Executive Summary

AskingCities is a civic operating system designed to create meaningful connections between urban actors and transform latent resources into social value. Rather than relying on programmes, projects, or infrastructure, it proposes a relational logic that manages the city as a living ecosystem, in which capacities already exist but need to be listened to, translated, and connected with care and respect. Its goal is to enable city collaboration in a simple, acceptable, and repeatable fashion.

The model is structured around a foundational Objective that ensures transfer across cities without losing its essence. To achieve this, AskingCities relies on the Strategy–Action–Option (SAO) hierarchy, which distinguishes between stable structural directions, teachable operational practices, and a flexible repertoire of local adaptations. This architecture, preserves the coherence of the model while allowing it to adapt to different city contexts.

AskingCities is sustained by a set of complementary roles—Askers, Givers, and AskAuthors. It is initiated through a lightweight start‑up process based on the Minimum Viable AskingCities (MVAC), which prioritises well‑executed core actions and early quick wins. Governed as a network rather than a hierarchy, the model integrates universities, public administrations, and VCSE organisations as active nodes. 

This handbook provides a practical map that turns the model into an implementation for a new city. It establishes a shared language, organises accumulated experience, and offers any city a clear guide to creating, sustaining, and evaluating AskingCities in their own context.