scholarly journals The Practice of Urban Experimentation in Dutch City Labs

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-170
Author(s):  
Christian Scholl ◽  
Joop De Kraker
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Dutch City

‘Urban planning by experiment’ can be seen as an approach that uses experimentation to innovate and improve urban planning instruments, approaches, and outcomes. Nowadays, urban experiments—interventions in the city with the aim to innovate, learn, or gain experience—are increasingly taking place in the context of Urban Living Labs. In the Netherlands, a certain type of Urban Living Lab, called city labs, is flourishing, and it has been suggested that these labs could make an important contribution to ‘urban planning by experiment.’ However, previous studies have indicated that this will depend on how experimentation is conducted in these labs. To obtain a more comprehensive picture of the practice of experimentation, we conducted a survey among Dutch city labs, supplemented by individual and group interviews with practitioners from a small subset of the 17 responding labs. We conclude that there is a poor match between the practice of experimentation in Dutch city labs and the characteristics that are considered to support effective ‘urban planning by experiment’ (i.e., a structured approach to experimentation, co-creation of experiments, active and targeted dissemination of lessons learned, and experiments as linking pins between municipal policy goals and the needs of urban society). This suggests that the current contribution of Dutch city labs to ‘urban planning by experiment’ is probably quite limited. Further research is needed to determine whether the typical practice of experimentation encountered in the Dutch city labs, i.e., action-oriented, resource-limited, and largely driven by opportunities, is also found in Urban Living Labs elsewhere.

scholarly journals Urban Planning by Experiment at Precinct Scale: Embracing Complexity, Ambiguity, and Multiplicity

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-207
Author(s):  
Darren Sharp ◽  
Rob Raven
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Empirical Illustration

Urban living labs have emerged as spatially embedded arenas for governing urban transformation, where heterogenous actor configurations experiment with new practices, institutions, and infrastructures. This article observes a nascent shift towards experimentation at the precinct scale and responds to a need to further investigate relevant processes in urban experimentation at this scale, and identifies particular challenges for urban planning. We tentatively conceptualise precincts as spatially bounded urban environments loosely delineated by a particular combination of social or economic activity. Our methodology involves an interpretive systematic literature review of urban experimentation and urban living labs at precinct scale, along with an empirical illustration of the Net Zero Initiative at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, which is operationalising its main campus into a living lab focussed on precinct-scale decarbonisation. We identify four processual categories relevant to precinct-scale experimentation: embedding, framing, governing, and learning. We use the empirical illustration to discuss the relevance of these processes, refine findings from the literature review and conclude with a discussion on the implications of our article for future scholarship on urban planning by experiment at precinct scale.

scholarly journals Challenges of Urban Living Labs towards the Future of Local Innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aksel Ersoy ◽  
Ellen Van Bueren
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Local Solutions ◽  
The City ◽  
Development Result

Finding new approaches to overcome complex urban problems such as climate change has always been of interest to policymakers and academics. The changing dynamics of urban development result in the diversification of new practices during which experimentation is used to inform urban practice. Amongst these approaches, urban living labs (ULLs) have become a popular form of urban experimental innovation in many countries in the last decade. These ULLs respond to the increased complexity of future challenges calling for local solutions that acknowledge the local conditions—political, technical, and social. Even though a great deal of attention has been given to this form of urban innovation, there has been little consideration of the learning and innovation processes within ULLs. Based on a comparative case study of three innovation projects in a ULL in the city of Amsterdam, we analyse and discuss the claims of ULLs regarding innovation and the different orders of learning they foster. We argue that in the processes of experimentation within ULLs, combining mechanisms of learning and innovation is key to promoting the development of particular local solutions. However, since the learning processes are especially concerned within a particular ULL learning setting, there is a mismatch between the expectations of policymakers, industry, citizens, and knowledge institutes, as well as how the lessons learned can be useful for other contexts.

scholarly journals Establishing Cancer Treatment Programs in Resource-Limited Settings: Lessons Learned From Guatemala, Rwanda, and Vietnam

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Claire M. Wagner ◽  
Federico Antillón ◽  
François Uwinkindi ◽  
Tran Van Thuan ◽  
Sandra Luna-Fineman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Education ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Program Leaders ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Health Care Delivery Systems

Purpose The global burden of cancer is slated to reach 21.4 million new cases in 2030 alone, and the majority of those cases occur in under-resourced settings. Formidable changes to health care delivery systems must occur to meet this demand. Although significant policy advances have been made and documented at the international level, less is known about the efforts to create national systems to combat cancer in such settings. Methods With case reports and data from authors who are clinicians and policymakers in three financially constrained countries in different regions of the world—Guatemala, Rwanda, and Vietnam, we examined cancer care programs to identify principles that lead to robust care delivery platforms as well as challenges faced in each setting. Results The findings demonstrate that successful programs derive from equitably constructed and durable interventions focused on advancement of local clinical capacity and the prioritization of geographic and financial accessibility. In addition, a committed local response to the increasing cancer burden facilitates engagement of partners who become vital catalysts for launching treatment cascades. Also, clinical education in each setting was buttressed by international expertise, which aided both professional development and retention of staff. Conclusion All three countries demonstrate that excellent cancer care can and should be provided to all, including those who are impoverished or marginalized, without acceptance of a double standard. In this article, we call on governments and program leaders to report on successes and challenges in their own settings to allow for informed progression toward the 2025 global policy goals.

