1 | Understanding Tourism Destination Development in China

2.2.2 FROM ICT TO WICKED PROBLEMS

Furthermore, the final output of a Living Lab has changed from concrete ICT outputs to more intangible values. The first Living Lab, the PlaceLab, focused more on how people used products and spaces, based on the usage of chronocyclegraph, and as shown in Figure 2.3. From there, the Living Lab became an environment to test how technology is given shape in a real-life context (Ballon et al., 2005). With the booming emergence of ULL projects under the influence of EnoLL, the final output is broadened to include the innovation of new services, products, application enhancements (Leminen & Westerlund, 2017), and ICT-based innovations (Schaffers & Kulkki, 2007). Later, the output was shifted to create something more intangible, such as sustainable values (Schaffers & Kulkki, 2007). It is also perceived that a living lab can lead to innovation and solutions to multi-faceted wicked problems (Heikkanen, 2019).

2.2.3 FROM THE REAL-WORLD CONTEXT TO THE REAL WORLD

One precondition for Living Lab activities is real-world contexts (Chronéer et al., 2019). However, these real-world environments can be simulated environments. It is necessary that in a ULL, real urban contexts are considered important factors to facilitate experimentation about sustainability solutions (Wirth, 2019) and tackle challenges faced by the community (JPI Urban Europe, 2018). Similarity to the real urban environment allows stakeholders to design, test, and learn from the innovations in real-time, which then accelerates the design and adoption of sustainable innovations (von Wirth et al., 2019).

Nevertheless, even with those characteristics, the ULL is still very broad and an abstract concept for planners and decision-makers to know how to apply it as a method to help with the urban design process (AMS Institute, 2019). Moreover, the scope of the physical space of ULLs has not been well-studied.

2.3 CATEGORIZATION OF URBAN LIVING LAB

Recent literature has tried different methods of categorizing ULLs, attempting to find common denominators behind the labs through organizing the existing papers and cases from different perspectives. The Human Computer Interaction researchers (Alavi et al., 2020) looked at a Living Lab through the lens of technology involvement, especially in how it collects data related to people’s behavior, with types that do not include citizen sensing categorized as “Innovation Spaces.” They focused more on the data collection process and sensors’ combination into spaces (Alavi et al., 2020). By looking at cases in the Netherlands, the AMS Institute (2019) tried to use user involvement and the living lab process stage (from research, development, testing, implementation, to commercialization) to categorize ULLs.

Figure 2.3 The world distribution of EnroLL accredited Living Labs Note: Living Labs for Rural Areas: Contextualization of Living Lab Frameworks, Concepts and Practices(Zavratnik et al., 2019)

Figure 2.4 The birth and expansion of Living Lab in China and around the world Source: author’s own drawing

Figure 2.5 Characteristic of an Urban Living Lab and a Living Lab Source: author’s own drawing adapt from Urban Living Labs: A Living Lab Way of Working (Steen & van Bueren, 2017)

2.4 URBAN LIVING LABS IN CHINA

ULL concept is still in its infancy in nations like China. In 2009, the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications explored the Living Lab innovation model in healthcare and elderly care. After that, the Guangdong University of Technology and other colleges and universities started to carry out design teaching activities around the concept of the Living Lab. In 2015, Tongji University was the first to join EnoLL, and it fully applied the Living Lab concept in district redevelopment, urban-rural interaction, and the circular economy. A series of social innovation activities such as NICE2035 and Design Harvest 2.0 have been established, with NICE2035 being the only registered Living Lab organization in China (Lou & Ma, 2018).

Nevertheless, there has yet to be a theoretical analysis of the establishment and functionality of such practices in China. As a result, this dissertation proposes new opportunities for municipal governments and developers to understand the spatial interventions of such a Living Lab and its impact on the environment around it. By studying cases during fieldwork and looking into locally-based practices, the following chapter studies how a living lab could be built at the community level in China.

3

USING LIVING LAB TO TAKE DESTINATIONS TO THE NEXT LEVEL

The previous chapter explained the characteristics of the Living Lab. This chapter summarizes several studies that have postulated a convergence between Living Labs and the sustainable development of tourism destinations when considering innovating urban regeneration policies. Barosio et al. (2016) state that three types of policies can be distinguished within an integrated area-based approach (as shown in Figure 3.1): (1) Place-oriented policies that aim to create a better physical environment, (2) people-oriented policies that focus on greater social lives for residents, and (3) organization-oriented policies that look into improving the operation and management system. Borrowing this scheme as a clue to understanding the new urban regeneration mechanism, the literature of Urban Labs in the abovementioned three approaches we investigated.

