LabGov – the LABoratory for the GOVernance of the City as a Commons – is an international network of theoretical, empirical and applied research platforms engaged in exploring and developing methods, policies, and projects focused on the shared and collaborative management of urban spaces and resources.
The first LabGov was founded in 2011 at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome. In November 2015, LabGov organized the first international conference on urban commons and brought together over 200 academia, experts and practitioners from around the world to exchange knowledge and insights about urban commons’ initiatives and projects. Following this conference, LabGov has now grown into an international platform with presence at Georgetown University, Universidad Latina de Costa Rica and Hong Kong Univeristy, and projects active in several European cities (e.g. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cesena, Gdansk, Gent, Iasi, Presov, Reggio Emilia, Roma, Turin), US cities (e.g. New York, Baton Rouge), San Jose Costa Rica and in the near future in Hong Kong too.
The Co-City Protocol is the result of the field-experiments designed, analysed and interpreted by LabGov in several European cities together with in-depth investigations and case studies of 100+ globally.
The concept of the Co-City interprets the city as a common infrastructure enabling cooperation, sharing, and participatory decision, supported by open data and guided by principles of distributive justice. A Co-City approach is based on collaborative and polycentric governance of urban built environment, cultural, knowledge and digital resources, which are co-owned or co-managed through various forms of partnerships engaging different stakeholders and players in the society. LEARN MORE
LabGov created and hosted a Co-Cities database with 130+ cities implementing hundreds of commons-based projects and urban policies. The Co-City Open Book consists of reports documenting the results of research experimentations on the field implementing new forms of collaborative city-making with the aims to create new frontiers of participatory urban governance, inclusive economic growth and social innovation. LEARN MORE
Centre for Civil Society and Governance joined LabGov in 2021 and has extended the LabGov network to the Asia Pacific region. LabGov Hong Kong, steered by Professor Wai-Fung LAM, hopes to integrate the Centre’s work on sustainability with the urban commons’ framework and design methodology for knowledge exchange and experiment at both the local and international levels.
Calls for Scholarship and Studentship Applications at LUISS Guido Carli University
LabGov’s founding university – LUISS Guido Carli University — is offering scholarships and studentships for prospective students
under the LDIS (Law, Digital Innovation & Sustainability) Engagement Program.
Click here for further details about the calls for 3 scholarships by LabGov, NTT, Fondazione Gasbarri. Research & Innovation Studentships are also available for enrolled students to support R&I projects. The application period starts from 1 June and ends at noon on 4 July 2023.
For more information about financial aid, please click here if you are a Luiss student. Otherwise, please click here for more information if you are a non-Italian student.