The Blue-Green Urban Living Labs of Kuala Lumpur

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (13) ◽  
pp. 359-367
Author(s):  
Jamalunlaili Abdullah ◽  
Raziah Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Hafiz Zainal
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Kuala Lumpur ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
The Public ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Private Citizen ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
International Publishing ◽  
Open Access Article

The extraordinary societal challenges demand cities to be innovative and adaptable to the needs of urban citizens. In the Malaysian context, the Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) has not been well incorporated into the ULLs. This paper seeks to address this gap by exploring the potential of the Blue-Green Urban Living Labs (BGULLs) at the Sungai Bunus catchment area. Using Google Form, survey questionnaire is conducted among professionals and the public. Findings of this unprecedented study suggest the BGULLs offer beyond beautification works, and it is voicing the virtual idea of the BGULLs into a real setting that reflects the public-private-citizen partnerships.Keywords: Urban living labs; Blue-Green Infrastructure; Innovation; societal challengeseISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v5i13.2072

scholarly journals Urban Living Labs, Circular Economy and Nature-Based Solutions: Ideation and Testing of a New Soil in the City of Turin Using a Multi-stakeholder Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grazia Sveva Ascione ◽  
Federico Cuomo ◽  
Nicole Mariotti ◽  
Laura Corazza
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Stakeholder Management ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Green Roofs ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
The City

AbstractIn the attempt to foster circular economy (CE), cities are increasingly adopting urban living labs (ULLs) as sites of co-production aimed at testing alternative solutions based on the reuse of products, reduction of consumption and recycling of materials. Taking this perspective, our study adopts an exploratory research design to discover the pragmatic implications emerging from a case study. The City of Turin joined proGIreg, a European project that entails the regeneration of former industrial districts by means of nature-based solutions (NBS). Ranging from aquaponics to green roofs, seven NBS have been experimented in Turin, which rely on the use of natural systems to tackle social, economic and environmental challenges efficiently and sustainably. Among them, the most promising is related to the production and test of the ‘new soil’, a blend obtained by mixing earth materials coming from construction sites with compost, zeolites and mycorrhizae. The case herein presented is interesting to analyse for the multi-stakeholder management setting used, where public institutions, private companies, research institutions, citizens and associations collaborated in the co-creation and testing phase of the NBS. Consequently, the data collected through participant observation and direct interviews allow researchers to describe multi-stakeholders’ dynamics and how they work. Thus, this paper narrates a micro-contextual experience while providing a critique. Results include an analysis of the unique combination of different stakeholders, which strongly impacted on the management and the effectiveness of the entire project. By consequence, the paper offers both theoretical contributions to the relational branch of stakeholder theory and practical evidence in demonstrating the importance of the relational branch of the theory over a more traditional transactional view.

scholarly journals Social and Economic Policies Matter for Health Equity: Conclusions of the SOPHIE Project

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Malmusi ◽  
Carles Muntaner ◽  
Carme Borrell ◽  
Marc Suhrcke ◽  
Patricia O’Campo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equity ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Immigrant Integration ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Civil Society Participation ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Participation In Research

Since 2011, the SOPHIE project has accumulated evidence regarding the influence of social and economic policies on population health levels, as well as on health inequalities according to socioeconomic position, gender, and immigrant status. Through comparative analyses and evaluation case studies across Europe, SOPHIE has shown how these health inequalities vary according to contexts in macroeconomics, social protection, labor market, built environment, housing, gender equity, and immigrant integration and may be reduced by equity-oriented policies in these fields. These studies can help public health and social justice advocates to build a strong case for fairer social and economic policies that will lead to the reduction of health inequalities that most governments have included among their policy goals. In this article, we summarize the main findings and policy implications of the SOPHIE project and the lessons learned on civil society participation in research and results communication.

Living Labs and Urban Smartness

2015 ◽  
pp. 98-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grazia Concilio ◽  
Francesco Molinari
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
City Life ◽  
Life Conditions ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Governance Models ◽  
Stakeholder Partnerships ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

Urban Living Labs are socio-digital innovation environments in realistic city life conditions based on multi-stakeholder partnerships that effectively involve citizens in the co-creation and co-production of new or reformed public services and infrastructures. This chapter explores the growing phenomenon of Urban Living Labs and analyses the nature of related innovations in the perspective of ‘City Smartness' – a mantra for local governments worldwide which are having to address increasingly complex problems with fast diminishing financial resources. It goes on to briefly overview the urban governance models emerging in such environments and finally focuses on the challenges posed by these models as result of integration between the ‘technology push' Smart City vision and the ‘human pull' Urban Living Lab concept and approach.

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