Deep listening involves building understanding of collective narratives that are operating in a city or region, i.e. the underlying values and behaviors, as well as the emerging needs and challenges, so that strategic decisions made by governments and with other stakeholders are well aligned with citizens' perceptions.

The Deep Listening process aims to be an ongoing and iterative listening system that generates information in real time about the perceptions of communities while responding to ongoing initiatives and changes. Deep listening includes a set of qualitative tools which, complemented by quantitative data, can reveal a community's narratives in depth and create conditions for ongoing and more meaningful community engagement systems in cities.