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Image courtesy of coUrbanize
A Boston-based online community engagement platform is adding a set of new features to reflect the disruption to real estate development permitting in the COVID-19 era.
Boston-based coUrbanize said the new features will enable city planners and residents to keep the lines of communication open despite recent moratoriums on community meetings.
The changes include two new templates to promote virtual community meetings, forms for residents to request one-on-one virtual chats or group meetings with development team members, the ability to embed videos in comment forums and a voicemail public comment option for residents that will be transcribed to projects’ online forums.
New features for developers and community leaders include a virtual office hours option, online forum for the real estate industry to share advice on the post-coronavirus landscape and a toolkit on community engagement strategies reflecting the current environment.
The city of Cambridge is partnering with coUrbanize on public review of an alternate site for an Eversource substation previously proposed for the Blue Garage property in Kendall Square.
“Community outreach can still happen even if traditional public meetings are cancelled. coUrbanize will allow us to engage with the neighborhood and continue moving the project forward even during this unprecedented time,” Tom Evans, executive director of the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, said in a statement.
coUrbanize has partnered with more than 400 development and real estate teams on public outreach.
