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Community Engagement Specialist Zencity Buys UK Firm

January 27 2025

US-based local government community engagement platform Zencity has acquired UK-based engagement software company Commonplace.

Commonplace has particular expertise in zoning and planningZencity was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in New York City and Tel Aviv. The firm provides community feedback tools, analytics and expert support for government and public safety leaders including the City of New York, the Los Angeles Police Department and the London Metropolitan Police. The firm prides itself on the breadth of voices involved in its offering and studies, contrasting its inclusive approach with the tendency of traditional community engagement exercises to rely on the 'STPs' - the 'Same Ten People' who 'always participate and get overcounted, while other voices are not heard'.

B Corp Commonplace provides a platform for community sentiment mapping, survey and communications to over 100 local government clients and property developers, promising to extract 'rich, data-led understanding that builds trust and informs better outcomes and more inclusive decision-making'. Over the past eleven years, more than ten million community members have engaged via its tools with more than 3,500 individual projects across the UK.

With the buy, Commonplace's industry-leading map-based features and subscriber management will be widely adopted into the Zencity platform, while the former's clients will gain access to enhanced capabilities providing a 360-degree view into public priorities supporting government and stakeholder community listening. Zencity also says the deal underlines its commitment to building momentum in the UK market, where it is already active with major clients including the Ministry of Housing and British Transport Police.

Eyal Feder-Levy, CEO and Co-founder of Zencity said on the firm's web site: 'From our very first conversations, we were deeply impressed by the incredible work Mike, Benjy, and their team have accomplished. Their commitment to empowering governments and their clear leadership in the UK made this partnership a natural fit'.

He adds: 'With Commonplace's expertise in zoning and planning [see picture], we're adding powerful new tools for project-specific engagement - from major infrastructure projects to neighborhood-level developments. We know that planning and development projects often spark the most passionate conversations in a community. Now, Zencity customers will have best-in-class tools to navigate those conversations confidently'.

Mike Saunders, CEO of Commonplace notes that the partnership has 'emerged and strengthened' over several years, and comments, 'The joining of forces between Zencity and Commonplace is a win-win for our customers. Not only will they continue receiving exceptional service, but they will also have access to new and enhanced capabilities that come with being a part of a larger company'.

The combined company serves cities, agencies and businesses in 6 countries, 45 US states and a global footprint covering over 200 million people.

Web sites: www.commonplace.is and www.zencity.io .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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