The Challenge

Residents know their neighbourhood better than the people who plan it. They see the dark underpass, the overflowing bins and the broken bench every day, but one email to the municipality reads as one person’s opinion. Complaints stay scattered, so planners cannot tell which problems affect many people and which affect a few. Without a shared, visible record of what residents want fixed, decisions about public space rest on guesses, and residents often see no result from reporting.

The solution

Zichtbaar is a map-based reporting platform. A resident photographs something that bothers them, pins it to a shared map, and neighbours vote on it. When a report passes a threshold, it goes to the municipality or another responsible party. Many reports about the same place add up to a collective signal instead of a single complaint. The municipality also gets a geolocated picture of what residents want fixed first. We are building a prototype and plan to pilot it in one Rotterdam neighbourhood.

Mission

Make what residents see in their neighbourhood visible to the people who can change it.