Since 2014, about 50 CityLabs have been mobilized in Dutch cities by the Creatieve Industries Fund-NL, bringing design and co-creation together for formulating socially and environmentally inclusive strategies. What is the impact of CityLabs, could they become a worldwide movement, and what are potential roles of such labs in diverse political regimes? With Turkish guests we focus on the case of the Mersin CityLab, while exploring the future of CityLabs.
Until 2020, the CityLab movement of the Creatieve Industries Fund-NL will continue under a national program: ‘Anders Werken aan de Stad, Dorp en Land’ (different approach on city, village and country). Doing so, the program focusses on local governments and concentrates on the co-creative approach on ‘City Making’. Local governments build up a CityLab together with designers, citizens and all other possible stakeholders, and work in a co-creative process to solve the problems on current spatial and social issues in their own municipality.
As Stadslabs mature and develop new forms of co-creation processes, similar spaces for local action are developing worldwide. They are becoming an integral part of official single handed planning we know from the last century. What could become the impact of CityLabs?
