As it is not possible to simply roll-out or scale up successful experiments, Urban Futures Studio systematically investigates, how individual experience and progress can be linked to and supported by the institutional world. Their work shows, that experiments can be found anywhere – not only in dense urban areas, known to be fertile ground for innovation, but also in countryside or peripheral conditions, where people are reacting to changes in their world by testing out new options. Suzanne Potjer’s findings suggest, that the practice-oriented and collaborative character of many cases she has studied, helps to introduce new “tangible” realities – a talent that could be most valuable in the mundane world of pragmatic urbanization.
In this podcast, the German-American Urbanist Mark Kammerbauer and Suzanne Potjer – the Project Leader of the Urban Futures Studio project “Experimenting with Cities” at the University of Utrecht – talk about the potentials of experimentation for urban development projects and how it can be operationalized within governance constellations aimed at addressing current and future urban challenges.
