Cities and municipalities

Public works that residents hear about from you first

For a city or municipality, HelloStreet brings together everything residents, shops and schools need to know about public works: every address along the route, a project page per phase, one inbox for questions and reports, a register of commitments, and a report for the council.

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A renewed town square on market day.
Market Square, a year after the residents helped redesign it.

The situation

A street redesign with sewers, wider pavements, 42 trees and a petition

A city redesigns a busy shopping street: new sewers, wider pavements and new trees. The design is open for comments, the works will take three phases, and the shops want to know if they will still be reachable.

In public works, communication goes wrong in the small things: a closure nobody announced, an ambulance that cannot get through, a night shift that was not on the schedule. Every one of them ends up at the alderman’s desk.

What helps is reaching every address along the route, not just the people who follow the city online, and keeping one record of what was promised to whom.

What neighbours ask

  • Can I still reach my house or shop by car during the works?
  • When will my part of the street be closed?
  • Will there be night work?
  • Which trees will be cut down, and what comes in their place?
  • Who do I call if something goes wrong on the site?

A typical project, step by step

From the first design to the opening of the new street

This is how a street redesign usually unfolds, and how HelloStreet helps the project team, the alderman and the communications team in each phase.

  1. Step 1: Design

    Ask the street what matters to them

    The design for the redesign is on the table. Shopkeepers, residents and the school each have their own concern.

    Will my shop stay reachable during the works?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    A consultation on the project page, with short questions and a map to comment on, and a letter for every address along the route, including people who don’t follow the town online.

  2. Step 2: Consultation

    Every response where it belongs

    After the information evening, responses arrive by email, phone, at the front desk and through a petition.

    Are trees really being added, or do some disappear first?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    Everything arrives in one inbox, by theme and by street. Insights show the biggest concerns and which street is most vocal.

  3. Step 3: Decision

    A report for the executive and the council

    The executive decides on the final design and the phasing.

    What did they do with our comments?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    The report shows reach, results by street and ‘you said, we did’, ready for the council and to share with the neighbourhood.

  4. Step 4: Phasing

    Every resident knows which phase their home is in

    The works run in three phases, each with its own closures, detours and a temporary bus stop.

    Can the ambulance still reach my mother?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    For each phase, an announcement with a map, a notification for followers and a letter for people without a smartphone.

  5. Step 5: Works

    Complaints become agreements you keep

    Night work on the sewer, a shopkeeper reporting damage, a petition that comes back.

    Why are they working at night?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    Every complaint gets a place in the log, every promise a number and a status. The alderman sees everything that is ongoing in one overview.

  6. Step 6: Opening

    A street to celebrate

    The street is finished: new pavements, trees and a square for the market.

    When is the market coming back?
    What you hear in the neighbourhood
    With HelloStreet

    Progress in pictures shows before and after. The final report closes the file for the council. A press release for local media is ready for review.

Example

Redesign of Molenstraat: sewers, pavements and 42 trees

Hoeveld (a fictional town) · 900 m route · 70 m on each side

The town redesigns Molenstraat in three phases. The street has a primary school, a care home and about twenty shops. A petition against night work is going round.

  1. Design consultationA letter to every address along the route and a project page with the design. Reactions come in by theme and by section of the street.
  2. ConsultationAgreement with the care home: a 3.5 m passage stays free at all times and every closure is announced 48 hours ahead.
  3. Council decisionThe executive gets an overview of what residents raised, street by street, with the petition and the answers.
  4. Phase 1A weekly update per section; the night-work schedule (four nights at most) is on the project page with dates.

Every agreement with residents, shops and care providers is in one register that the contractor can see as well.

Illustrative example. The place, people and figures are fictional.

Questions and answers

Does this replace the city’s website?

No. The project page sits next to your website and focuses on one project. You can link to it from the city’s website and from the letters.

Can the contractor work in it too?

Yes. The contractor can see reports and commitments that concern the site, so residents get one answer, not two.

Can we follow several projects in the town side by side?

Yes. Each project has its own zone, page, inbox and report. The communications team sees all projects together, and where they overlap in time or on the map.

Does it also work for consultation on a plan, not only for works?

Yes. You set up a consultation with short questions and a map to comment on. Results appear by street and theme, ready for the executive and the council.

How do we reach residents who do not speak the local language?

Updates and replies are translated automatically into the resident’s language. Letters can be prepared in several languages.

Can the alderman or the council see the overview?

Yes. You share a read-only link to the report and the log, without residents’ personal data. Councillors see what was asked and promised.

Talk to us about your project

Book a demo to see HelloStreet with a project from your sector, or start with a free neighbourhood scan.

Book a demoRequest a free neighbourhood scan

Early accessWe are starting with a small group of organisations. Book a demo to request a place.

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