Ecosystem innovation as trigger of new paths and practices for urban space

Abstract

Purpose - The main tenet of this paper is to analyse the contribution given by urban socio-ecological systems (Ostrom & Cox, 2010), such as those created through of platforms of co-design and cooperation linked to public urban space life and transformations, effectively defined as urban living-labs (Concilio & Molinari, 2014) to knowledge-sharing processes and innovations in the city. Against this background, cities are developing collaborative open-innovative (Chesbrough & Appleyard, 2007) and digital environments to boost local competitiveness and prosperity by using knowledge networks and partnerships (Paskaleva, 2009). This paper will describe the process enacted within those initiatives, explaining their relevance in the perspective of urban policy and design. Design/methodology/approach - The authors will firstly identify the general framework of their research through a brief review of literature related to urban living labs, then they will focus on a relevant case-study in order to describe paths of knowledge and value creation process generated by cooperative and shared design projects in the public domain, with the effective support of technologies (Folke, Hahn, Olsson, & Norberg, 2005). They will analyse the Atenistas experience, an ongoing Greek experience, which experiments actions around public space, improving citizens involvement in city life. The conclusion will sketch some emerging tendencies and criticalities arising from the relation between space and organizations, also in comparison with other international mature cases. Originality/value - The absence of a strong frame and objective, the variability of the roles played by actors involved in the decision-making processes about urban environment, and the combination with virtual platform, as described in the cases study, are in our perspective some key factor to open up new paths and process for the design of collective spaces. To analyse existing local based experiences, can help to underline where and how innovative processes can concretize and become value co-creation process with concrete effects on the urban environment. Practical implications - The paper describes some possible outcomes for planning and policy design, identifying some starter device which generate unplanned chains or clusters of process-project that are developing in time. This reveal some eventual opportunities in the way technicians and institution may operate, learning form how the binomial ``urban places-cyberspaces relations{''} is testing new practices. These experimentations can have some economical and governance impacts but make us reflect on the material result in terms of vision, projects and transformation of the space.