3.1 PLACE-ORIENTED: LABS AND THE PHYSICAL UPGRADATION OF LOCAL AREAS

Many discussions about how the Living Lab has been applied to revitalize vacant third places. According to the AMS Institute (2019), “vacant plots within cities prove to be great options for use as the location for a Living Lab.” Wachter (2021) argues that the Living Lab shares similar characteristics with transnational urbanism theories, such as experimental urbanism and tactical urbanism, because they are also temporary and grassroots-based in third places. By examining four distinct URLs in the cities of Rotterdam, Netherlands; and Malmo, Sweden. Cardullo (2018) studied Living Labs in Dublin, Ireland, where they identified and categorized five initiatives concerning vacancy and gentrification: (1) pop-up initiatives, (2) university-led activities, (3) community-organized venues/activities, (4) citizen sensing and crowdsourcing, and (5) tech-led regeneration initiatives. However, the integration of Living Lab to urban regeneration in China has not been fully understood.

3.2 PEOPLE-ORIENTED: LIVING LABS AND SELF-GOVERNANCE IN DESTINATIONS

ULLs can be seen as auxiliaries to encourage citizen participation in promoting smart cities. The smart-city situation in China, however, proves to be more complex. Kummitha & Crutzen (2019) argue that smart cities can be seen in two ways: a technology- and human-driven approach that promotes a bottom-up way to transform residents’ intelligence into something good, and a top-down way that focuses more on the digitalization of key infrastructures. As observed by Song and Han (2019), there has been a lack of human-driven methods in China’s smart city promotion, and the development of China’s smart cities has been very much driven by the top-down. Indeed, smart cities are something that the Chinese government has been pursuing for years. In order to increase the competitiveness of the country,

1

2 Figure 3.1 Classification of urban regeneration policies Note: From urban renewal to urban regeneration: Classification criteria for urban interventions. Turin 1995-2015: Evolution of planning tools and approaches , elaborated by SiTI Figure 3.2 Participatory Design way towards smart city Note: ‘Participatory Design: Ideas, Methods, Practices’, lecture, International Women’s University (IFU), Project Area Information, Hamburg, Germany, July 26, 2000. the Chinese government has put much money and effort into smart city development. However, it is also important to acknowledge the fact that the Living Lab is a “political being“ that is constantly evolving and transforming. In other words, it has the ability to influence or even challenge the government’s power in the redevelopment process. In the current planning phase of ULLs in China, residents are usually seen merely as the end-user of designs. The Chinese government does not trust the ability of residents to regulate themselves. As Geisselmann (2019) suggests, the government is also afraid that increasing space for public participation may open Pandora’s Box of issues and conflicts. For instance, allowing public input may result in a loss of state control and a decrease in potential profits. Lou & Ma (2018), however, challenged this idea and pointed out that Chinese residential community is close to all kinds of problems that people encounter in the city, and thus, is the perfect testbed for new scenarios and solutions. The case of the NICE2035 project promoted by Lou & Ma (2018) demonstrates that the Living Lab is another possible way towards a smart city by putting residents in the design cycle, as illustrated in Figure 3.2. Nevertheless, research on such initiatives’ design and planning strategies is still limited.

3.3 ORGANIZATION-ORIENTED: LABS AND INNOVATION STRATEGIES IN DESTINATIONS

Recent studies have shown that Living Labs can enhance the appeal and innovative ability of their surrounding districts. Firstly, several cross-sectional studies suggest that ULLs effectively boost the attractiveness of tourism destinations by engaging local communities and tourists in the innovation process. Pucihar (2014) writes that through Living Labs, “tourist service providers will obtain insight into what tourists want and will have an opportunity to improve and develop new services targeted to different customer segments. (Page2)“ Concerning destination management, ULLs are also found to have the ability to boost the attractiveness of rural areas and agritourism activities in countries like Bulgaria and Canada (Guimont & Lapointe, 2016). Cigir (2018) explored applying the Living Lab model in sustainable and responsible tourism by establishing a new network map.

On top of that, Living Labs can also actively increase the creativity of local areas. Living Labs can act as the ‘open innovation intermediaries’ (Almirall & Wareham, 2011) between firms, public agencies, universities and institutes, and users by sharing information (Leminen & Westerlund, 2017). Through ULLs, citizens can participate in their cities’ design, construction, and management (Kummitha & Crutzen, 2019), as shown in Figure 3.3-.5. However, there is currently no organized data of the spatial, systematic, and social change in which the Living Lab brings to local communities in the Chinese context.

