The relevance of urban agglomeration micro-foundations for the emergence of innovation in living labs: A qualitative field study

Abstract

Living labs are one method to integrate sustainability measures among urban actors and to increase innovation activities in an area. Research found evidence that innovation drivers in these projects are based on agglomeration effects, meaning that innovation activities aggregate because of urban initiatives. However, agglomeration effects are not equally distributed and are always beneficial among actors. Therefore, this paper investigates which underlying agglomeration mechanisms lead to trade-offs between living lab actors and how they develop over time. We conduct a two-year ethnographic field study from the application phase of an urban living lab with multiple subproject innovation initiatives until the first year of its implementation. We collected data through field observations (e.g., project meetings), documentary data from the application sketch to the elaborated project plan, and interviews with 34 different internal and external project stakeholders (i.e., sub-project leaders on the university and industry side). The findings suggest that agglomeration effects do not occur consistently but depend on the respective partner, type of micro-foundation, or time in the project. The study underscores the importance of urban agglomeration effects on living labs and contributes to the literature on urban innovation and a more differentiated view of their agglomeration micro-foundations.