Investigating transition with the city as testbed

Work to establish the Geographical Transition Lab Gothenburg–Lindholmen, including the framework for collaboration within the lab, has been under way since autumn 2025. Several innovation projects are now up and running, and for the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, this involves two innovation projects and one research project gathering some ten researchers, focused on studying the transition process.

Together, the projects address different aspects of urban development – from how data can be used to understand how people move around the city, to how residents can take a more active role in developing their local environment, and how the transition process itself can be monitored and learned from.

From vision to verification: when data meets urban planning

Urban development often begins with visions and goals: more people should walk and cycle, places should become more vibrant, and the city should promote health and social sustainability. But how can we know whether these goals are actually achieved once a new neighbourhood or urban space has been built? This is the question at the heart of the project "Data-Driven Methods for Innovative Planning in Municipal Practice, with Lindholmen as a Testbed for Systematic and Verifiable Goal Achievement". The aim is to develop an evidence-based approach to municipal planning, where data on how people actually use the city can be used to monitor and improve urban development over time.

“We need to move from simply formulating visions and goals for the city of the future to being able to continuously monitor whether we are actually achieving them. By combining data and models, we can test planning scenarios before they are implemented, and then measure and learn from their actual effects. This creates a more evidence-based approach to planning, where we can continuously improve both our models and our decisions,” says Meta Berghauser Pont, Professor at ACE and project leader.

An important part of the project is understanding how people move through and spend time in urban environments. The researchers will therefore test and compare several different types of data. This includes so-called big data, such as data purchased from mobile phone apps, as well as data from sensors and on-site observations, including cameras and Wi-Fi-based measurements. By combining different data sources, the researchers aim to develop a robust system that provides a better understanding of how urban environments are used, while taking privacy and GDPR requirements into account.

The data will help bridge the gap between vision and reality and provide a better basis for future decisions on more walkable, sustainable and resilient cities. The project focuses, among other things, on the detailed development plan for the central part of Lindholmen and is being carried out in collaboration with the City of Gothenburg, Chalmersfastigheter and Chalmers Next Labs.

Building together – when residents become co-creators

The second innovation project, Building Together – transition methods for organised local urban development, starts from a different question: What happens when the people who live and work in a place are given the opportunity to actively shape its development themselves?

The project will develop and test collaborative building as a method for sustainable urban development, local capacity for action and circular construction processes. It explores new forms of collaboration between residents, municipalities, organisations and other stakeholders in shaping the development of their local area.

“We look forward to exploring, together with residents, associations, municipalities and other stakeholders, how local knowledge and engagement can become a driving force in urban development and practical transition work. Through co-creation and building together, we want to develop methods that strengthen local capacity for action, circular construction processes and more inclusive living environments,” says Liane Thuvander, project coordinator and Professor at Chalmers. Together with John Helmfridsson, she contributes expertise in methods and practical experience of collaborative building.

Lindholmen is the starting point for the project, but the researchers will also draw on experience from several ongoing initiatives in western Sweden: Väveriet in Uddebo, Andreastorpets Vänboende in Tanum and Husebybergens Egnahemsförening on Orust.

Through activities including visioning processes, self-building and new forms of collaboration, the project will explore how local knowledge and engagement can be harnessed in urban development. The hope is that these approaches can contribute to more inclusive and resilient communities and, in the longer term, be applied in other places.

The project is being carried out in collaboration with Urban Futures, Egnahemsfabriken ideell förening, Väveriet Fastighet AB and Region Västra Götaland, and involves several other stakeholders.

Research follows the process to capture learning along the way

While the two innovation projects are testing new solutions, the third ACE project focuses on the transition process itself. Through research conducted alongside the process, the researchers will study what happens in the transition lab as the work progresses.

This type of research involves studying a process of change over time, rather than only evaluating the results afterwards. This makes it possible to follow how approaches, collaborations and decisions evolve – while also capturing lessons that can be applied during the process itself.

“We want to follow how ideas are translated into action, how decisions are made and how knowledge moves between administrations, sectors and planning levels. The focus is not on individual outcomes, but on understanding how knowledge is translated into decisions and how processes of change develop over time. The aim is to provide a robust basis for drawing specific conclusions about the lab model for Gothenburg–Lindholmen, while also contributing new scientific knowledge about sustainable urban transition from a broader perspective,” says Joanna Gregorowicz Kipszak, project lead researcher, who is conducting the research alongside Janneke van der Leer.

The researchers examine the underlying questions that influence how transition work functions in practice: How do different stakeholders collaborate, and how are decisions made? How is knowledge shared and used, and how can different parts of an organisation work together towards common goals?

To study these questions, the researchers will work closely with the stakeholders involved in the transition lab, including by participating in meetings and activities and conducting interviews, workshops, observations and joint reflection processes. In this way, the research can both follow and provide feedback on the ongoing development.