An open idea-and-debate platform where residents propose and argue for city improvements — with arguments for and against listed separately, never threaded. The city council committed to review the top ideas every month and publicly answer whether each was approved.
Over 70,000 participants out of 120,000 residents — better than 50% penetration, extraordinary for civic tech — with 30,000 registered users submitting 10,000 ideas. The monthly council-review commitment is widely credited as the engine: people participate when someone demonstrably reads the results.
The loop is the product. Reykjavik's monthly council review is exactly the platform's outcome-page-and-packet design: every question ends with what the body actually did. Participation follows proof that participation lands.
Iceland's civic culture and small scale helped; penetration like that takes years, not launches.
Sources: Better Reykjavik — Citizens Foundation · Better Reykjavik — Participedia