Experimentation or projectification of urban change? A critical appraisal and three steps forward

Abstract

Urban experimentation has proliferated in recent years as a response to sustainability challenges and renewed pressures on urban governance. In many European cities, diverse and rapidly changing experimental forms (e.g. urban living laboratories, pilots, trials, experimental districts) are becoming commonplace, addressing ambitious goals for smartness, circularity, and liveability. Academically, there is a growing concern for moving beyond the focus on individual experiments and the insistence on upscaling their primary transformation mechanism. However, the phenomena of ‘projectification’ – whereby project-based forms of organising have become ubiquitous, shaping expectations about experimentation – is increasingly perceived as a barrier. Nevertheless, how specifically experimentation and projectification intersect remains unclear. Our theoretical perspective examines how the widespread tendency towards projectification shapes urban experimentation and the potential implications for urban transformations. It problematises the current wave of experimentation and how it contributes to the projectification of urban change processes. We present three steps to redress this issue and indicate directions for future research.

Interplay of policy experimentation and institutional change in sustainability transitions: The case of mobility as a service in Finland

“…The latter literature on 'projectified governance' argues that many experiments take a projectified form, meaning that they are bounded in time and resources (Lundin and Söderholm, 1995). Such project-logic may hinder opportunities for learning and broader systemic effects (Torrens and von Wirth, 2021). However, Munck af Rosenschöld (2019) specifies that adaptive projectified governance appears suitable for dealing with complex sustainability challenges.…”

Experimenting with automated driving for technology or for the city? A matter of governance cultures

“…It is still debatable whether this experimental turn represents an actual opportunity for urban transformations or an industrial playground for testing new technologies with cities and regions as mere facilitators (Evans et al, 2021). In any case, there is consensus among practitioners and academics that urban experiments have been struggling to fulfill their promise of stimulating broader transformation, and they are often detached from local policies, and everyday contexts and realities of cities (Haughton and McManus, 2012;Grandin et al, 2018;Marres, 2020;Torrens and von Wirth, 2021).…”

“…This impedes continuation and integration of learning in urban sustainability policies and downplays the urban experiments' potential to produce contextdependent knowledge on how urban transformation can and should be achieved. Eventually, it obscures how urban experiments are actually produced through governance, as they do not occur in a vacuum (Evans et al, 2016;Voß and Schroth, 2018;Sengers et al, 2019;Torrens and von Wirth, 2021). Furthermore, urban experiments reflect a "politics of niches, " as selective political practices produce niches not only in terms of technology, but also in terms of societal norms and policies in a bottom up way (Raven et al, 2019;Savini and Bertolini, 2019).…”

Pilot project purgatory? Assessing automated vehicle pilot projects in U.S. cities

“…Despite the potential benefits of urban experiments, Torrens and von Wirth (2021) show how such experiments are often insufficiently linked to policy learning, lack long-term funding, or are unable to scale. This leads to what they call a "projectification" of urban experiments, limiting the ability of such projects or pilots to create the long-term changes needed for addressing urban challenges (Hodgson et al, 2019;Torrens and von Wirth, 2021).…”

“…Despite the potential benefits of urban experiments, Torrens and von Wirth (2021) show how such experiments are often insufficiently linked to policy learning, lack long-term funding, or are unable to scale. This leads to what they call a "projectification" of urban experiments, limiting the ability of such projects or pilots to create the long-term changes needed for addressing urban challenges (Hodgson et al, 2019;Torrens and von Wirth, 2021). This "projectification," particularly with regards to smart city technologies, are often framed as focused narrowly on technical feasibility while also carrying embedded assumptions about the proper uses of these technologies (Kitchin, 2021).…”