1001 Smart Cities

Permanent project revision

VinclesBCN — Tablets Against Unwanted Loneliness

Revision 2026-08-26-claim-mapping · effective 2026-07-18

Superseded. A later revision exists: 2026-08-27-source-dating →

unreviewed

Added a five-claim evidence mapping and a sourced lesson; put the milestone dates on the city's own timeline (award autumn 2014, pilot November 2016 to June 2017, a thousand users December 2018, 3,067 users and 198 groups December 2021) and gave the impact the study's non-use finding, which is the part that says who the service did not reach; removed a publication date on the living timeline page, which carried a year the page only mentions.

sha256:4d798b36f11ada452e2e3f1b642a68c85c9d1c0fd2dfb24bdc974c17da5d1774
All revisions → Current entity page →

Change set

  • replace /snapshot/projectFingerprint — Updated projectFingerprint to the current sourced project record.
  • replace /snapshot/claims — Updated claims to the current sourced project record.
  • replace /snapshot/sources — Updated sources to the current sourced project record.
5
of 5 claims mapped
5
source dossiers
1
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Claims, one by one

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-0836e27c9fe6ac48 quantitative
Barcelona's Social Rights department lends tablets and a companion app to residents over 65 who feel isolated, connecting them with family, friends and facilitator-led neighbourhood and interest groups via video calls, photos and messages
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The city's service description sets out the target group and the personal and group network model; the independent account describes the facilitators who run the groups.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. ¿Qué es VinclesBCN? — Ajuntament de Barcelona (authority)
  2. In Barcelona, an app with a personal touch keeps seniors connected — Bloomberg Cities (trade)
Claim 2 clm-8f4e31c6d75ce686 quantitative
The project won the first European Bloomberg Mayors Challenge in autumn 2014, ran a pilot in five neighbourhoods from November 2016 to June 2017, passed a thousand active users citywide in December 2018 and reached 3,067 users and 198 groups by December 2021
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The city's own timeline carries each step: the award in autumn 2014, the five-neighbourhood pilot from November 2016 to June 2017, a thousand active users citywide in December 2018, and 3,067 users in 198 groups in December 2021.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Evolución del servicio — Ajuntament de Barcelona (authority)
Claim 3 clm-3f93863fba21dca6 descriptive
found the service became a lifeline during the pandemic, with entertainment as much as social support carrying it
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The study reports the importance of sociability, social support and especially entertainment in coping with pandemic fatigue, and describes the service as a lifeline during the pandemic.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Digital Social Connectedness as a Lifeline for Older People: Use and Non-use of VinclesBCN During the Pandemic — Int'l J. of Disaster Risk Science (research)
Claim 4 clm-f62a135975b84f9b descriptive
non-use was strongly associated with being a woman, having a low educational level, having pre-existing social relationships, less time enrolled and a high perceived loneliness
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The study lists exactly these associations with non-use of the platform.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Digital Social Connectedness as a Lifeline for Older People: Use and Non-use of VinclesBCN During the Pandemic — Int'l J. of Disaster Risk Science (research)
Claim 5 clm-d0f2e61807c2088a descriptive
A service designed against loneliness was used least by those who reported feeling loneliest — and by women and by people with less education
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The study's non-use findings are the source for all three associations.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Digital Social Connectedness as a Lifeline for Older People: Use and Non-use of VinclesBCN During the Pandemic — Int'l J. of Disaster Risk Science (research)

Source dossiers and revision state

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-26-claim-mapping effective 2026-07-18 · created 2026-08-26

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:4d798b36f11ada452e2e3f1b642a68c85c9d1c0fd2dfb24bdc974c17da5d1774
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
5
of 5 claims mapped
5
source dossiers
1
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Ajuntament de Barcelona — Social Rights Department
Actor types
city-government
Funding model
mixed
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

5 source dossiers

¿Qué es VinclesBCN? — Ajuntament de Barcelona (authority) ajuntament.barcelona.cat · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-d16b246f79f578f9
Publisher
Name not classified · ajuntament.barcelona.cat
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-18
Dossier created
2026-08-26
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Official service description, target group, personal/group network model

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Evolución del servicio — Ajuntament de Barcelona (authority) ajuntament.barcelona.cat · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-cdbea9ffdc8a7db5
Publisher
Name not classified · ajuntament.barcelona.cat
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-18
Dossier created
2026-08-26
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Official timeline: pilot Nov 2016, citywide rollout March 2018, growth milestones, links to 2021-2025 annual reports

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Vincles BCN supports and connects over three thousand elderly people — Ajuntament de Barcelona (authority) ajuntament.barcelona.cat · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-d71953229cc3de88
Publisher
Name not classified · ajuntament.barcelona.cat
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2022-08-07
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-18
Dossier created
2026-08-26
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

3,067 users at 5-year mark (published 07/08/2022), demographic breakdown

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
In Barcelona, an app with a personal touch keeps seniors connected — Bloomberg Cities (trade) bloombergcities.medium.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-3b5428cfb97ec11e
Publisher
Name not classified · bloombergcities.medium.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-18
Dossier created
2026-08-26
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Independent account of facilitator model, 2014 Mayors Challenge funding, qualitative survey findings

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Digital Social Connectedness as a Lifeline for Older People: Use and Non-use of VinclesBCN During the Pandemic — Int'l J. of Disaster Risk Science (research) link.springer.com · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-435f101bb1d60d13
Publisher
Name not classified · link.springer.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-18
Dossier created
2026-08-26
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Peer-reviewed evaluation, n=255 users + 12 user/6 professional interviews

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this passport
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.