Urban experimentation as solutions: Case of Urban Living Labs in India

Keywords: Urban Living Labs, socio-technical experimentation, transnational urbanisms, mobility solutions
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

Urban policymaking in India has moved from government-led initiatives to city-based and localised, projectized interventions such as Smart Cities and lately, to the experimental forms of Urban Living Labs (ULLs). This shift is first evident in emerging literature from European cities and universities where processes of urban rejuvenation are increasingly centred around ULLs, with important implications for urban governance, primarily, a disengagement from place-based interests (Hodson, Evans & Schliwa, 2018). These approaches hold the attraction of scalability, enabling sustainability transitions across a variety of concerns such as land use, mobility, energy or emissions. As a result, ULLs are mushrooming across smaller Indian cities. This merits investigation as these projects are typified by a strategy of solutionism articulated as “a ‘leveraging cities’ logic” (Montero, 2004; Angelo & Wachsmuth, 2020) in addressing sustainability challenges. Experimental governance efforts imported from densely populated European cities in trialling models for decongestion and decarbonisation through promoting walkability and bike-ability of Indian streets, electrification of motorised vehicles or efficient integration of transport modes are some interventions seen in urban mobility “solutions”, nodding at the transnational challenges of climate urbanism (Bulkeley, 2021). This paper proposes an evaluation of ULLs spearheaded by global collaborative partnerships and localised innovations through Indian civil society and universities alike in effecting socio-technical transformational policies (Evans, 2016) to study city-specific challenges including climate mitigation and community cultures. It also attempts to understand how governments at national/state/local levels have meshed with these initiatives and wider implications for equity and justice in the Indian urban context.