Thinking Urban Transformation through Elsewhere: A Conversation between Real-World Labs in São Paulo and Hamburg on Governance and Practical Action

Martin Kohler, Anita Engels, Ana Paula Koury and Cathrin Zengerling
Additional contact information
Martin Kohler: Department of Computer Science, University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, 20099 Hamburg, Germany
Anita Engels: Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Ana Paula Koury: Graduate Program in Architecture and Urban Planning, Universidade São Judas Tadeu, São Paulo 03166-000, Brazil
Cathrin Zengerling: Faculty for Environment and Natural Resources, Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-23

Abstract: Urban real-world laboratories (RWLs) are increasingly used internationally and studied as an instrument of urban transformation. New cases in diverse political, economic, social and ecological situations offer a rich set of learning experiences, but the distinctive urban contexts make it impossible to draw comparisons in the traditional sense. In this article—an experiment in itself—we aim to gain a deeper understanding of how RWLs contribute to urban transformation in very different contexts. We apply Jennifer Robinson’s theoretical framework “thinking through elsewhere” on two ongoing urban RWLs: the Itaim Paulista Lab, located in the urban periphery of São Paulo, Brazil and the Lokstedt Urban Transformation Lab in Hamburg, Germany. We operationalize Robinson’s framework in two steps. First, we present the genetics—context, roots, concepts and activities—of both labs. Second, we engage the RWLs in a generative conversation on their role in transforming governance and practical action, with a special focus on the questions of if and how the labs contribute to long-term transformative change. We also find that both labs show potential to contribute to long-term transformative change through governance and practical action.

Keywords: urban transformation; urban governance; climate governance; practical action; real-world labs; urban comparison (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12811/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12811/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12811-:d:683088

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().