The Role of Government Initiated Urban Planning Experiments in Transition Processes and Their Contribution to Change at the Regime Level

Abstract

Sustainable urban (planning) experiments play a crucial role in transitions and are tangible ways to contribute to innovation and change in the long run. This paper discusses how urban experiments contribute to sustainability transitions by explicitly looking at an urban experiment’s capability to influence the regime level. The consequences of spatial inertia and political actors’ involvement are two understudied aspects concerning urban experiments. The paper aims to introduce these two understudied aspects and suggests further research on both in current urban experimentation practices. First, the paper suggests spatial embeddedness as a relevant explanatory factor. Experiments that alter spatial structures or realize physical interventions on a neighborhood scale can anchor innovations in space. In doing so, they increase their sustainability in the long run. Secondly, the article contributes to the literature on institutions and politics in urban experiments. The article uses a literature study and a case to illustrate both points.