CivicOS: A Hyperlocal Community

Operating System
Project Document

Team:
Virendra Badgotya
Tansik

August 5, 2025
Contents

1 Executive Summary 1

2 Introduction 1

2.1 Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2.2 Vision & Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.3 Project Goals & Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3 System Architecture & Design 2

3.1 High-Level Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3.2 Technology Stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3.3 Core Components Deep Dive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3.3.1 The Living Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3.3.2 The Fixer Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3.3.3 The CivicCoin Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3.3.4 The Neighborhood DAO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4 Database Schema 4

4.1 Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.2 Table Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

5 API Specification 4

6 User Personas & User Journeys 4

6.1 User Personas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

6.2 End-to-End User Journey Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

7 Project Plan & Timeline 5

7.1 Project Phases (Gantt Chart) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

7.2 Key Milestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

8 Risks & Mitigation 5

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 8.1 Technical Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

8.2 Adoption Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

9 Conclusion & Future Scope 6

9.1 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

9.2 Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1 Executive Summary

Civic disengagement is a pervasive issue in modern urban environments. Citizens often feel discon-
nected from their local communities, and the process for reporting and resolving municipal issues—from
potholes to broken streetlights—is frequently slow, opaque, and frustrating. This leads to a cycle of ap-
athy, where residents feel their voices are unheard and their actions have no impact.

CivicOS is a revolutionary web platform designed to break this cycle. It reframes civic engagement by
transforming residents from passive reporters into active governors of their own neighborhoods. Our
platform is a self-sustaining, hyperlocal ecosystem that leverages cutting-edge technology to empower
communities to report, fund, and fix local issues directly.

At its core, CivicOS integrates four powerful concepts into one seamless experience:

1. The Living Map: A geo-social hub that goes beyond simple issue reporting to include community
storytelling, building a deep emotional investment in the local area.

2. The Fixer Marketplace: A gig marketplace that connects residents with vetted local tradespeople
to resolve issues quickly and efficiently.

3. The CivicCoin Economy: A token-based economy that rewards users for positive civic actions,
creating a circular flow of value that strengthens local businesses.

4. The Neighborhood DAO: A Decentralized Autonomous Organization that provides a framework

for true, hyperlocal democracy, allowing residents to collectively fund community improvement
projects.

Our mission is to foster self-sustaining, empowered, and connected communities. CivicOS is more than
just an app; it is a new operating system for neighborhood collaboration, designed to make our cities
more responsive, resilient, and vibrant.

2 Introduction

2.1 Problem Statement

Based on the initial ”Civic Track” problem statement, the fundamental challenge is the disconnect be-
tween citizens and the resolution of local infrastructure issues. The current process is often a one-way
street: a citizen reports a problem into a black box system and hopes for the best. This model suffers
from several critical flaws:

• Lack of Transparency: Residents have no visibility into the status or priority of their reports.

• Slow Response Times: Bureaucratic inefficiencies can cause minor issues to linger for weeks or
months.

• No Feedback Loop: The lack of communication and visible results leads to citizen frustration
and apathy.

• Wasted Community Potential: Skilled local residents and willing volunteers have no stream-
lined way to contribute.

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CivicOS directly addresses these failures by creating a transparent, community-driven, and incentivized
alternative.

2.2 Vision & Mission

Vision: To create a world where every neighborhood operates as a connected, self-reliant, and proactive
community, leveraging technology to improve the daily lives of its residents.

Mission: To provide a decentralized, rewarding, and engaging platform that empowers residents to
collectively identify, fund, and resolve local issues, fostering a stronger sense of community ownership
and pride.

2.3 Project Goals & Objectives

Our success will be measured against four primary goals:

• Goal 1: Increase Civic Engagement.

– Objective: Achieve 500+ active users and 100+ community-generated ”Story Pins” in the
pilot neighborhood within the first six months of launch.

• Goal 2: Accelerate Issue Resolution.

– Objective: Reduce the average resolution time for minor, community-funded issues (e.g.,
garbage cleanup, small repairs) by at least 75% compared to traditional municipal channels.

• Goal 3: Foster a Local Micro-Economy.

– Objective: Onboard at least 20 local businesses to accept CivicCoin and process a minimum
of 1,000 CivicCoin transactions within the first year.

• Goal 4: Demonstrate Viable Decentralized Governance.

– Objective: Successfully fund and execute at least 50 community improvement projects

through the Neighborhood DAO within the first year.

3 System Architecture & Design

3.1 High-Level Architecture

CivicOS is designed as a modern, full-stack web application with a clear separation of concerns. The
architecture ensures scalability, security, and a seamless user experience by integrating a web frontend,
a backend API, a relational database, and a decentralized blockchain layer.

