The future of urban experimentation through ten critical lessons from decades of practice

What role can urban experimentation play in making cities more sustainable? Our new paper published in Nature Cities revisits the concept of urban sustainability experiments, first introduced in Bai et al. (2010), and reflects on what has been learned over the past 15 years.

This paper, co-authored by ARC Laureate Distinguished Professor Xuemei Bai and an international team, reviews evidence from eight global databases documenting nearly 2,000 urban experiments. These initiatives include pilot projects and new governance approaches that cities use to test solutions to challenges such as climate change, infrastructure transitions, and urban resilience.

Drawing on this large body of experience, ten key lessons about how urban experimentation works in practice are identified. The analysis highlights the importance of collaboration, knowledge sharing across cities, and embedding experiments within broader governance systems. Together, these lessons offer guidance on how experimentation can better support long-term urban sustainability transformations.

Reference:

Raven, Rob, von Wirth, Timo, Bai, Xuemei, Bulkeley, Harriet, Farrelly, Megan, McCormick, Kes, . . . Wieczorek, Anna. (2026). The future of urban experimentation through ten critical lessons from decades of practice. Nature Cities. doi:10.1038/s44284-026-00398-z

Bai, Xuemei, Roberts, Brian, & Chen, Jing. (2010). Urban sustainability experiments in Asia: patterns and pathways. Environmental Science & Policy, 13(4), 312-325. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2010.03.011