Chapter 9How to Create an AskingCity from Scratch

Building an AskingCity from scratch is about activating an ecosystem, rather than replicating a project. An AskingCity is born when a different way of relating is articulated, where needs become visible, capabilities are recognized and connections become plausible.

Creating an AskingCity is, at its core, an act of light social engineering: establishing minimal, sufficient, and non-invasive structures that allow the city itself to reorganize itself from within. This chapter describes how that process is initiated in an orderly, simple, and effective manner.

9.1A change in collective mentality#

Before activating any formal structure, AskingCities invites you to assume that the city already has almost everything it needs; it is not a matter of "bringing" resources from outside, but of activating those that already exist in the form of time, experience, things, services, contacts, etc.

This shift in mindset is crucial because AskingCities is based on distributed abundance, not scarcity. Cities that start with the idea of "we don't have enough" tend to look for external structured solutions. An AskingCity, on the other hand, starts by looking for what's already available, even if it's not yet visible.

9.2Identify the "promoter core"#

AskingCity needs a nucleus of enthusiasts: a small, committed group with enough intimacy and awareness of the city to start the movement. This nucleus clearly understands the objective of the model, and is willing to act without waiting for everything to be perfectly defined. It also has the ability to access the right networks to move the first tile and generate the initial connections that allow a city to start activating.

The fundamental thing is that the group is transversal, capable of mixing diverse profiles and institutions, respected in their respective environments and with the necessary maturity to hold difficult conversations without losing orientation towards the common good. In addition, you must be willing to learn in public, to iterate, and to adjust your practice as you go. A core of between three and six people – usually volunteers - is enough to power up AskingCities and start transforming the city from within.

In addition, AskingCities requires a space, physical or virtual, where actors can share needs, explore capabilities, listen to each other carefully, recognize emerging opportunities and, little by little, begin to speak the same language. A safe place for conversation, without formal representations or institutional burdens, where vulnerability is not only accepted, but welcomed.

For many organizations, asking for help is still a brave, almost countercultural act, and that is why this space must be light and deeply human, without visible hierarchies or rituals that intimidate.

9.3Operational First Steps #

Below, we list and describe the initial actions in developing an AskingCity.

9.3.1 Identify early Askers and Givers #

An AskingCity is created when a real need meets an available capacity and a story emerges that validates why doing this matters. For this reason, in the first weeks it is advisable to move with a logic of "small but significant": identify a few specific needs – three, four, maybe five – and do the same with the capacities that already exist in the territory, avoiding cases that are too complex or structural problems that could slow down the initial momentum.

The first Askers must arrive with a limited need, with a willingness to collaborate and with the willingness to participate later in the construction of the final story, because their testimony will be key to explaining to others the value of the process. On the other hand, the first Givers must offer capabilities with a low barrier to entry, be flexible and motivated more by purpose than by public recognition; in these beginnings, what sustains the movement is practical generosity, rather than visibility.

In reality, the first Askers and Givers are the building blocks of the ecosystem. How they behave, what stories they generate and the quality of their first connections will depend on the culture that the AskingCity will adopt from the beginning. Every early encounter is a seed and, if it germinates well, defines the way a city begins to transform.

9.3.2 Activate connection "microprocesses"#

An AskingCity is built through small, constant and repeated actions over time. The real breakthrough occurs in the brief meeting with an Asker, in the call to a possible Giver, in a clarification session that helps to specify the need, in a punctual accompaniment that reduces uncertainty or in a concrete connection that solves a real problem.

These seemingly modest micro-processes are what build trust, build up narrative stories, and offer those early signs of success that fuel the movement's momentum. An AskingCity grows like a neural network: connection by connection, slowly but surely, building its strength from repetition, the density of links and the ability to transform each small encounter into one more step towards a more connected city.

9.3.3AskAuthors Express Training #

Initially a small, well-trained group of AskAuthors is needed - individuals who understand the model and can put it into practice from day one. Initial training focuses on learning how to listen to a need accurately, how to reframe it so that it is clear and actionable, how to identify possibilities for connection even when they are not obvious, how to accompany people without overloading the process, and how to document the learnings that arise from each interaction. It also includes the ability to generate short but powerful stories, because those early narratives are what explain to others how AskingCities works.

9.4The first quick wins and first stories#

Before scaling, an AskingCity needs early evidence that the system works. A quick win doesn't have to be big, but it does have to be compelling: it has to show the visceral value of the model, and it has to make it clear that the logic of connections, even in its simplest form, is already making an impact.

A quick win can be as simple as a space provider who provides a room for an activity, an expert volunteer who accompanies an NGO for a few weeks, a school that provides resources to a social project or a company that opens a small channel of occasional technical support. The important thing is not the size of the action, but the message it conveys. Every quick win says, "This works. The city responds. It makes sense to continue and grow".

An AskingCity is consolidated through its stories. What really fixes the model in the territory are the short, human and understandable stories that are born from each quick win and that tangibly show the value of collaboration.

Every time a need finds a capacity and both generate a transformation, no matter how small, it is essential to translate that encounter into a narrative that can be shared and that inspires other actors to participate. These stories generate legitimacy, amplify the network effect, and act as a key educational resource for AskAuthors, who learn from real-life examples of how the city is activated. In addition, over time, these stories build the narrative voice of the project, the particular way in which that AskingCity tells who it is and what it is achieving.

9.5The importance of not overdesigning in the initial phase#

One of the most frequent risks when starting AskingCities is to fall into the temptation of creating formal structures too early, defining rigid roles, producing extensive documents, planning phases with a disproportionate level of detail, incorporating digital tools ahead of time or trying to measure absolutely everything from the first month. This organizational drive is understandable, especially in environments accustomed to managing projects through stable bureaucracies, but it contradicts the essence of the model. Every city is different and so this level of specificity so early is unachievable.

An AskingCity should start with confidence, lightness, and humanity, paying attention to what really matters: people and their connections. The mantra of this phase is simple and should be repeated as a permanent reminder: "Do little and do well; Get people moving." In the beginning, the only essential thing is to generate authentic encounters and take small but consistent steps; everything else can wait.

An AskingCity is truly "living" when three profound transformations occur. The first is that stories that the city recognizes as its own are beginning to appear, stories that sound like experiences that could have happened in any neighbourhood, school, NGO or local institution. The second is that the core team gains the confidence and clarity to make strategic decisions on their own, without constantly relying on the Bristol origin, demonstrating that the model has been understood and adapted in a mature way. And the third is that connections begin to become frequent, natural and self-sustaining, and become part of the usual dynamics of the region.

When these three conditions align, AskingCities ceases to be a project that came from outside and becomes a local practice, a way of making a city. At that moment, the AskingCity has truly been born, because it only depends on the energy that the community itself generates and keeps alive.