LocalLife

A key aspect of a socially sustainable society is to increase social capital by creating trust, participation, and belonging in local areas. This can be achieved by increasing contact areas and information sharing that facilitates everyday life and creates security and togetherness. One option is to use local virtual networks, such as Facebook or similar.

The LocalLife project is an innovative communication platform for people in local communities, for example a city district. Pilot studies were conducted in Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm Royal Seaport, Storsudret on the island of Gotland and Ebbepark in Linköping.

Purpose and goal

The overall purpose of the project is to create a digital platform for residents in a community that enables the sharing of information and services between neighbours.

Results and experiences

The project started with a study where focus groups in Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm were used to develop requirements for the service. The option of using Facebook groups or similar platforms was investigated. The feasibility studies resulted in the creation of a local virtual network, LocalLife.

LocalLife is designed to be based on trust and the understanding that each user uses their real name, which is verified. Through LocalLife, it is possible to obtain feedback from residents, increase commitment to environmental issues in the area, and develop a digital tool that enables and facilitates communication.

The service is divided into three geographical levels: tenant-owner association/property, neighbourhood, and local community.

Information is then divided into seven categories: general, local events, polls, recommendations, neat and tidy, lost and found, and donated and sold. Each local community may also form its own groups depending on areas of interest, such as running clubs, night walking, or bridge clubs. Urgent messages in emergency situations can be posted as push notifications or text messages. It will also be possible for authorities, municipalities, and associations and companies to create accounts to disseminate information. The pilot studies were conducted in Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm Royal Seaport, Storsudret on Gotland and Ebbepark in Linköping. Five hundred people in Stockholm Royal Seaport have signed up and use the service.

LocalLife was further developed through the RE3 project and has evolved into Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Stockholm Royal Seaport, which aims to demonstrate how a new type of IoT-based infrastructure for the waste industry - recycling, reuse, and sharing economy - can be scaled up at the district level.

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