Are you interested in what is the role of academic researchers in establishing the better future of cities?
Our summary today works with the article titled Urban futures: systemic or system changing interventions? A literature review using Meadows’ leverage points as analytical framework from 2020 by Corina Angheloiu and Mike Tennant, published in the Cities journal.
This is a great preparation to the following Panel discussion in episode 150 with Jeni Paay, Richard Manasseh and Magnus Moglia conversing about academia’s role and responsibilities for the better future of cities.
Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see what needs to be changed to achieve sustainability through academic literature. This article presents the need to rethink not just outcomes but processes for urban transformations including the roles and agency of urban researchers.
As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

In academic research, there is a need to focus on processes as much as on outcomes and this article cautions against solely focusing on parameters while disregarding the feedback loops, system structure and mental models that are legitimised.
The disproportionate focus on parameters poses the risk of supporting long-term target setting or infrastructural decisions that are not systemic which can result in falling short of acknowledging and interrogating the dominant worldview, values and paradigms underpinning them – only strengthening the status quo.
When intervening in complex systems characterised by wicked problems, there are not good or bad interventions, but better or worse ones.

You can find the article through this link.
Abstract: Urban-led change for sustainability is a key site of intervention in delivering the ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals. Within this broad discourse, four umbrella concepts have emerged in recent decades: urban sustainability, urban transitions, urban transformation and urban resilience. This literature review aims to offer a qualitative assessment of the types of interventions currently being advocated for in academic-led literature. Firstly, the paper presents an overview of the concepts and summarises current gaps; secondly, it uses Donella Meadows' Leverage Points as analytical framework to categorise and discuss interventions supported in the literature. Our findings indicate that although the literature advocates for systemic change towards sustainability as an outcome of a large palette of urban interventions, less consideration is given to the means of achieving these. The findings highlight the need to focus on processes as much as on outcomes when advocating, devising or implementing interventions. This requires a process of understanding and negotiating trade-offs and the different worldviews and values that underpin them. Addressing this entails going beyond technocratic skills through cultivating reflexivity, effective communities of practice and new forms of organising for knowledge production, as well as interrogate our roles and agency as urban researchers.
Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

⁠⁠No.090 - Interview with Professor Matthew McCartney⁠⁠ about research of different disciplines;
⁠⁠No.132 - Interview with Professor Michael Batty⁠ about urban research and data use;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠this link⁠⁠.
What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠are also available.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.
Music by ⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠from ⁠⁠Pixabay