Living Lab Overview
From Dreams Knowledge Platform
The Brussels Living Lab tested three shared mobility solutions in Neder-Over-Heembeek: a peer-to-peer company car-sharing scheme, shared cargo bikes, and a social taxi service using volunteer drivers provided with carsharing vehicles. Alongside these pilots, the Living Lab also worked to identify viable business and governance models for this type of service, including the potential of flexible mobility-activity hubs at existing highly-frequented locations.
The Budapest Living Lab aims to provide an effective alternative to the reliance on private car usage and low-frequency public transport in the Rákosmente district of Budapest. By encouraging more sustainable transport modes, the living lab seeks to reduce the reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, thereby fostering a greener and more accessible urban environment. A further objective is to test an island-like bike-sharing operation, independent of the large inner-city service area.
Geretsried, a car-dependent town near Munich with no direct rail link, ran a nearly two-year Living Lab to design a network of mobility points combining car sharing, bike sharing, and better bus connections. A planning process to design a mobility point pilot and scale it up across Geretsried's neighborhoods led to council approval of a pilot at the central B11 bus stop, plus a long-term plan for four more locations.
A living lab focused on urban outskirts, testing station design as mobility hubs and the governance of transport planning in disadvantaged areas.
Overvecht is a spacious and relatively green post-war neighbourhood, characterised by a mix of low-, medium- and high-rise housing within a distinctive green urban structure (Gemeente Utrecht, 2025). The neighbourhood also has a relatively high concentration of households in a financially vulnerable position: 28% of households live on an income up to 125% of the statutory social minimum, compared with 14% across Utrecht (Gemeente Utrecht, Onderzoek & Advies, 2026). At the same time, Utrecht is transitioning towards more sustainable and space-efficient urban mobility. The Municipality of Utrecht is gradually introducing paid on-street parking across the city, including in Overvecht, with citywide implementation planned by 2034. This policy aims, among other things, to encourage alternatives to private car use and create more public space for walking, cycling, shared mobility and green space (Gemeente Utrecht, 2024). Against this background, affordable and accessible alternatives to private car use are becoming increasingly important. The Utrecht Living Lab explores how different business and operational models, together with reduced user tariffs, can make shared cargo bikes more affordable, accessible and viable in this context.
Siebenhirten, in Vienna's 23rd district of Liesing, is a car-dependent peripheral neighbourhood characterised by large-scale social housing, limited local amenities, and few opportunities for everyday life within walking distance. The Living Lab set out to explore whether a temporary pop-up hub could improve local accessibility, encourage active travel, and foster social interaction in an area that falls outside the reach of conventional 15-minute city strategies. Over six weeks, the Living Lab tested a mobile community hub — the Raum_Wagen — combining free cultural programming with a temporary bike-sharing station.