Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Conceptualizing testbed planning : Urban planning in the intersection between experimental and public sector logics

Berglund-Snodgrass, Lina and Mukhtar-Landgren, Dalia LU (2020) In Urban Planning 5(1). p.96-106
Abstract

Urban planning is, in many countries, increasingly becoming intertwined with local climate ambitions, investments in urban attractiveness and “smart city” innovation measures. In the intersection between these trends, urban experimentation has developed as a process where actors are granted action space to test innovations in a collaborative setting. One arena for urban experimentation is urban testbeds. Testbeds are sites of urban development, in which experimentation constitutes an integral part of planning and developing the area. This article introduces the notion of testbed planning as a way to conceptualize planning processes in delimited sites where planning is combined with processes of urban experimentation. We define testbed... (More)

Urban planning is, in many countries, increasingly becoming intertwined with local climate ambitions, investments in urban attractiveness and “smart city” innovation measures. In the intersection between these trends, urban experimentation has developed as a process where actors are granted action space to test innovations in a collaborative setting. One arena for urban experimentation is urban testbeds. Testbeds are sites of urban development, in which experimentation constitutes an integral part of planning and developing the area. This article introduces the notion of testbed planning as a way to conceptualize planning processes in delimited sites where planning is combined with processes of urban experimentation. We define testbed planning as a multi-actor, collaborative planning process in a delimited area, with the ambition to generate and disseminate learning while simultaneously developing the site. The aim of this article is to explore processes of testbed planning with regard to the role of urban planners. Using an institutional logics perspective we conceptualize planners as navigating between a public sector-and an experimental logic. The public sector logic constitutes the formal structure of “traditional” urban planning, and the experimental logic a collaborative and testing governance structure. Using examples from three Nordic municipalities, this article explores planning roles in experiments with autonomous buses in testbeds. The analysis shows that planners negotiate these logics in three different ways, combining and merging them, separating and moving between them or acting within a conflictual process where the public sector logic dominates.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Experimental governance, Institutional logics, Testbed planning, Urban experimentation, Urban planning
in
Urban Planning
volume
5
issue
1
pages
11 pages
publisher
Cogitatio
external identifiers
  • scopus:85087614036
ISSN
2183-7635
DOI
10.17645/UP.V5I1.2528
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a6327cad-c2cb-45ca-b131-d8aac26901f6
date added to LUP
2020-12-30 13:15:44
date last changed
2022-04-26 22:58:02
@article{a6327cad-c2cb-45ca-b131-d8aac26901f6,
  abstract     = {{<p>Urban planning is, in many countries, increasingly becoming intertwined with local climate ambitions, investments in urban attractiveness and “smart city” innovation measures. In the intersection between these trends, urban experimentation has developed as a process where actors are granted action space to test innovations in a collaborative setting. One arena for urban experimentation is urban testbeds. Testbeds are sites of urban development, in which experimentation constitutes an integral part of planning and developing the area. This article introduces the notion of testbed planning as a way to conceptualize planning processes in delimited sites where planning is combined with processes of urban experimentation. We define testbed planning as a multi-actor, collaborative planning process in a delimited area, with the ambition to generate and disseminate learning while simultaneously developing the site. The aim of this article is to explore processes of testbed planning with regard to the role of urban planners. Using an institutional logics perspective we conceptualize planners as navigating between a public sector-and an experimental logic. The public sector logic constitutes the formal structure of “traditional” urban planning, and the experimental logic a collaborative and testing governance structure. Using examples from three Nordic municipalities, this article explores planning roles in experiments with autonomous buses in testbeds. The analysis shows that planners negotiate these logics in three different ways, combining and merging them, separating and moving between them or acting within a conflictual process where the public sector logic dominates.</p>}},
  author       = {{Berglund-Snodgrass, Lina and Mukhtar-Landgren, Dalia}},
  issn         = {{2183-7635}},
  keywords     = {{Experimental governance; Institutional logics; Testbed planning; Urban experimentation; Urban planning}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{96--106}},
  publisher    = {{Cogitatio}},
  series       = {{Urban Planning}},
  title        = {{Conceptualizing testbed planning : Urban planning in the intersection between experimental and public sector logics}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/UP.V5I1.2528}},
  doi          = {{10.17645/UP.V5I1.2528}},
  volume       = {{5}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}