scholarly journals Urban Living Labs and Citizen Science: From Innovation and Science towards Policy Impacts

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 526
Author(s):  
Carina Veeckman ◽  
Laura Temmerman
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
City Governments ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
Sensing Technology ◽  
Participatory Processes ◽  
Living Labs

City governments are currently exploring different participatory mechanisms in order to meet the growing demand in society for deliberate decision-making. Through developments in sensing technology, data processing and visualization, citizen science is emerging as a powerful tool for the general public to participate in scientific research that informs policy. Citizen science can be used as an approach in Urban Living Labs, whereby public and private stakeholders are involved in innovation and data collection processes together with citizens. However, there is currently little synergy between citizen science and Urban Living Labs, and how science, innovation and policy can be interoperable. Therefore, this article conducts a comparative case study analysis on the participatory processes and related outputs, outcomes and impacts of the FloodCitiSense Urban Living Labs (Brussels, Birmingham, Rotterdam). These initiatives developed an early warning system for urban flooding through the collection and analysis of crowdsourced information. Data on the participatory processes were collected through 11 in-depth interviews and evaluated on its effectiveness in achieving policy outcomes. The discussion reflects on best practices in incorporating citizen science in Urban Living Labs based on the experienced opportunities and challenges in FloodCitiSense.

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 Smart cities and innovative governance systems: a reflection on urban living labs and action research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Soeiro
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Living Labs ◽  
Public And Private Cooperation

Urban Living Labs (ULL) are sites that allow different urban actors to design, test and learn from socio-technical innovations. In this article, I investigate the epistemological roots of ULL, claiming that this new instrument in the realm of urban planning strongly relies on action research, a methodology designed in the 1940s. I explore to what extent ULL and action research are different, identifying past obstacles of action research to design more successful ULL. This paper establishes that ULL are a key element to implement social innovation and that social innovation should lead technological innovation and the recent smart city model to promote smart sustainable cities. The article was prepared in the aftermath of the project “ROCK” (2017–2020) on cultural heritage as a driver for urban regeneration, where ULL played a central role being highly relevant in the context of urban regeneration policies. Key findings support that ULL can contribute to finding a balance between top-down and bottom-up strategies and its comparative qualitative analysis would improve the methodology. Moreover, public and private cooperation should be encouraged and government should lead and act as a key player in innovation strategies. Lastly, geography can contribute to these new challenges by framing past approaches, projecting the future of cities, and finding ways to make them become a reality.

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 Using citizen science data to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals: a bottom-up analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Ballerini ◽  
Sylvia I. Bergh
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Science Data ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Development Goals

AbstractOfficial data are not sufficient for monitoring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): they do not reach remote locations or marginalized populations and can be manipulated by governments. Citizen science data (CSD), defined as data that citizens voluntarily gather by employing a wide range of technologies and methodologies, could help to tackle these problems and ultimately improve SDG monitoring. However, the link between CSD and the SDGs is still understudied. This article aims to develop an empirical understanding of the CSD-SDG link by focusing on the perspective of projects which employ CSD. Specifically, the article presents primary and secondary qualitative data collected on 30 of these projects and an explorative comparative case study analysis. It finds that projects which use CSD recognize that the SDGs can provide a valuable framework and legitimacy, as well as attract funding, visibility, and partnerships. But, at the same time, the article reveals that these projects also encounter several barriers with respect to the SDGs: a widespread lack of knowledge of the goals, combined with frustration and political resistance towards the UN, may deter these projects from contributing their data to the SDG monitoring apparatus.

Hoe gesprekken een participatieproces maken of breken

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Bleijenberg ◽  
Noëlle Aarts ◽  
Reint Jan Renes
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Framing Analysis ◽  
Local Participation ◽  
Participatory Processes ◽  
Participation Process ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Discursive Patterns

A comparative case study into the meaning of conversations between citizens and government on the course and outcome of local participation processes Although the importance of conversations for citizen participation is widely recognized, there is still little insight into the meaning of conversations for participatory processes. This comparative case study provides insight into the discursive patterns that characterize the conversations between citizens, civil servants and other stakeholders in two participatory processes in different municipalities. Our framing-analysis shows how different discursive patterns develop in interaction and how these patterns effect the course and outcome in both participation processes. The results provide insight in how experiences of previous events influence the discursive patterns that participants construct in interaction. It is concluded that in both cases not the nature of the issue, but the way it was discussed and how participants framed this was crucial for the course and outcome of the participation process.

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.

Bringing Urban Living Labs to Communities

2018 ◽  
pp. 106-125
Author(s):  
Janice Astbury ◽  
Harriet Bulkeley
Keyword(s):  
Urban Living ◽  
Living Labs

Urban Living Labs

2018 ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Yuliya Voytenko Palgan ◽  
Kes McCormick ◽  
James Evans
Keyword(s):  
Urban Living ◽  
Living Labs
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