The Underline, a new linear park taking shape underneath a metro track in Miami, will hire two new staff to help oversee a new investment in civic technology. | James Corner Field Operations

The Underline, a new linear park, will hire staff to help create digital tools to improve park engagement Miami?s Underline, an ongoing $120 million project to transform the underside of a raised rail corridor into a 10-mile linear park, already seeks to be a transformative civic investment. But a new grant by the Knight Foundation may turn this revitalizing transit corridor into something new: a testing ground for civic technology.
Earlier this month, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced a $925,000 investment in The Underline?s technology infrastructure, which would include the hiring of a chief operating officer and chief information officer by the end of the year to help ?create a technology master plan informed by residents and experts alike.? ?Technology will be the connective tissue that connects the people, places and activities within The Underline?s 120 acres,? said Meg Daly, founder of Friends of the Underline, the nonprofit that helped champion the idea of the new park. ?We know technology offers infinite ways to improve this space and bring new ideas to life, but we have to build the foundation based on what?s available today and tomorrow.?
At a time when privacy issues in tech are paramount, and the prospect of a Sidewalk Labs-led smart neighborhood ...