ArkiCity

ArkiCity is no longer available! After many years and projects, we've decided to retire the app for now. If you're still interested in ArkiCity or have any questions, feel free to write us an email at mail@arkilab.dk

ArkiCity is a smartphone application that allows everyone to engage in the transformation of their city. By taking a picture, making a collage and uploading it on the web, ideas of improvement are gathered on a single platform where people can interact and elaborate. ArkiCity will allow citizens to contribute to the (re)design of their neighbourhood in a playful and exciting way. Individuals will be able to download and use the app to create and share their vision of a more liveable public space, street or precinct.

Democratic urban design
ArkiCity provides a digital space, where citizens share local knowledge and ideas on how to improve spaces around their city. Differing from traditional community meetings, the application allows everyone to engage in the transformation of their cities, merging bottom-up and top-down approaches. ArkiCity derives originally from another app initiative called CoCityApp, developed by arki_tools. It incorporates similar core values and innovative approach to citizen involvement in city planning. The main idea behind ArkiCity is that it helps identify the critical problems or needed improvements within the city through giving the spotlight to the citizens, the ones who use the city the most. Through giving them the power to address the issues cities face today and tomorrow, the app moves the strength from the decision-makers’ table out into the streets, ensuring a more efficient and direct view into the urban life.

Involvement in the digital age
Traditional methods in urban planning are slowly becoming obsolete, giving way to innovative and alternative approaches. At the same time, involving the users in the urban planning processes is gaining unprecedented importance. The power of ArkiCity lies in its ability to convert local knowledge into data regarding the conditions of the city, through the eyes of the citizens. This data then could raise awareness in areas that need attention. The app aims to completely change the traditional process of urban design and development, acting as a bridge between citizens and decision-makers. This process would set a whole new scene for the future development of our urban context; a future where bottom-up and top-down planning, pixels and participants work hand in hand in co-creating the urban landscape.

To learn more about the possibilities of ArkiCity, read the package document here.