Study title

The Looper project was a European research project on finding solutions to urban problems using co-creation. The project ran from 2017 until 2020 and was funded under the JPI Urban Europe ERA-NET Cofund Smart Urban Futures Call. The Looper Living Labs served as new models for experimental design and innovation at the urban and community level. They addressed practical problems such as air quality, road safety, noise, or green space. The Living Labs were based on the involvement of stakeholders, continuous monitoring of changes and direct consideration of their impact on the implementation process. There were Looper Living Labs in Brussels, Manchester and Verona. Data includes traffic data (vehicle types and speeds), and noise (decibels).The public realm is a place where urban stakeholders interact and sometimes come into conflict. Symptoms such as traffic congestion, street safety and air pollution are difficult to tackle, as they involve multiple stakeholders. Planning and implementation to improve public space can be enhanced through co-creation, but examples of co-creation approaches and tools that overarch the full planning cycle are rare. The aim of the LOOPER is to build a participatory co-creation methodology and platform, to demonstrate 'learning loops' i.e. new ways of decision-making which bring together citizens, stakeholders and policy-makers to iteratively learn how to address urban challenges. A typical loop starts with debate on topical issues, then frames the problem and collects data using participatory sensing. The platform then visualizes the data, and enables the co-design and evaluation of solutions. The selected solutions are then implemented, and the results are monitored with a second loop learning from the first. LOOPER will produce a prototype platform with demonstrations in three Urban Living Labs with different spatial, cultural and thematic contexts: traffic calming and pedestrianisation in Brussels; street safety and security in...