It is estimated that more than two billion people are homeless or live in slums. Urban3D is a São Paulo-based technology firm that is developing new technology to 3D print concrete that doesn’t require metal reinforcement in order to build affordable infrastructure and housing for urban areas. Founder Anielle Guedes worked in the slums of São Paulo for more than three years. She believes that digitising and automating the construction process can reduce costs but also improve quality control.

Current targets are to perfect the materials by 2016 and be up and running by 2018. But the firm’s ultimate ambition is to partner with national governments and developers in order “to eradicate houselessness within the next 15 years”. In partnership with Brazilian industry and European robotics and chemical companies, Urban3D aspires to create beautiful houses for sustainable communities. The firm is currently seeking major capital investment.

Urban3D was mapped in an AtlasChart by Camila Achutti, the tech FutureHero and software engineer behind Mulheres na Computação (Women in Computing).  

Chris has been writing on travel, tech, sex, food, art and books for nearly two decades. He co-founded street paper Hecho en Buenos Aires, writes regularly for the Guardian and Telegraph newspapers, and is now writing a thriller set in Andalusia.