CS Student Builds AI Civic Issue Mapper to Track and Route Public Complaints

A computer science student developed a web platform called AI Civic Issue Mapper, allowing citizens to report civic problems such as potholes, garbage dumping, and broken streetlights using photos, GPS data, and descriptions. Built with Python Flask, MySQL, and JavaScript, the system automatically routes complaints to relevant departments, detects duplicates, and tracks resolution status. The project also includes a public transparency page where anyone can view complaint statistics without logging in, and was successfully deployed online. Throughout development, the student encountered real-world challenges including backend-database integration, authentication, email delivery, and deployment inconsistencies that tutorials had not prepared them for. The experience highlighted how building a functional application requires understanding how all system components interact, not just knowing individual technologies in isolation.