Abstract
This article explores the potential of real-world labs (RWLs) and real-world experiments (RWEs) to be a fruitful addition to established approaches in urban planning in Germany. While transdisciplinary and transformative RWLs rooted in socio-ecological sustainability studies have become an important tool for experimenting with innovative solutions for environmental challenges in cities, RWLs aimed at improving social cohesion in neighbourhoods and fostering a communal life characterised by dialogue and solidarity are rare. To this latter aim, this article contributes with research experience from a transdisciplinary RWL on cooperative urban open space development seeking to foster social cohesion in super-diverse neighbourhoods in Germany. This article analyses the contradictory perceptions of the local stakeholders involved as regards the potentials of RWEs to be a meaningful addition to established planning practices. This article makes it clear that there is greater proximity between urban planning theory, practice, and RWEs than initially assumed. Nevertheless, RWEs have considerable potential as a positive complement to established approaches to urban planning and as a means of experimenting with open-ended encounter formats in neighbourhoods.
Highlights
Cities today face a multitude of ecological, social, and economic problems—both new and old—and, as a result, urban practitioners and researchers are searching for new, transformative strategies to understand and solve these problems
How the real-world labs (RWLs) collects transformation knowledge determines whether the RWL/real-world experiments (RWEs) can be used as an additional instrument for urban planning
Since 2018, KoopLab has been conducting a series of interventions, i.e., RWEs, all of which are geared towards developing alternative uses of open spaces and opportunities for encounters and strengthening social cohesion
Summary
Cities today face a multitude of ecological, social, and economic problems—both new and old—and, as a result, urban practitioners and researchers are searching for new, transformative strategies to understand and solve these problems. Even if urban labs have become an established tool in urban development, the relationship between RWLs/RWEs and urban development/urban planning still seems to be under-researched in both the conceptual and empirical perspective This knowledge gap concerning the potentials and pitfalls of transdisciplinary and transformative RWLs in urban planning becomes even more apparent when the various RWL topics are considered: While a broad array of urban labs has been experimenting with innovative solutions for environmental challenges in cities, so far little attention has been paid to ‘social’ RWLs aiming, e.g., at improving the social cohesion in neighbourhoods (Räuchle & Schmiz, 2020). I examine current literature on these aspects
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