Infrastructuring Public Sector Innovation: Challenging Municipal Work Practices in Copenhagen

Abstract

In a complex and changing field, influenced by globalization, technological development, and increased differentiation and complexity in all parts of society, urban planners are increasingly required to rethink and innovate the way they manage and develop cities. As the contemporary focus on public sector innovation and “liveability” in cities gains momentum, the pressure on planners to re-invent their practices is becoming an interesting focal point for urban studies and raises the question of how research can engage with, and participate in, the development of new urban planning practices. This article reports from the action research project “Create your City”, which intervened in the innovation strategy of the Technical and Environmental Administration of Copenhagen during the period 2011–2013. The article shows how researchers can engage with the contemporary challenges for urban planning by staging interventions that allow planners to imagine the city in new ways, and develop new planning practices in the process. By analysing the infrastructuring of “Create your City”, the article shows how the project contributed to the development of new innovative practices in the administration, and points towards new potentials for scholarly engagement in the field of urban planning.