Co-Designing Intelligent Neighbourhood Technologies with Young People to Support Communality in Nordic Superblocks

Abstract

As cities explore intelligent technologies to support urban living, youth perspectives remain underrepresented in design processes despite their role as future residents. This study explores how young people (aged 13-17) envision intelligent technologies that support neighbourhood communality in the emerging Nordic Superblock urban model. Through four co-design workshops, we investigated youth perspectives on shared spaces, social interaction, and community participation, applying a multi-level framework of micro-, macro-, and meta-level considerations. The findings highlight youth's expectations for intelligent technologies that organise and optimise shared space use, facilitate social interaction, and support collective decision-making, such as planning of shared spaces. The study identifies concerns regarding privacy, inclusivity, and over-reliance on AI. The study presents four initial technology concepts for advancing communality, ranging from AI-facilitated shared dining to organising events and space use. This paper contributes to ubiquitous technology design understanding by foregrounding youth perspectives to community-centric intelligent neighbourhood technologies that can support residents' wellbeing.