3 4 5 Figure 3.3 Original diagram by Metahaven as published in Bratton’s The Stack: On Software and Sovereignty (2016) Source: author’s own drawing adapted from Bratton’s The Stack: On Software and Sovereignty(2016)

Figure 3.4 Diagram variations by G. Costello. Diagram of the Stack as represented 6-layers deep, multiple activations as “zigzagging” columns from top to bottom layer. Source: author’s own drawing adapated from G. Costello. Diagram of the Stack

Figure 3.5 Diagram variations by G. Costello. Diagram of the Stack, showing user’s powerlessness in the face of digital transformation Source: author’s own drawing adapated from G. Costello. Diagram of the Stack

4

LIVING LAB AS A NEW PARADIGM FOR TOURISM DESTINATION DESIGN IN CHINA

4.1 CASE ANALYSIS

In order to propose how Living Labs can work in tourism destinations in China, a complete case study, listed in Table 4.1, was conducted to study existing Chinese Living Labs and related design-driven social innovation organizations. This dissertation selected Living Lab activities using the defining characteristics proposed by Steen & van Bueren in 2017 (listed in Table 4.2).

Two Living labs and two design-driven social innovations in China we presented to realize what functions and design logic were behind the Labs. How those can help form impacts in the context of a new agent that transforms the space to place and empower the residents was also assessed. By learning from the existing cases, this chapter discusses enabling such initiatives and design for Living Labs in urban regeneration processes. This analysis is based on a collection of project-based research papers, as well as interviews and onsite observations of various Living Lab projects in China, as listed in Table 4.3.

Table 4.1. Steen and van Bueren’s nine defining characteristics of Urban Living Labs (Steen & van Bueren, 2017)

Aspects

Aims

Characteristics

Aimed at innovation Aimed at formal learning for replication For ULLs: Aimed at increasing urban sustainability

Activities

Participants

Context Development (all phases of the product development process Co-creation Iteration (feedback, evaluation, and improvement) Public actors, private actors, users and knowledge institutes participate in the living lab activities All actors involved have decision-making power The living lab activities take place in the real-life use context of the innovation. In many ULLs, this is a territory or a space-bound

Table 4.2 Fieldwork and Interview done by the researchers

Name Organization Registered Living Lab? If yes, what areas are they innovating in?

Jie Zhang DesignUniverse Yes

Zhou Lu, Danwen Ji, Yang Liu NICE 2035 Yes “New fashion”, “community co-creation”, “artificial intelligence and intelligence enhancement”, and “post-epidemic life” Sustainability

Hongrui Li Digua Community No

Haifeng Du Box Community No Community Service provider Co-Living model

Research Type

Self-participate

In-field observation for 3 months, and online activity organization for 3 months In-field interview

Offline interview, Activity organization One of the chosen Living Labs was the DesignUniverse Project in Shanghai. DesignUniverse was a short-term workshop that used a site that was formerly the Lester School and Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education, shown in Figure 4.1, as its main platform to help launch the “Shanghai Institute of Innovation and Creative Design“ in the North Bund, Shanghai. Its aim was to explore a new model of design innovation education facing the future. This event lasted for only three days, but it has had a long-term impact on the local area and the buildings. In the revitalization process, a renovated lecture hall, Fabrication lab, workshops, a temporary WC, and outdoor scaffolding stages were built to provide room for the Living Lab activity.

4.1.2 NICE2035

The NICE2035 project is a university-led lab and the only registered Living Lab in China. It uses a design partnership model that incorporates the school with government and industry. Tongji University has run the NICE2035 project since 2018. NICE2035 sits near Tongji University in Shanghai. The project aims to use the ground floor of a residential community, shown in Figure 4.2, to drive the transformation towards a new way of living in the future (Lou & Ma, 2018). It is a long-term inhabiting lab in the community with studios and maker spaces to test future living sceneries, as shown in Figure 4.6. The original site was home to chaotic street vendors that have long received complaints from residents for being dirty and noisy (Lou & Ma, 2018). It could be concluded that the building of the NICE2035 project began as a University-led activity that was then combined with new ways of building environmental designs.

Living Labs can also be seen in the community-building practices led by social innovation. Because of these activities, this organization has the function of being a Living Lab, enabling residents to become innovation protagonists, while facilitating collaborative entrepreneurial clusters based on the re-organization of community resources. It usually looks like as shared community spaces with shared spaces, museums, and workshops.

4.1.3 DIGUA COMMUNITY

One of such community-building practice is Digua Community, shown in Figure 4.7. Digua’s vision is to rebuild an idle spaces(mainly underground), as shown in Figure 4.3, into a public space that connects underground immigrants’ residents, which are usually referred to as ‘Ant people’. It ends up attracting more people to the site and re-establishing the link between people within the community. It creatively applied the idea of the ‘prosumer,’ which makes the community member not only the producer but also the consumers. The case here is the Digua community in Chengdu. They co-created the bar and café, and also offer some yoga and English classes in exchange for organizational help and activity spaces.

4.1.4 BOX COMMUNITY

Another example is Box Community, which is a regeneration project that sits