ParticipAIte is a speculative installation that explores how AI can be harnessed to enhance citizen participation in urban planning while addressing concerns about AI’s potential to undermine trust in public institutions.
The interactive installation combines three prototypes—Talk2, Under the Loop, and kAIte—that capture and represent citizen-generated data in a narrative and qualitatively rich format. The installation aims to highlight the flow of citizen-generated data from neighbourhood buzz into a high-stakes municipal board room. ParticipAIte uses Rotterdam as an experimental site. By 2070, parts of Rotterdam will experience frequent flooding caused by rising sea levels and intense heavy rainfall events. The installation presents the dilemmas of people living in a Rotterdam neighbourhood grappling with an uncertain future for their community.
With a speculative design approach, ParticipAIte invites participants to discuss and debate the potential and risks of AI-enabled participatory tools in urban decision-making.
The installation was exhibited at the CCmCC Art-Science Festival in Hamburg, Germany (2023).
Project leaders: Juliana Gonçalves (Urbanism, BK, TU Delft) and Carissa Champlin (Human-Centered Design, IDE, TU Delft).
Design team: Betsie Loeffen, Joris Dietz, Juwe van Vliet, Robin Smits, Charlotte De Jonghe, Kumsal Kurt, Sander Aalbers, Yara Boom, Maartje Roggeveen, Valentina Guadagno, Virginita Facciotto, Ryan Tsai.
Desigh coach: Tomasz Jaśkiewicz (Human-Centered Design, IDE, TU Delft).
The project received support from the TU Delft Climate Action Program and the Resilient Delta Initiative.
Juliana Gonçalves 