Web 2.0 for the urban poor

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Web 2.0 for the urban poor

While Intel and the $100 laptop are joining forces to bring technology to the poor, a free, web-based network is tapping into the collective intelligence of the web to improve living conditions in urban slums.

The Open Architecture Network, profiled this week by BusinessWeek, is part database of architectural projects, part design tool, and part community, established by architect-cum-activist Cameron Sinclair to provide better design solutions for low-cost housing.

To Sinclair, "The one-size-fits-all solution for low-cost housing has failed a million times".

With 1.3 million visitors in June and boasting 5,700 members, the OAN helps architects share knowledge and gain feedback on design proposals.

Sinclair explains: "An architect may put up a design for a project in Sri Lanka and someone with experience there will say, 'You're dealing with a Malai Muslim population, and that design is never going to work. Here's my advice….'"

Here the Web 2.0's cocktail of collaborative technologies is not just a platform for getting chummy with old schoolfriends - it can also have a potentially radical influence on business and industry practices.

Image: Jakarta slum life courtesy of Wikimedia

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