FixMyStreet is a map based website and app by

mySociety mySociety is a UK-based registered charity, previously named UK Citizens Online Democracy. It began as a UK-focused organisation with the aim of making online democracy tools for UK citizens. However, those tools were open source, so that t ...

that helps people in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

inform their

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

of problems needing their attention, such as

potholes A pothole is a depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affected area. Water ...

, broken

streetlamp A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

s, etc. It is the UK instance of

FixMyStreet FixMyStreet is a free and open-source software framework by mySociety which enables anyone to run a website for aggregating and reporting street problems, similar to FixMyStreet.com. The United Kingdom FixMyStreet inspired similar sites in othe ...

. Reports are also published on the site. While most local councils have their own reporting systems, FixMyStreet solves the fact that the reporter may not know which authority is responsible for a specific type of problem in a specific location. By use of the

MapIt mySociety is a UK-based registered charity, previously named UK Citizens Online Democracy. It began as a UK-focused organisation with the aim of making online democracy tools for UK citizens. However, those tools were open source, so that the ...

software, FixMyStreet matches users’

postcodes A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

and the category of their problem to the correct local authority.

History

The site was initially funded by the

Department for Constitutional Affairs The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003; it took over the functions of the Lord Chancellor's Department. On 28 March 2007 it was announced that the Dep ...

Innovations Fund and built by

, in conjunction with the

Young Foundation The Young Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental think tank based in London that specialises in social innovation to tackle structural inequality. It is named after Michael Young, the British sociologist and social activist who created o ...

; the code for the site was written by

Francis Irving Francis Irving is a British computer programmer, activist for freedom of information and former CEO of ScraperWiki. Francis Irving developed TortoiseCVS. He co-founded Public Whip with Julian Todd and became a developer of the affiliated T ...

Matthew Somerville Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

, and

Chris Lightfoot Chris Lightfoot (4 August 1978 – 11 February 2007) was an English scientist and political activist. He was the first developer, with Tom Steinberg, at e-democracy charity mySociety. Family and early life Lightfoot was born in Dulwich, England ...

. The site was originally launched as "Neighbourhood Fix-It", but it was decided to change to a shorter and easier name in June 2007 when one became available.FAQ
FixMyStreet A FixMyStreet app was developed in 2008 to enable iPhone users to report problems using their phones, and since then volunteers have written apps for Nokia and Android, as well as another app for the iPhone. FixMyStreet won an award at SustainIT eWell-Being Awards in 2008, and has been listed in various newspaper best or top websites. The site was an inspiration for the government's "Show Us A Better Way" contest. A version of the site for reporting abandoned empty homes, in conjunction with the

Empty Homes Agency The Empty Homes Agency was established in 1992 by Antony Fletcher with assistance from Serge Lourie as a registered charity in England that works to help people create homes from empty properties and campaigns for more empty homes to be brought ...

Shelter Cymru Shelter Cymru describes itself as Wales's people and homes charity. Its vision is that a decent, secure home is a fundamental right and essential to the health and well-being of communities. Information background Shelter Cymru provides independe ...

and the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, was launched in late 2008, and was called "a model of easy use" by the Guardian This site was repurposed for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

TV series The Great British Property Scandal in December 2011, which was nominated for a BAFTA and an Emmy. An adapted version of the FixMyStreet software also underlies

cycle Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in soc ...

accident-reporting sit
Collideoscope
In 2010, FixMyStreet was closely integrated with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper's Guardian Local project.

Emily Bell Emily Jane Bell (born 14 September 1965) is a British academic and journalist. She is Professor of Professional Practice at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (Columbia School of Journalism)

wrote in her launch message: "A hugely important part of this project has been the involvement of

, who we've collaborated with to provide customised versions of their civic tools, allowing and encouraging local residents to report issues, contact their representatives and generally become engaged in the governance and care of their locality.", and Alistair Tibbitt, Development Manager for Greener Leith wrote "the Guardian certainly deserve plaudits for integrating the local FixMyStreet service so tightly into their new Edinburgh Beat Blog."

Responses

FixMyStreet.com was mentioned as the main inspiration for the Slovak project "Odkaz pre starostu" (''Message for the Mayor''), which started in 2010. In 2021, all 8 seat cities of Slovak regions, 53 other cities and 77 municipalities are cooperating with this project, which is dominant in Slovakia in its field. Until 2021, about 50,000 complaints were resolved using this web portal.Odkaz pre starostu
main page

References

External links

FixMyStreet.com
* * {{F-Droid, org.mysociety.FixMyStreet, FixMyStreet Open government in the United Kingdom British websites Road infrastructure in the United Kingdom MySociety Crowdsourcing