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Laia Project responds to the gentrification of cities like Barcelona, focusing on preserving local knowledge. As cities globalize, communities weaken, covered by a focus on productivity. Online platforms replace traditional networks, taking the role of local institutions. Globalized media fuses cultural tastes, risking the loss of local identity.
Laia addresses these challenges by empowering communities to reconnect and engage in neighborhood initiatives. By utilizing technology mindfully, the project transforms it into a tool for collective intelligence. By tackling the root causes of neighborhood disconnection, Laia aims to create more resilient, sustainable, and equitable communities.
The Laia project started with a machine that asked people: “What would you say to your city?”. As the prototype progressed, we enabled transcribing user responses. To improve, we focused on defining Barcelona’s voice, starting with the neighborhood of El Clot. Akasha Hub, a community in El Clot, provided essential references and became our first collaborator.
We are reaching out to associations of El Clot while developing Laia. Laia’s third version included an online form for residents to share their knowledge, ensuring answers incorporated collective wisdom.
Currently, we conduct workshops with the community, gathering feedback to shape Laia’s future versions. Our ongoing engagement aims to refine Laia and better serve the neighborhood’s needs.
Until beggining of 2025, we plan on expanding Laia with El Clot community to gain local recognition and become a reference for everyone. We aim to build a final prototype that can be used in the public space without supervision.
Looking ahead on the long term, we envision the project evolving into a scalable platform that can be implemented in diverse urban contexts around the world. We would like to create a “Laia Guide” to collect and group all the steps we have done with the project in El Clot and make the project open source.