SuperBARRIO is a video game that boosts participatory design processes. Developed as an open source video game for smartphones and tablets, it is a tool for architects and public entities to engage the citizens in the design of public space, to educate in sustainability and inclusiveness, and to collect data about the citizen’s needs, desires and proposals.
SuperBARRIO is a flexible tool that can be applied to the different neighbourhoods. Pilot projects have been developed for the Superilla Pilot Barcelona and for the Gavoglio area in Genoa, Italy.
Citizens who are not specialists, architects or designers do have a tool today to design and visualise a proposal for the urban space. SuperBARRIO allows the user to visualise the neighbourhood in 3 dimensions and then modify it, adding elements, functions, and services for the public space, in relation to the topics of ecology, energy, mobility, leisure and culture.
Each player can make a design proposal and visualise its impact, receiving a score about the categories of accessibility, economy, productivity, ecology and social interaction. The player can, therefore, understand the level of complexity of each decision related to the urban space and the different needs related to different functions.
The application collects the data of each session in a server, building a database about the citizen’s desires, needs and proposal and allowing the data visualisation and analytics in a dashboard, accessible to citizens, architects and public entities.
SuperBARRIO can be downloaded on Android tablets and smartphones through the Google Play Store and allow to open the participatory process to more users than conventional analogic methodologies.
SuperBARRIO BCN has been, until now, tested with neighbours involved thanks to the collaboration of Poble Nou Urban District, the local association Col·lectiu Superilla Poblenou and the Ersilia Foundation for the school 4 Cantons. The data collected can be visualised on the dashboard webpage.
SuperBARRIO is a flexible and customisable tool, open to the application in different contexts. It is as simple as changing the urban 3D model. Rules, score logic and data collection are all the same. It has been applied in Genoa in the Gavoglio project, in collaboration with the Casa Gavoglio association and UniGE.