In today’s volatile and fast-growing world, urban managers and municipalities are expected to proactively predict and quickly respond to emergent urban issues and challenges. The impact of today’s fast-growing cities necessitates adaptive and responsive urban governance that can effectively manage complexities and challenges associated with rapid urbanization while simultaneously promoting sustainable growth, innovation, and inclusiveness. City labs and urban studios have emerged as quick, dynamic, and creative tools that can assist urban managers in executing projects, revising policies, shaping strategies, and leading initiatives. This study aims to examine the role of city labs and urban studios attached to municipalities. The study will review several case studies around the globe ranging from Singapore, and Taipei in far East Asia, through Barcelona and Maastricht in Europe and to the USA where the cases of Boston and West Hollywood will be explored. The review will also focus on analyzing the cases’ governance structure, aims and objectives, strategies, values, partnerships, and outcomes to identify different practices and highlight trends, patterns, and issues. The study goal is not to suggest the best model that can be adopted for an urban studio or a city lab but to explore the complexity, diversity and dynamics of the issue to assist urban managers in defining what best model that best befits their context.
Dr Faisal Al-Osaimy is the Assistant Deputy for the Infrastructure Projects Agency at Riyadh Municipality. His role involves the design and execution of large infrastructural projects in the city of Riyadh. Dr Al-Osaimy was educated in KSA, the USA and the UK. He is also an architect by profession and an academic who teaches at King Saud University. Dr Al-Osaimy’s research interest includes architectural history and theory and urban design.
Owais Al-Sharif, a Jordanian senior architect with two master’s degrees in BIM management and architecture, currently works as the manager of the Urban Design Studio in Riyadh Municipality – KSA. Owais’s 21 years of career is balanced between the construction of prestigious projects and the architectural design of a vast variety of projects including winning international competitions.
Dr Sultan Al-Fraidi is an Assistant Professor of architecture at the University of Hail, KSA. Dr Al-Fraidi is also a practising architect with a special interest in sustainability and architectural theory. Dr Al-Fraidi has completed numerous building projects that have been well-acknowledged for their innovation and design quality. Currently, Dr Al-Fraidi is a consultant at the Riyadh Municipality – Projects Agency where he supervises the design and execution of several large cultural and urban projects.
Dr Mohamed Fageir is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. He also trained and worked as an architect in both the UK and Sudan. Dr Fageir is passionate about architecture and city-building, and he is keen on demonstrating how good quality designs can change peoples’ lives. Dr Fageir now works at Riyadh Municipality as an expert in planning and urban design. His research interests include urban regeneration, sustainable urbanism, and architectural humanities.