Research & Evidence Base
Background for the design. A figure on this page is limited to what a public source supports. Nothing here means a currency, a contract, or a marketplace is live.
The city we're building for, in numbers
Before the case studies: the City of Chicago's own published figures, computed live from the 77 community areas. This is the landscape CUHS is designed for.
$21,323
Median per-capita income across the 77 areas
Near North Side ($88,669) to Riverdale ($8,201)
16.4 years
Life-expectancy gap between two Chicago neighborhoods
Near North Side: 85.2 yrs · West Garfield Park: 68.8 yrs (2010)
98 / 100
Hardship index in Riverdale, the city's highest
Least hardship: Near North Side at 1. Median: 50.
56.5%
Households below poverty in Riverdale
Lowest rate: Edison Park at 3.3%. Median: 18.9%.
One city, two realities
Per-capita income in Near North Side and Riverdale, drawn to the same zero baseline. This gap — not any token mechanic — is why CUHS exists.
Near North Side has a per-capita income of $88,669; Riverdale has $8,201.
Source: Chicago Data Portal — Selected socioeconomic indicators by community area. Figures are the city's published values per community area.
Grassroots Economics — Kenya Community Currencies
Grassroots Economics has run community currencies in Kenya since 2010, including the Sarafu network. A 2022 Scientific Data paper records about 55,000 Sarafu accounts and their transactions from January 2020 through June 2021.
Key Takeaway
The public record cited here is an account and transaction dataset for that window.
Why This Matters for CUHS
cUHSD is designed as a utility-first currency for a marketplace that is not live. Buying products, booking services, and attending events do not use cUHSD today.
Chiemgauer — Germany's Regional Currency
The Chiemgauer has circulated in Bavaria since 2003. Holders pay a periodic fee so notes stay valid, which is meant to encourage spending in the region. The fee and the measured circulation have changed over time.
Key Takeaway
A holding fee is meant to encourage spending nearby. The published circulation comparison changes by year.
Why This Matters for CUHS
CUHS plans achievement-level discounts and reward multipliers to incentivize participation and circulation — a design goal, not a live earning program.
CityCoins — Post-Mortem Analysis
MiamiCoin launched in 2021, and NYCCoin followed. The mayors of Miami and New York spoke in support. Later reporting described both coins trading far below their peaks. In March 2023, the exchange that listed them stopped trading both, citing low liquidity. Miami reported receiving funds from the program. The coins were not a claim on city services.
Key Takeaway
A mayor's support did not make these coins a working local currency.
Why This Matters for CUHS
CUHS design rule: every planned token must have defined utility (marketplace, vault data, or governance) — no speculation-only tokens. This is a design constraint, not a claim that tokens are live.
Terra/UST — Collapse Analysis
In May 2022, TerraUSD lost the peg it was supposed to hold near one dollar, and the related LUNA asset fell over several days. The design tried to hold that peg by minting and burning LUNA. A bitcoin reserve was spent defending the peg and did not hold it.
Key Takeaway
A peg that depends on minting another asset failed here, even after a reserve was spent to defend it.
Why This Matters for CUHS
The planned cUHSD design uses a multi-collateral vault model (USDC, DAI, and eventually real-world assets) with a target minimum 150% collateral ratio and circuit breakers — avoiding algorithmic-only pegs. Not deployed yet.
Chicago Data Portal — Oracle Data Sources
The City of Chicago publishes open data for all 77 community areas. The HealthScore on this site is an off-chain snapshot of some of that data. It is not a blockchain, and it is not a real-time feed.
Key Takeaway
Real, verifiable, publicly auditable data creates trustworthy oracles.
Why This Matters for CUHS
The off-chain snapshot on this site scores each community area from published feeds and leaves out a feed it cannot compute. DAO completion is one of those feeds, and it is unavailable because no area DAO is live. The page reads a file shipped with the site. It is not an on-chain oracle.
Bernard Lietaer — Complementary Currency Theory
Economist Bernard Lietaer (1942-2019) spent 30 years researching complementary currencies. His work demonstrated that communities with diverse currency systems are more resilient to economic shocks — similar to how biodiversity strengthens ecosystems.
Key Takeaway
Monetary monocultures are fragile. Complementary currencies build resilience.
Why This Matters for CUHS
CUHS is not designed to replace the US dollar — it complements it. Planned cUHSD would create a parallel local circuit while connecting to the broader financial system. Dual-economy resilience is the goal, not a present claim.
Sources for the design
The whitepaper is a design document. The case studies above are background, and they are not a live product.