3.2 Technology Stack

• Languages: JavaScript, Solidity

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 • Frontend: Next.js (React), Tailwind CSS, Mapbox GL JS, Ethers.js

• Backend: Node.js, Express.js

• Database: PostgreSQL, PostGIS

• Blockchain: Ethereum (Sepolia Testnet for development)

• Authentication: NextAuth.js

3.3 Core Components Deep Dive

3.3.1 The Living Map

The map is the heart of the user experience. The dual-pin system is crucial: ”Issue Pins” are actionable
problems, while ”Story Pins” build community narrative and positive engagement. The use of PostGIS
is non-negotiable, as its ST DWithin function is essential for efficiently querying only the pins within
a user’s 3-5 km radius, ensuring performance.

3.3.2 The Fixer Marketplace

This component bridges the gap between reporting and action. When an ”Issue Pin” is created, a trigger
in the backend automatically generates a new entry in the marketplace jobs table. Vetted ”Fixer”
users can then view and bid on these jobs, creating a competitive and efficient market for local repairs.

3.3.3 The CivicCoin Economy

This is a classic ERC-20 token with a fixed supply, governed by our CivicCoin.sol smart contract.
The backend server’s wallet is the contract owner, giving it the sole authority to mint new tokens as
rewards. This centralized minting power is crucial for controlling the economy’s inflation. All user-to-
user and user-to-business transfers are standard decentralized transactions.

3.3.4 The Neighborhood DAO

The NeighborhoodDAO.sol contract manages governance. The process is a hybrid model for effi-
ciency:

1. Off-Chain Proposal: A proposal to fund a job is created via our backend API to avoid gas fees
for simple creation.

2. On-Chain Voting: Residents cast their votes directly on the blockchain for maximum trans-
parency and security. The smart contract verifies that the voter holds CivicCoin and has not
already voted.

3. On-Chain Execution: If a vote passes, the executeProposal function transfers the agreed-
upon CivicCoin amount from the DAO’s treasury contract to the Fixer’s wallet.

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 4 Database Schema

4.1 Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD)

4.2 Table Definitions

• users: ‘id‘ (PK), ‘name‘, ‘email‘, ‘passwordh ash‘, ‘role‘, ‘walleta ddress‘, ‘walletb alancec ache‘, ‘createda t‘.pin
‘id‘(P K), ‘useri d‘(F K), ‘type‘, ‘location‘(GEOGRAP HY ), ‘title‘, ‘description‘, ‘status‘, ‘createda t‘.
• pin photos: ‘id‘ (PK), ‘pini d‘(F K), ‘imageu rl‘.issue details : ‘pini d‘(P K, F K), ‘category‘.
• businesses: ‘id‘ (PK), ‘owneri d‘(F K), ‘name‘, ‘description‘, ‘location‘.marketplace jobs : ‘id‘(P K), ‘pini d‘(F K),
• bids: ‘id‘ (PK), ‘jobi d‘(F K), ‘f ixeri d‘(F K), ‘amount‘, ‘currency‘, ‘createda t‘.dao proposals : ‘id‘(P K), ‘jobi d‘(F

5 API Specification

A RESTful API will be implemented to handle data flow. All responses are in JSON format.

Method Endpoint Description

POST /api/auth/register Register a new user.
POST /api/auth/login Log in a user and receive a JWT.
GET /api/user/me Get the current authenticated user’s profile.
GET /api/pins?lat=X&lng=Y&r=5 Get all pins within a radius of a location.
POST /api/pins Create a new Issue or Story Pin.
GET /api/pins/:id Get details for a single pin.
GET /api/marketplace Get all open jobs in the marketplace.
POST /api/marketplace/jobs/:id/bids Submit a bid for a specific job.
GET /api/dao/proposals Get all active and past DAO proposals.
POST /api/dao/proposals/:id/vote Submit a vote for a proposal.

Table 1: API Endpoints

6 User Personas & User Journeys

6.1 User Personas

• Priya, the Resident (28): A graphic designer who works from home. She is active on social me-
dia, cares about her neighborhood’s aesthetics and safety, but is too busy for traditional community
meetings. She is motivated by efficiency and seeing tangible results.
• Raj, the Fixer (45): A self-employed electrician who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years.
He is looking for local jobs to reduce travel time and wants a simple way to connect with residents
who need his skills. He is motivated by fair payment and a good reputation.
• Aisha, the Business Owner (35): The owner of a popular local coffee shop. She wants to increase
foot traffic and build loyalty with local customers. She is motivated by community marketing and
innovative ways to engage her customer base.

