Urban Living Labs Conclusions

Summary, in English

This book has sought to advance the theorisation of the interface between experimentation, socio-technical transitions and the city, through an internationally comparative empirical analysis of ULL. This has been structured through three core elements. First, through a set of conceptually informed empirical case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, based on original empirical work through case studies and interviews with municipal staff, private sector repre - sentatives, activists and civic communities, technologists, developers and others involved in the making of ULL. Second, by undertaking a critical examination of the discourses and practices associated with ULL, including an evaluation of what new capabilities are being created by whom and with what exclusions; how these are being developed and contested; where this is happening both within and between cities and, with what sorts of socio-economic, political, environmental and material consequences. Third, by developing an original framework informed by the body of work on transitions theory and work on urban governance and politics. The risk of such an approach is theoretical eclecticism. To counter this risk, the framework focused on a set of core concerns across different approaches and sought to identify the common ground they share: the design, practices and processes of ULL. In developing this concluding chapter, we follow the structure of the book and consider how our comparative, critical analysis of ULL provides new insights into their design and practice, and the processes through which they come to be embedded in sustainability transitions. In each section, we summarise the main findings, examining how the chapters address the core questions that underpin each part. In our final section, we review the wider policy and research implications of the book setting out key future priorities.

• Author: Simon Marvin; Harriet Bulkeley; Lindsay Mai; Kes McCormick; Yuliya Voytenko Palgan
• Department/s: The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
• Publishing year: 2018
• Language: English
• Pages: 248-257
• Publication/Series: Urban Living Labs : Experimenting with City Futures
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315230641
• Document type: Book chapter
• Publisher: Routledge
• Topic: Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISBN: 9781138714724; ISBN: 9781351862684