Co-creating app-based policy measures for mobility behavior change: A trigger for novel governance practices at the urban level

In the framework of “smart city” strategies, cities worldwide are exploiting information and communication technologies to support their efforts in reducing car use. Recent understandings of smart cities suggest to put people at the core, by actively engaging citizens in co-creating innovative urban services. However, notwithstanding the benefits of participatory processes in urban governance are well-known, low receptiveness towards them is still widespread, which can largely hinder the effectiveness of smart city interventions. In this paper we present the experience of a Swiss city, where, against a past background of resistance to participatory processes, a “living” lab experiment was set for the co-creation of a behavior change app targeting a reduction in car-based traffic. Motivated by the opportunity to overcome limitations of such apps, the lab turned out to deliver wider benefits than initially expected. In fact, the concrete experience of new mobility behaviors stimulated by the app activated a collective learning process among lab participants. Discussions in the lab thus spontaneously scaled-up to far-reaching and potentially conflicting topics about future mobility scenarios. Furthermore, the protected space of the lab favored strengthening of reciprocal trust between citizens and policy-makers, opening-up possibilities for adoption of participatory practices also in future decision-making.