News
Barcelona tests an app that simplifies texts for public decision-making
Barcelona is testing a tool that could change the way many residents interact with the administration. It's an app that can turn complex texts into clearer, more accessible messages, aiming to help more people understand public debates, share their opinions, and take part in city decisions.
The prototype is part of the European iDEM project and is led by Universitat Pompeu Fabra. The idea is simple, but has a major impact: if an urban-planning document, a municipal proposal or a public call is too difficult to understand, the app simplifies it to make it easier to read.
During April and May, around thirty people took part in the trials in Barcelona. They included older people, recently arrived residents and citizens with intellectual disabilities, three profiles that often encounter different barriers to taking part in public processes.
The sessions focused on debates about urban planning and improving public spaces. Participants were able to use the app to simplify documents, better understand proposals and draft their own suggestions, always with the support of facilitators and municipal staff.
The pilot has had the collaboration of the Institut Municipal de Persones amb Discapacitat and the Sindicatura de Greuges de Barcelona. The closing of the trials, held on 23 June, served to present a protocol that seeks to make the city’s participatory processes more inclusive.
The tool allows users to paste texts or upload photos of documents. Within seconds, it offers a simpler version in Catalan, Spanish, English or Italian. It is designed for mobile phones and tablets, making it easier to use in workshops, neighbourhood meetings or public consultations.
The project fits within Pla Barcelona Fàcil, the municipal strategy to reduce bureaucracy and improve the relationship between citizens and government. Accessibility is no longer limited to ramps, lifts or physical signs: it also means that public texts can be understood without technical knowledge.
iDEM is funded by the European Union’s Horizon programme and brings together 12 partners from seven countries. At UPF, engineering and law teams work together, a key combination so that technology does not remain an experiment but responds to real needs.
The trial leaves Barcelona with a powerful idea: taking part should not depend on knowing how to decipher complicated documents. If the city wants to listen to more people, it also has to speak in a clearer, more accessible way that is closer to those who live on its streets every day.