Cities from across the world are successfully implementing innovative projects aimed at addressing both interculturalism, inclusion and circularity, ranging from migrant-led community cafés to recycling shops that transform waste to overarching urban planning initiatives that transform the physical structure of the city itself.

In 2014, the then mayor of Barcelona committed the city to be the first ‘Fab City’ and challenged the other leaders of the world to develop a new urban model. A model where cities enable the return of local manufacture to produce everything the city consumes locally by 2054, while sharing knowledge globally. It is an ‘DIY’ urban future that is accessible, inclusive, and as open source as possible.

The Fab City hereby supports the development of a connected but distributed network of maker’s spaces (also known as Fab Labs) where communities are given access to the means of production; everyone can design, manufacture and learn using small affordable digital machine tools (e.g. 3D printer) and learn from other makers. The idea is to be able to provide citizens with all the resources they need without compromising the planet’s ecosystems.

Home to one of the leading laboratories of the worldwide Fab Labs network, over the last decade, Fab Lab Barcelona has helped people around the world to locally conceptualise, design, develop and manufacture – with a focus on truly world-changing technologies. Based in the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), the centre combines innovation, participation, digital manufacturing, technology, and creation. The Fab City project in Barcelona plans to open several fab labs, at least one in every district, over the next few years.