Abstract
Empowering youth in urban governance is essential to align immediate societal concerns with long-term sustainability. Urban living labs (ULLs) provide a valuable framework for embedding youth perspectives into urban decision-making by offering real-world settings for co-creation, experimentation and learning. They have also emerged as pedagogical tools within higher education institutions, yet their use in this context remains insufficiently explored. Despite their growing application, ULLs lack methodological consistency, with diverse conceptualisations creating challenges for standardisation, evaluation and transferability. This tension is especially evident in youth-oriented ULLs, where institutional barriers and age-related asymmetries complicate sustained engagement. Comparative and cross-contextual studies remain limited. This paper addresses these gaps through the Participatory Skills for Urban Governance (PS-U-GO) project, which implements youth-focused ULLs in four European cities. The project follows a three-tiered method: a comparative analysis of existing cases; the development of a coherent yet adaptable framework structured in three phases (design and initiation, operation, evaluation and feedback); and iterative implementation and evaluation. Initial findings demonstrate that while flexibility is essential, methodological coherence in structuring learning, participation and evaluation is crucial for scalability and long-term impact. The project offers a replicable, context-sensitive model for embedding ULLs within both higher education institutions and local governance systems.
Policy relevance
Findings from the implementation of the PS-U-GO method highlight their potential to strengthen youth participation in urban governance. ULLs using this method enabled young participants to engage meaningfully in co-creation, spatial analysis and civic dialogue. The results demonstrate that methodological flexibility—applied across rural, urban and neighbourhood settings—supports locally relevant participation while maintaining coherence for transferability. Training youth ambassadors proved instrumental in building peer-led capacity and sustaining engagement, anchoring ULL processes within both civic networks and higher education institutions, enhancing legitimacy, continuity and potential for long-term impact. When strategically embedded and iteratively implemented, youth-oriented ULLs can function as durable participatory infrastructures. The PS-U-GO model offers a replicable and context-sensitive method for integrating youth agency into inclusive and sustainable urban governance practices.