City Science Hands-ON: Urban Prototyping Across Latin America

August 24, 2026 · Museo de Ciencias Ambientales, Guadalajara, Mexico
Part of Hábitat LATAM 2026

City Science Hands-ON brought together students, city representatives, multilateral organizations, and the City Science Network for an intensive day of collaborative urban prototyping in Guadalajara.

Working across social, territorial, and technological dimensions, eleven interdisciplinary teams addressed challenges brought by eleven participating governments and territories in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Cuba, and Honduras. The workshop connected local urban knowledge with the City Science approach: bringing data, modeling, design, technology, and participation together to help communities explore more informed and inclusive futures.

The day combined hands-on team work, mentoring, peer exchange, and City Science Talks. It was preceded by a Google for Education workshop, Mastering Gemini in Hackathons, supporting participants in the responsible and effective use of generative AI during the prototyping process.

The resulting concepts and prototypes form an open repository of urban ideas and establish a basis for continued exchange and follow-up with MIT and the City Science Network.

By the numbers

• 1 Google for Education workshop: Mastering Gemini in Hackathons
• 2 faculty members in artificial intelligence and rapid prototyping
• 71 certified students
• 66 participating students, organized across social, territorial, and technological dimensions
• 11 interdisciplinary teams
• 11 participating territories and governments
• 11 City Science Network experts, connecting Boston, Gipuzkoa, Hamburg, San Francisco, and Guadalajara
• Representatives from nine multilateral organizations, including UN-Habitat, UN Women, IOM, UNHCR, UNDP, UNICEF, OCR, the Inter-American Development Bank, and ICLEI
• 1 open repository of urban prototypes
• Continued follow-up with MIT

Participating governments and territories

Sincé, Colombia; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Rionegro, Colombia; Vicuña, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ixtlán del Río, Mexico; Medellín, Colombia; Havana, Cuba; Honduras; Zapopan, Mexico; and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Participants

City Science Network
Kent Larson; Sergio Roldán; Martín Andrade; Zuriñe Varela; Mayra Gamboa; Sophie Naue; Peter Hirshberg; Luis Alonso-Pastor; Mario Siller; Carlos Vega; Gerardo Mendizábal; Laura Salas.

UN and multilateral organizations
Fernanda Lonardoni; Teresa Guerra; Daniela Núñez; Jazmín Guillén; Nancy Estrada; Jesús Pacheco; Eduardo Lugo; Jessica Braver; Patricio O’Valle; Edgar Villaseñor.

Government representatives
Andrés Aldana (Sincé); Vincent O’Halloran (Puerto Vallarta); Martha Padilla (Atotonilco); Jorge H. Rivas (Rionegro); Rafael Vera (Vicuña); Elisa Rocca (Buenos Aires); Luis Manuel Robles (Ixtlán del Río); Juliana Cardona (Medellín); Raúl Acosta G. (Havana); César Gonzáles (Honduras); Mario Silva (Guadalajara); Estefanía Juárez (Zapopan).

Student participants — Social dimension
Mónica Flores; Andrea Alemán; Marlene Castillo; Nohemí Arellano; Edith Núñez; Hugo Castillo; Mónica Rubio; Brandown Díaz; Gael Aguilar; Mario Jaimes; Sergio Román; Gisselle Reyes; Alondra Arreguín; Angélica Solís; Alberto González; Felipe Rico; Emiliano Gutiérrez; Victoria Estrada; Carlos Maguey; Javier Flores; Inti Castellanos; Alondra Fong; Fabián Cedillo; Luis Ibarra.

Student participants — Territorial dimension
Perla Contreras; Miguel González; Daniela Macías; Nayeli Tejeda; Danae Zamora; Raúl Agraz; Ignacio Landeros; Sofía Rebollar; Cecilia Gutiérrez; Erika Carreón; Martha Luna; Janeth López; Yoav Jiménez; Rubén Blasco; Christian Flores; Roberto Ramos; Anubis Larios; Yenifer Loyde; Lizbeth González; Paulina Higareda; Daniela Aguayo; Ángel Osuna; Mauro García; Diana Tafolla.

Student participants — Technological dimension
Gillian Arce; África Herrera; Diego Chávez; Sol Marron; Arlette Díaz; Jorge Herrera; Claudia Briseño; Andrea Sánchez; Amahia Rodríguez; Ximena Vázquez; Alejandro Hernández; Nefertari García; Miguel Gómez; Alejandro Campos; Emiliano Becerra; Natalia Garin; Karol Avalos; Natalia Rodríguez; Joahan Jara; Allison Sánchez; Misael Ibarra; David Koch.

Organizing institutions and team

The workshop was organized by the University of Guadalajara and its participating university centers: CUAAAD, CUALTOS, CUCEI, CUGDL, CUT, and CUTLAJO, in collaboration with UN-Habitat, City Science Lab Guadalajara, and MIT City Science.

Expert organizers
Rafael Gómez; Dana Ascencio; Adriana Guzmán; Omar Saavedra; Ricardo Acosta; Marcela Torres; Marco Berger; Azucena Arellano; Carlos González; Moisés García; Isidro Sosa; Felipe Neville; Germán Ramírez; Eduardo Solano.

Methodological advisors — City Science Lab Guadalajara
Juan Pablo Jiménez; Alejandro Lepe; Mónica Gómez; Gamaliel Palomo; Ixchel Figueroa; Netzahualpilli Delgado; Ulises Estrada; Humberto Ibarra; Adalberto Hernández; Beatriz Luna.

Student experts
Felipe Rivera; Lorena Campos; Fernanda Córdoba; Elliot González; Antonio Pichardo; Paulina Alvizo; Citlalli López; Daniel Paredes; Analia Casillas; Fernanda Lozoya; Paola Martín; Valeria Medina.