Develop new knowledge, methods, and tools that increase understanding of Rio's physical, digital, natural, and social environments.
The MIT Senseable City Lab, in collaboration with the Secretary of Science and Technology of the City of Rio de Janeiro, is launching the Senseable City Rio (SCR). This is the first Lab of its kind in South America and will serve as a testbed for urban projects implementing technologies such as visual artificial intelligence to study informal settlements—e.g. the Favelas in Rio—and to offer solutions that improve the community’s life.
MIT Senseable City has been at the forefront of developing AI models based on urban imagery, leveraging the power of computer vision, laser scanning, and remote sensing.
Evidence-based policy is gaining traction globally. We believe that policy decisions should be informed by empirical data from each community, which would lead to data-driven solutions.
Data can also be generated by deploying an array of sensors with specific intent. Embedding technology into the urban environment can yield robust and fine-grained data to reveal humanity’s fingerprint.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the most vibrant cities in the world; but like every metropolis, it faces many urban challenges. One of them is access to housing for hundreds of thousands of people who live in informal settlements, called favelas. Based on an original idea by Washington Fajardo during the Favelas 4D project, the focus of Senseable City Rio will be to use technology to map some of Rio’s favelas providing tools to their communities and city planners.
How to mathematically describe the complexity of informal settlements to pinpoint areas affected by natural disasters?
What are the minimum interventions required to improve air circulation in favelas to nurture healthier environments?
How could we turn laser-scanning point clouds into blockchains to promote land tenure in the digital era?
April, 2021
Rio de Janeiro
By using laser scanning technology (Lidar), we perform morphometric analysis of favelas in Rio to reveal hidden dimensions of informal settlements.
August, 2024
Rio de Janeiro
MIT and academic and community partners, led by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, meet to launch the lab and define the research strategy.
Senseable City Lab
Carlo Ratti
Director
Fábio Duarte
Principal Research Scientist
Martina Mazzarello
Global Labs Lead
Chang Liu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Washington Fajardo
Research Advisor
We have several open positions in our newly-opened Senseable City Rio, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We encourage applications from minorities and other under-represented groups. Apply today and join us in our mission of making cities more diverse and inclusive.
For detailed information and all open positions, please visit senseable.mit.edu