CALL TO ACTION We need your input,

Consider Toronto’s trajectory, evolving from “Muddy York” to a city bigger than Chicago a mere 180 years after its incorporation in March 1834. A mostly Anglo population of just 9,250 rose to a diverse assemblage of 2.8 million. And it didn’t happen by accident. People came here from virtually every nation on Earth because Toronto made itself one of the most inviting places on the planet.

The city’s remarkable past offers the best evidence of its potential for future greatness. But there’s something missing. There’s no clear vision of what Toronto will look like, even a decade from now, apart from being more crowded, gridlocked and divided.

Like a gold medal marathon runner grown fat and out of breath, this once-triumphant city is staggering forward. Call it a loss of optimism, a lack of confidence, a dearth of energy or a failure of trust in civic leadership — what it adds up to is municipal malaise.

The cure is a fresh injection of inspiration, and that comes through bold ideas and shrewd innovation. With that in mind, the Star has designated 2014 as its Year of the Idea. In coming months this newspaper will canvass everyone from learned academics to concerned residents in search of fresh vision for this city and practical ways to mend its tattered urban fabric.

Consider it our version of crowdsourcing; looking to the community at large and asking all concerned about Toronto’s future to contribute their perspectives.

The Star isn’t acting alone. The Martin Prosperity Institute is adding its weight to this campaign as one of the world’s leading think-tanks on city-regions. So is Evergreen CityWorks, a non-profit organization dedicated to urban innovation. Our shared goal is to foster stimulating ideas to get Toronto moving again.

Aseries of articles will put those concepts into print and before the public, with a selection of the best combined into one package to be published before the Oct. 27 municipal election.

There’s much to discuss in light of the profound challenges confronting this city. Ever-worsening gridlock robs commuters of precious time and steals billions of dollars from the economy each year. Toronto’s infrastructure is visibly crumbling, the gap between rich and poor is growing and the middle class feels besieged.

Many of these problems are deep-rooted, reflecting trends originating far beyond Toronto’s municipal borders. And there isn’t a great deal of money available to spend on solutions, given limits to what Toronto can raise through property tax and with Ottawa and Queen’s Park still mired in deficit.

But frugality need not be a barrier to innovation. Indeed, it could be quite the opposite. As Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, famously said: “One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.”

There’s no reason Toronto couldn’t do just that. It’s not a futile quest. This city is no stranger to innovation — it’s Canada’s creative capital. And the dawn of the 21st century is a time of immense transformation. A digital revolution has profoundly altered the workplace. And that’s likely to continue as developments in nanotechnology make computing faster, cheaper and capable of doing more than ever.

Will this trend reach the point where it makes economic sense to put everyone online, including society’s poorest? Will more workers find it effective to telecommute, easing gridlock?

How might Big Data change delivery of public service? An increasing ability to mine information from the massive databases generated by modern society could result in more targeted and effective programs, especially for people in need. Thoughts are needed on exactly how to do that.

This is just an inkling of potential new developments and avenues to explore. Ideas are required — your ideas — to produce real progress. Toronto’s revival is up to us.

Many problems are deep-rooted. The cure is a fresh injection of inspiration, and that comes through bold ideas and shrewd innovation