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 th ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

inform their

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

of problems needing their attention, such as

potholes A pothole is a pot-shaped 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 ...

, broken

streetlamp A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, streetlamp, 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 b ...

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 other ...

. 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 ...

Innovations Fund and built by

, in conjunction with the

Young Foundation The Young Foundation is a not-for-profit, organisation driving community research and social innovation. It is named after Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington, Michael Young, the British sociologist and social activist who created over 60 ...

; the code for the site was written by

Francis Irving Francis Irving (born 1974) is a British software engineer, freedom of information activist and former CEO of ScraperWiki. Education Irving studied A-levels in Biology, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics and General Studies at high sc ...

, Matthew Somerville, and Chris Lightfoot. 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 The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

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 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 channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

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 ...

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

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' newspaper's Guardian Local project. Emily Bell 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 A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displayin ...

.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