Abstract
When pursuing change through urban living labs (ULLs), local authorities encounter a dual imperative: they must act as drivers of change while remaining open to adaptation themselves. Navigating this tension requires a range of context-connecting practices among stakeholders. These dynamic interactions between citizens and city authorities are investigated in the transformation of an industrial area into a sustainable urban district, thereby foregrounding the civic dimension within the broader resilience discourse. The case study focuses on a ULL in the city district of Hiedanranta, Tampere, Finland, where citizen involvement and fostering bottom-up initiatives has been central. The analysis draws on ethnographic, interview and documentary materials from action research conducted between 2016 and 2025. This long-term data allows a question to be asked: how can city authorities increase civic resilience through different phases of a ULL? To understand the temporalities of ULLs, a system life-cycle view is applied, including the early phase of setting the stage, which can efficiently integrate citizens into the stakeholder network. Persistent collaboration with citizens was crucial in setting the tone for the entire area development process. These efforts were instrumental in realising new design concepts, such as Nordic superblocks, and highlighting the importance of shared spaces.
Policy relevance
City authorities and citizens can and need to support each other to foster change within and through ULLs. Attention should be given to practices that connect citizens and city authorities for collaboration and mutual learning, thereby building the agency of both. These practices involve bringing actors and contexts together, creating persistent tactics and catalysing positive impact loops. Specifically, they include reinviting stakeholders, developing shared spaces, establishing new legal entities and recognising emerging ideas and actors. It is crucial for multi-actor groups, including citizens, to start working together very early on to invent and define ULL projects. Throughout the phases of a ULL, there are various ways for city authorities to enhance citizen involvement and agency. When these practices fail, there is a high risk of losing crucial actors, their knowledge, and the processes of change they contribute to.