Publication: Thinking Urban Transformation through Elsewhere

The scientific article "Thinking Urban Transformation through Elsewhere: A Conversation between Real-World Labs in São Paulo and Hamburg on Governance and Practical Action” aims to gain a deeper understanding of how urban real-world laboratories (RWLs) contribute to urban transformation in different contexts. The article, authored by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Cathrin Zengerling together with Prof. Anita Engels and Martin Kohler from Hamburg and Prof. Ana Paula Koury from São Paulo, has now been published open access within the special issue “Climate Change and Human Reaction: Transformation, Governance, Ethics, Law” of the scientific journal Sustainability (MDPI). 

The authors 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 (see figure below). Among the findings, both labs show potential to contribute to long-term transformative change through governance and practical action.

Figure 1:

Scheme of comparison model. in: Kohler, M., Engels, A., Koury, A.P., Zengerling, C. (2021). Thinking Urban Transformation through Elsewhere: A Conversation between Real-World Labs in São Paulo and Hamburg on Governance and Practical Action. Sustainability, 13 (22), p. 4.

Tile image:

Riesenspatz. (2020). Schematic design of the Lokstedt RWL in space and time in German. in: Kohler, M., Engels, A., Koury, A.P., Zengerling, C. (2021). Thinking Urban Transformation through Elsewhere: A Conversation between Real-World Labs in São Paulo and Hamburg on Governance and Practical Action. Sustainability, 13 (22), p. 8.