Public conversation

From the Senseable Archives

This week, we’re revisiting Underworlds, a project that explores how sensing technologies can transform wastewater into a rich source of data on urban health.

Every day, our sewer systems carry more than waste, they carry signals that can help ...researchers monitor health patterns and detect disease outbreaks earlier. By looking beneath the surface, Underworlds reimagines wastewater as a tool for understanding urban health at the city scale. 

What could your city’s wastewater reveal?

🔗 Learn more through the link in our bio.
#throwbackfriday

Innovation doesn’t stop at one city. Neither do we. 

The MIT Senseable City Lab’s Global Labs connect researchers, industry, and governments around the world to tackle urban challenges through data, AI, and design.

 📍 Cambridge, USA
 📍 Amsterdam, Netherlands
 📍 ...Dubai, UAE
 📍 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
 📍 Seoul, South Korea

Each lab brings local expertise to global challenges, from mobility and climate resilience to urban AI and digital infrastructure, while contributing to a shared vision for the future of cities.

🔗 Explore our global network through the link in our bio.

Visit the MIT Senseable City Lab 

Curious about our research? Stop by our lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where our team explores how AI, data, and technology can help shape more sustainable, resilient, and human-centered cities.

 MIT Building W41 (Metropolitan Warehouse)
 ...Just a short walk from Kendall/MIT Station

Whether you’re a prospective researcher, collaborator, student, or simply interested in our work, we’d love to connect.

🔗 Learn more about our research, opportunities, and upcoming projects through the link in our bio.

Join the MIT Senseable City Lab.

We’re building the future of cities through data, AI, design, and technology.

 5 global labs
 4 continents
 180+ projects
 600+ publications

Ready to make an impact?
🔗 Visit the link in our bio to learn more.

🌍 We’re honored that the Senseable City Global Labs have received an Honorable Mention in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards, recognizing bold initiatives addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Built on collaborations between MIT researchers and city ...partners in Amsterdam, Dubai, Rio de Janeiro, and Seoul, our Global Labs bring cutting-edge scientific methods directly to urban challenges. By combining local expertise with innovative research, our Global Labs serve as living models to test and develop new ways to understand and improve cities worldwide.

Thank you to our partners at AMS Institute, Dubai Future Foundation, Seoul AI Foundation, and Rio’s Secretary of Science and Technology for making this work possible.
#SenseableCityLab #GlobalLabs #WorldChangingIdeas #MIT #UrbanInnovation

Global Labs Lead: Martina Mazzarello
Senseable City Amsterdam Lead: Titus Venverloo
Senseable City Dubai Lead: Alaa AlRadwan
Senseable City Rio Lead: Cassiano Bastos Moroz
Senseable City Seoul Lead: Suzan Ayas

A decade in and we’re just getting started.
We’re proud to continue our collaboration with @ams_institute, building on years of joint research—including the iconic @roboat.tech project, now its own startup—as we head into the next five years of big ideas, big data, and urban ...innovation.

#amsterdam #researchcommunity #mit

The MIT Senseable City Lab is co-hosting a biodiversity mapping event at Carré Laval, the future site of a new urban park & innovation area 🌎. We’re looking for Canada-based volunteers to help crowdsource data on local plants & insects using the ObsIdentify app.

Please sign ...up here: forms.gle/HtgwZqLQbfnsC6sCA, or scan the QR below.

Friday, Sept 26 2025
Two sessions: 10:30–12:00 & 2:30–4:00 (join one or both!)
Bring your smartphone with ObsIdentify installed

Come explore, document, and shape the future of this green space with us!

#volunteers #laval #biodiversity #urbanpark

The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, "Intelligens: Natural, Artificial and Collective" invites visitors to confront the planet's future—one maze-like installation at a time as described by The New York Times OpEd "Searching for Meaning Amid the Jumble, at the Venice ...Architecture Biennale".

Read the full article at the link in our bio. @labiennale #labiennaledivenezia

There is a strong Senseable presence at the 19th International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management in London! Here, a few former Senseables grabbed dinner post-conference. Great to see so many of our Labbies together!

Left to right: Maosu, Winston, Rohit, Tom, ...Cate, Arianna, Yuan, and Minwook, who is not SCL, but MIT LCAU!

#community #CUPUM #alumni #urbanplannjng #MIT

Senseable City Amsterdam and @ams_institute are representing at Amsterdam Innovation Day!

Stop by Marineterrein today between 2:00-5:00, say hello 👋 and celebrate 750 years of Amsterdam 🇳🇱

#futurefest #amsterdam #innovation

The 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Carlo Ratti, opened to the public over the weekend.

We’re excited to share a little behind the scenes of the work that went into bringing Senseable’s Data Clouds ☁️ and Re-Leaf 🌳 exhibitions to... life.

Special thanks to our collaborators at @mit @harvardgsd @journeydotworld and beyond!
@labiennale

#biennalearchitettura2025 #MIT #harvardgsd #intelligens #labiennaledivenezia #urban #innovation

🍃Re-Leaf🍃 transforms tree distribution data in Amsterdam, Dubai, Los Angeles, and Rome, into dynamic “green skyscrapers”: physical models that allow visitors to intuitively compare vegetation density across very different climates and urban forms.