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6.2 End-to-End User Journey Map

This map illustrates the complete workflow of the CivicOS ecosystem.

1. Engage (Priya): Priya opens CivicOS and sees a Story Pin about a new mural, which makes her
feel good about her neighborhood.

2. Report (Priya): On her walk, she sees an overflowing garbage bin. She opens the app, creates an
”Issue Pin” with a photo in under a minute, and instantly receives 10 CivicCoin.

3. Act (Marketplace & DAO): The issue is posted to the Fixer Marketplace. Raj sees the job on his
dashboard and bids 100 CivicCoin to clean it up. A proposal is automatically created in the DAO.
Priya and other residents vote ’Yes’.

4. Fix (Raj): Raj is notified that his bid won. He goes to the location, cleans the area, and marks the
job as ”Complete” with a photo.

5. Verify & Earn (Priya & Raj): Priya gets a notification to verify the fix. She confirms the work is
done and receives 5 CivicCoin. Raj receives his payment of 100 CivicCoin plus a 50 CivicCoin
bonus for a job well done.

6. Benefit (Aisha & Priya): The next day, Priya goes to Aisha’s coffee shop. She sees a ”We Accept
CivicCoin” sign, pays for her coffee with her earned tokens, and gets a 10% discount.

7 Project Plan & Timeline

7.1 Project Phases (Gantt Chart)

7.2 Key Milestones

• Week 3: Backend API is functional with user authentication.

• Week 4: CivicCoin and DAO smart contracts are deployed and verifiable on the Sepolia testnet.

• Week 6: Users can successfully create and view Issue and Story Pins on the interactive map.

• Week 9: The full user journey from bidding on a job to voting on a proposal is functional.

• Week 12: Alpha version of CivicOS is deployed and ready for pilot testing.

8 Risks & Mitigation

8.1 Technical Risks

• Risk: High or volatile blockchain gas fees could deter users from voting.

– Mitigation: For the initial launch, we will focus on the Sepolia testnet. For a mainnet
launch, we will research and plan for a Layer 2 scaling solution (e.g., Polygon, Arbitrum) to
ensure low-cost transactions.

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 • Risk: A vulnerability is discovered in one of the smart contracts.

– Mitigation: We will strictly adhere to security best practices, use OpenZeppelin’s battle-
tested contract libraries, and budget for a professional third-party security audit before any
mainnet deployment.

• Risk: Geospatial query performance degrades as the number of pins increases.

– Mitigation: We will implement proper spatial indexing in PostGIS and introduce server-side
pin clustering to reduce the data load on the client at high zoom levels.

8.2 Adoption Risks

• Risk: Low user adoption in the pilot neighborhood (the ”cold start” problem).

– Mitigation: We will launch a targeted marketing campaign within the pilot zone, partner
with a local community leader, and offer initial CivicCoin bonuses to the first 100 residents,
10 Fixers, and 5 Businesses who sign up.

• Risk: The DAO treasury remains unfunded, preventing community action.

– Mitigation: We will actively seek a small, initial grant from the local municipal council,
a community foundation, or a corporate sponsor to seed the treasury and demonstrate the
platform’s potential.

9 Conclusion & Future Scope

9.1 Conclusion

CivicOS is more than a technological solution; it is a new model for community life. By addressing
the core inefficiencies and lack of engagement in traditional civic processes, it creates a virtuous cycle
of action, reward, and collaboration. It empowers residents, supports local businesses, and provides a
direct, transparent, and efficient path to improving the places we call home. This platform is poised to
redefine what it means to be an active member of a community in the digital age.

9.2 Future Scope

Upon successful implementation of the core platform, our vision for the future of CivicOS includes:

• Native Mobile Applications: Dedicated iOS and Android apps for an enhanced user experience,
featuring push notifications for real-time alerts on votes and job opportunities.

• Deeper Municipal Integration: Developing official APIs to allow ”Track One” issue reports to
flow directly into city work order systems, making CivicOS a valuable data source for municipal
planning.

• Advanced DAO Capabilities: Expanding the DAO’s scope to allow residents to propose and
fund a wider range of community projects, such as planting a community garden, organizing a
neighborhood festival, or commissioning a public mural.

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• Data Analytics Dashboard: Creating a powerful dashboard for admins and community leaders
to visualize trends in issue reporting, track the flow of the CivicCoin economy, and measure the
platform’s impact on community well-being.