Guide to good Urban Lab ideas

Positive examples of ideas implemented in other cities, referred to as good practices, undoubtedly contribute to active measures aimed at improving the conditions and quality of life in the city and involving citizens in the decision-making process. The increasing willingness and commitment to invent solutions by residents, to experiment and test prototypes in the urban environment, also lead to initiatives undertaken by various urban stakeholders, whether clustered or not, around NGOs, municipal and academic institutions or commercial entities. This study is a collection of exemplary urban good practices, with various topics, which have been implemented – or are still being continued as long-term activities – in different countries and cities of varied size and conditions. The publication presents extensive experience and can be the inspiration for cities, local governments, organizations and, above all, city laboratories when designing their own initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life of citizens.

The starting point for the creation of the report was the first edition of the conference entitled “Urban Lab Forum”, which took place in the „Miasto360 | zone City 360” during the 11th session of the World Urban Forum in Katowice in June 2022. The conference was organized by the Institute of Urban and Regional Development in cooperation with the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy.

Table of contents (Spis treści):

INTRODUCTION / 4
Recommendations / 6
GOOD PRACTICES / 8
Responsible Sensing in Amsterdam Urban Labs – CITIXL (Amsterdam) / 8
How does playing via Zoom help Catalan officials support human rights defenders? – Smilemundo / 12
“Gieß den Kiez” – Water the trees in your neighbourhood – CityLAB Berlin / 14
More than raw data: the story of the Open Data portal of the municipality of Eindhoven / 18
Good practices of co-creation in limited conditions: implementation of DECIDIM in Gdynia (Poland) – UrbanLab Gdynia / 26
Meeting halfway, i.e. how, why and for what purpose did the Metropolis GZM begin to cooperate with the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice and why we talked about the river – Metropolis GZM / 29
Prototyping schools – Metropolis GZM / 33
Data-driven investment process – Kielce City Hall / 36
Compact Pleszew, that is Poland’s first “15-minute city” – Town and Community Council in Pleszew / 40
Rotterdam Rooftop Days (Rotterdamse Dakendagen) / 43
Designing a city by children using the Minecraft game – Urban Lab Rzeszów / 47
EHU Critical Urbanism Lab – Laboratory for Critical Urbanism (Vilnius) / 51