Bridging Sustainability Realms: A Thematic Synthesis of Sustainable Living Labs

Abstract

This review paper aims to shed light on the concept of sustainable living labs by reviewing earlier studies on the subject. Within the discipline of architecture, academic research has witnessed a noticeable surge of interest in sustainable living and living labs since the early 2000s. However, the body of literature on these two subjects remains limited in quantity. To comprehend this gap, the present review article examines a collection of 41 articles, published between 2014 and 2023 obtained from journals in Scopus, Google Scholar, and Science Direct focused on architecture, innovation, and sustainability. This research explores diverse topics in sustainable living labs focusing firstly on university campuses as sustainable living labs, second on innovation in sustainable living labs, third on sustainable living labs to achieve sustainable development goals, and finally on urban sustainable living labs. Additionally, this paper provides a comparative overview of the methodological approaches utilized in the reviewed articles. a gap in the literature has been identified in the integration of sustainable living and living labs as a combined concept, to create research that focuses on the impact of sustainable living labs. Finally, research shows that there is a lack of focus on understanding the impact of such sustainable living labs among specific users such as architectural students, which can add value to the existing body of literature in future studies.