This document discusses city-specific top-level domains (TLDs) like .nyc and how they can be used to create a "digital civic commons" for a city. It notes that over 30 cities now have their own TLD and .nyc has issued over 86,000 domain names. The document advocates for a bottom-up, multistakeholder approach to planning how a city's digital commons could provide resources like neighborhood directories or civic issue forums through domains like neighborhoods.nyc or issues.nyc to help organize and share a city's digital identity and assets.

1. Identifying & Managing
The Emerging City Digital Commons
by Thomas Lowenhaupt

2. What’s a TLD
(Top Level Domain)
● .it
● .com
● .edu
● .org
● .uk
These are TLDs
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3. What’s a TLD
(Top Level Domain)
+1,200
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4. City-TLDs
● .london
● .paris
● .roma (?)
● .tokyo
● .nyc
● +30 more
These city-TLDs
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5. .nyc My city-TLD
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6. 86,000 names issued
.nyc My city-TLD
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7. Planning
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8. A Plan For A Growing City
A little story
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9. A Plan For A Growing City
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10. A Plan For A Growing City
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11. Identity
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12. people ideas
places organizations
things services
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13. things
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14. things
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15. Identity of Things
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16. Identity of Things
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17. Protection From Disruption
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18. ● Traditional - language,
culture, air, water...
● Digital Commons
● Digital Civic Commons
●
Commons
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19. Digital Commons
○ Guides
○ Signposts
○ Meeting places
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20. Digital Civic Commons
○ search.nyc
○ voters.nyc
○ neighborhoods.nyc
○ issues.nyc
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21. 21

22. Looking Ahead
A bit of a sales pitch here. The organization I helped found in
2006 has spent nearly 10 years on city TLDs.
What’s a city to do. What would .balogna, .milano, .roma …
What commons?
What civic commons?
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23. Top Down
● Informed Consent
● Multistakeholder Review
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24. Bottom Up
● Multistakeholder Review
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25. Follow-up
● Tom Lowenhaupt
● Tom@connecting.nyc
● www.Connecting.nyc
Connecting.nyc Inc.
- a New York City based NGO -
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