Building the Future

CHAPTER 5

Rethinking City Hall

When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a mayor.

—Lyndon Johnson

I will say that walking down the street, getting on the subway, taking the elevator, if there’s one or two people and they say, ‘Great job, Mayor,’ that is a real turn-on. I mean, anybody that wouldn’t find that satisfying, rewarding, exciting, thrilling—I think they should see the doctor.

—Michael Bloomberg

IT WAS BECOMING INCREASINGLY CLEAR THAT MAKING BUILDINGS, neighborhoods, and cities smarter would involve more than cool new technology. It would require a new level of cross-sector teaming—Big Teaming. In addition to IT and real estate, city government had an important role ...