Coursera week 3: Urban Living Labs

This week looked at a relatively new theory called Urban Living Labs.

An urban living lab is an experimental form of governance put in an urban area. An example would be the Boris Bikes- they were initially a temporary installation, but due to their success, they were kept in.

The lectures this week were:
  • Climate Governance and Urban Experiments, by Prof Harriet Bulkeley, Durham Uni
  • Urban Living Labs, Dr Kes McCormick
  • Urban Innovations, Dr James Evans, Manchester Uni
  • Governance of Urban Transitions, Urban Europe
  • WWF positive, the importance of connecting places through climate responses
  • The Urban Green, part 3
The reading this week can be found here

The key points were:
Prof Bulkeley
  • As cities grow, the impact of climate change becomes more serious
    • Municipalities are now looking at their impact on the environment, and how to reduce this
  • In the 1990s, combatting climate change was kept to the grassroots level
    • mainly voluntary work
    • small projects
  • However, the work individual governments could do was limited
  • From the early 2000s, a new form of climate change work has come about
    • now, municipality governments are looking both outwards and inwards to help combat climate change
      • They are working more closely with private and civil companies within their mandate
      • And working with other governments to extend the work against climate change in a wider, seamless network
  • A living lab is used to try on for size new responses to climate change
  • There are 3 groups that need to work together in a city for a successful response
    • Municipal governments
      • limited power to act on their own
      • Need to develop projects to attract other organisations
    • Private sector and community groups
      • want to act on the environment
      • lack the power to intervene at the city level
    • Previous projects that had potential but failed are being reconsidered with a climate change lens to redevelop them for today
  • Urban living labs are not neutral, they are political
    • some will be prioritised and some marginalised, so there is always room for conflict
Kes McCormick
  • Most people now live in cities, and cities are responsible for 70% of greenhouse emissions
    • combatting climate change starts in the city
  • However, it cannot just be the city's responsibility
    • it must link with rural areas and with other municipalities
    • A city is not an isolated place, it is connected with others
  • A living lab can be defined using the 5 Es
    1. Engagement
      • They engage people living in cities, they have an influence on the population
    2. Exploration
      • we don't know what a sustainable city looks like, so we must explore and develop the criteria through the ULL
    3. Experiments
      • experimentation is the core of the ULL
      • you must actually do things, not rely on hypothetical models
    4. Evaluation
      • evaluating the success allows the improvement for the next ULL
      • universities are used for this
    5. Entrepreneurs
      • businesses and outside companies provide the innovations needed fro the experiment
  • They are geographical locations within a city used to test innovations or social experiments
  • The point of a living lab is disruption, transformation, and sustainability
Reading:
  • ULLs have 5 characteristics:
    • geographical embeddedness
    • experimentation and learning
    • participation
    • leadership and ownership
    • evaluation and refinement
  • To compare ULLs, you look at 4 criteria:
    • the operation of the ULL
    • the role of research institutions
    • types of challenges addressed by different ULLs
    • the role of sustainability, environment and low carbon agenda
Case studies:
  • Stockholm
    • Smart grids
  • Malmo, Sweden, Western Harbour and Hyllie Development
    • aim to be carbon neutral or even negative
  • Copenhagen
    • increased cycling
  • Seoul, South Korea
    • energy angels programme
    • one less nuclear power plant
      • solar panels are places above reservoirs to cool them and increase efficiency
    • passive design buildings
      • green walls
      • insulation
      • solar panels

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