We are excited to see this ...exhibition come to life in just about a week!

#vegetation #urbangreenery #BiennaleArchitettura2025 #venicebiennale

DUSP Students of class 11.320 taught by Fábio Duarte and Simone Mora presented their solutions to tackle urban heat in the city of #Rome to personnel of the U.S. Embassy to Italy @ambasciatausa and officers of Carabinieri Command of the Forest, Environmental and Agri-food units ...@carabinieri.forestali. SCL would like to thank Cultural Attaché Karen Schinnerer and Cultural Program Coordinator Tiziana Candiloro for their hospitality and the U.S. Mission to Italy’s 2024 Annual Program Statement (APS) for financial support.

Congratulations to these students whose last day of class was today! 🎉

#senseableabroad #urbanheat #MIT #dusp

Blending physical and digital experiences, ☁Data Clouds☁ challenges audiences to rethink these communities—not as marginalized spaces, but as vital, evolving environments born from human resilience and ingenuity.

#urbanresilience #community #BiennaleArchitettura2025 #venicebiennale

🌼 Spring is in full swing, and Amsterdam is buzzing with life! Today, we're testing our brand-new biodiversity sensor—a prototype designed to capture data on urban ecology, with a special focus on detecting insect species as key indicators of urban health 🐝🐛🦋

...#urbanecology #buggingamsterdam #urbansensing #spring #biodiversity

Based off research in collaboration with MIT CSAIL, experience Re-Leaf 🌿🌳 at #BiennaleArchitettura2025 where AI meets #urbanforests. The exhibition transforms tree distribution data in Amsterdam, Dubai, Los Angeles, and Rome, into dynamic "green skyscrapers” for guests to discover how ...trees cool #cities, shape #microclimates, and become #green infrastructure for a more resilient future.

Where tech meets resilience, and every point tells a story. ✨ #DataClouds is an immersive exhibit that reveals the complex hidden geometry of Rio’s Vidigal #favela. As part of our Lab’s mission in Rio—a first of its kind in South America—this project is a step toward using advanced tech ...to better understand and support informal communities. SCL and our partner @journeydotworld are proud to bring this unseen city to life at #BiennaleArchitettura2025.

#LiDAR #urbanAI

#Biophilia refers to the benefits that contact with #nature brings to humans.

But, do we all value nature the same way across the globe? 🌎

Feeling Nature explores this question. We trained a visual AI model on street view imagery and survey responses from eight cities across ...different biomes—revealing how people perceive and prioritize nature in their environments. 

#urbandata #feelingnature #urbanstudies #visualAI

🗣️ Calling all Dutch Students‼️

We are redefining summer school! 😎 MIT Senseable City Amsterdam Lab invites you to attend our 3-day event exploring new ways to perceive and plan for urban ecology.

Who: Dutch Students (BSc, Mac, PhD)
When: August 25–27, 2025
... Location: AMS Institute, Amsterdam
Registration: This is a ✨FREE💫 event. Register by June 10, 2025—first-come, first-served.

🌍 Design 4 Emergency: Crafting Container-Based Solutions for Crisis Response 🌱

Join us for this day workshop in collaboration with the University of Twente. This unique IAP workshop dives into the challenges, opportunities, and social justice dimensions of container-based designs in ...emergency scenarios.

Through a social justice game and hands-on workshop focused on Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, you’ll explore how climate change, urban overcrowding, and global travel intensify crises—and learn how to design meaningful, impactful solutions for informal settlements worldwide.

📅 When: January 23, 2025, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
📍 Where: DUSP, 9-255 City Arena
📝 Apply by: January 21, 2025 (a 200-word motivation statement is required)

Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to solutions that address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Apply now via this link: forms.gle/hNhd9jvi1pu4x3k88

Let’s shape the future, one container at a time! 🌟 #IAP2025 #SenseableCity #HumanitarianEngineering #SocialJustice

✨Exciting news! ✨
Join us for the Senseable Forum on Future Cities at MIT, where we explore the intersection of proximity and the built environment.

🤔How does physical space shape our connections and our health?

Don’t miss out—registration is OPEN! Link to ...register in our Bio.


#BeingPhysical #ProximityMatters #ForumOnFutureCities

Researchers from DUSP’s Senseable City Lab and the Sustainable Urbanization Lab met to collaborate at Tsinghua Univerisity! From left to right:
Yan Yao (SCL), Yinjing Huang (SCL), Pei Zhao (SCL), Fábio Duarte (SCL/SUL), Lei Dong (SCL/SUL), Jinghao Wang (SUL), and Fan Zhang (SCL).

...We just love a mini reunion 🤝

#senseablecitylab #sustainableurbanization #mit #mitdusp #dusp #tsinghuauniversity #urbanstudies #urbanplanning #futurecities #urban #urbandata #bigdata #futurecities