing countries without taking jobs from Americans ― if it’s done carefully, and ethically, as some organizations are working to do. As the author Robert Wright has argued, we no longer live in a zero-sum world, where one person’s, or one country’s gain, must be another’s loss.

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