A city is deceptively simple. You flip a switch, and the lights come on. You turn a faucet, and water flows. You tap “buy,” and a package lands at your door. Usually, we don’t think about how these systems work, who keeps them running, or how we interact with them…it all feels effortless. But behind each of those ordinary moments are invisible systems and the people who keep them running.

From 99% Invisible and Campside Media, Service Request is a new series that starts small: a call to 311, a traffic jam, a single flipped switch. We then zoom out, tracing that moment through the networks that keep a city running. Once you see the system, you’ll understand your city, and how to navigate it, in a whole new way.

Submit your Service Request by recording a voice memo with your question and emailing it to servicerequest@99pi.org.

Service Request is a production of 99% Invisible & Campside Media.