The project “Pop-Up Citizen Lab” from the CAIS research program “Digital Democratic Innovations” is represented with its first scholarly article in the journal Buildings & Cities. The contribution appears in the Special Collection “Living Labs: Agents for Change” and is titled ” Co-creating Urban Transformation: A Stakeholder Analysis for Germany’s Heat Transition.”
In the project, Pauline Heger, research associate, Prof. Dr. Christoph Bieber, research professor and head of the research program, Dr. Mennatullah Hendawy, postdoctoral researcher, and Aryan Shooshtari, research associate, are using new study formats to investigate how citizens feel about the implementation of technical innovations, using the example of heat networks – a technology that is to be used for the energy transition in heating. Instead of traditional surveys, the researchers are relying on innovative citizen laboratories conducted directly on site. These bring science and citizens together and enable the development of novel forms of participation. The findings form the basis for recommendations for action that can be applied both in the city of Bochum and in other smart city projects.
Abstract
This study analyses a real-world experiment (RWE) on heat transition in the urban context of a city–university partnership in Bochum, Germany, highlighting the theoretical foundations, methodological design and practical challenges of transdisciplinary research. Informed by concepts of transdisciplinarity and RWEs, the study situates RWEs as hybrid infrastructures linking scientific enquiry with societal transformation. Transdisciplinarity is conceptualised as a reflexive and integrative principle that fosters reciprocal learning between academic, municipal and civic actors. The research applies the Three-Circle Model of actor involvement as a heuristic to map the evolving, and over time changing, roles of stakeholders. The study employs participatory observation, ethnographic field notes, document analysis and informal interviews. The findings reveal how RWEs function as relational infrastructures that balance experimental rigor with public accessibility, while navigating challenges such as power asymmetries, participation myths and institutional constraints. By embedding agile methods and low-threshold participation formats into everyday urban settings, RWEs emerge as sites of co-creation, democratic innovation and iterative learning. The study offers practical guidance for designing inclusive, transdisciplinary experiments that bridge theory and practice in urban transformation.
Link to the article:
https://journal-buildingscities.org/articles/10.5334/bc.613
Heger, P., Bieber, C., Hendawy, M. & Shooshtari, A. (2025). Co-creating urban transformation: a stakeholder analysis for Germany’s heat transition. Buildings & Cities, 6(1), p. 1046–1060. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.613