ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the living lab approach has been transferred from the private to the public sector and has emerged as a research infrastructure and governance tool for urban transitions. It defines human-centric design and innovation as the underlying default for both living lab research streams, and the suffix driven identifies the host institution. Living labs have an appeal as they can suggest rigour and innovation, and in some instances become almost a model for urban development. More recent literature and projects have shown that the living lab approach has been adopted as a tool in urban governance and sustainability research. Living labs have favourable characteristics for catalysing transitions across institutional and geographical boundaries. National and international networks are vital for living labs to share and spread knowledge, to jointly develop methodologies and evaluation indicators, to increase their visibility and to attract funding.
