Dynamics of sustained co-design in Urban Living Labs

Urban Living Labs (ULLs) are increasingly applied to tackle wicked design challenges in smart cities and smart mobility contexts. A persisting challenge for ULLs in urban contexts is creating engagement and scaling research insights and design findings. Drawing on a case study concerned with the co-design of future mobility services, where private and public sectors collaborated to explore future mobility in two different user communities, we explore co-design and scaling dynamics from a participatory infrastructure perspective. Based on the findings, we introduce the concepts of patching and cogitation. Cogitation is defined as a reflective state, which revolves around the act of embracing co-design methods and logic to address a design challenge. Patching is described as an activity that aids in scaling findings and insights from ULLs to support cogitation within the ULL, and the sustaining of findings into other contexts. We argue that the concepts of patching and cogitation can help researchers and practitioners understand the micro-dynamics of engaged co-design and scaling dynamics and provide support when planning, managing, and analysing participatory infrastructures such as ULLs.