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Urban Living Labs are typically local experiments that allow researchers and stakeholders from cities to work together to explore and develop new solutions that can show the way towards more sustainable cities. In normal circumstances these experiments are small niche innovations without the power to instigate radical and long term change. However, in volatile times with rapid shifts in policies and peoples’ preferences niche innovations can gain traction and challenge the status quo, i.e. the current system and dominating practices.
Welcome to a new episode of the Urban lunch talks series. In this episode we will learn more about a theory that explains how transformation of urban systems can take place and thereafter deep dive into the role of experiments to challenge the dominance of cars in cities.
We will learn from projects that promote alternative temporary uses of streets and parking lots for other purposes, e.g. urban space for pedestrians, parks and physical exercise. Building on learnings from these JPI Urban Europe funded research and innovation projects focused on mobility and accessibility, we will discuss how local experiments can be seen as niche innovations and as such important stepping stones towards a more people centred urban transformation as they destabilise the current car dominated regime. We will also discuss benefits and hurdles of embedding and mainstreaming these experiments in the larger planning processes of cities and municipalities for an increased impact.
Speakers
- Göran Smith, Director at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and an expert in the ACUTE knowledge Hub, will briefly introduce the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions, contrast it with an analysis of the focus of JPI Urban Europe projects, and argue why research and innovation should place greater emphasis on destabilizing existing regimes.
- Anique Hommels, Professor of Sociohistorical Technology Studies at University of Deflt Maastricht, will share experiences from the project EmbedterLabs (Better Embedded Labs for More Synergistic Sustainable Urban) that study what can be gained if urban living labs are more embedded in normal planning organisations rather than being treated as stand-alone projects.
- Imre Keseru, associate professor of urban mobility (Mobilise Mobility and Logistics Research Group) at The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), will share experiences from the project StreetForum that has experimented with alternative use of streets, for example turning parking lots into outdoor gyms. A toolkit (e.g. digital crowdsourcing tool and guidelines for using art installations and cultural events as well as governance guidelines) will be tested in four living labs (Brussels, Vienna, Stockholm, Istanbul) to evaluate its impact, transferability and scalability and will be available as free-to-use resources for the broader community.
- Florian Lorenz, co-founder LAUT – landscape architecture and urban transformation, will share experience from the project TuneOurBlock which experiments with temporary introducing car free zones and slow speed regulations into a neighbourhood dominated by car traffic. The goal is to validate, internationalize, and expand the Superblocks concept as a policy and planning strategy for transformational urban adaptation.
Moderator: Jakob Schabus, IQ Samhällsbyggnad