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Urban areas can be considered the ground for the challenges related to the UN&rsquo, s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The objective of shaping cities as human settlement that will see a more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable future is often argued in literature as an issue dependent on behavioral change of inhabitants in urban areas. In this paper, the authors question if experimental applications based on gamification can co-produce more sustainable neighborhoods through an impact evaluation method that departs from individual choices within the complex of urban mobility. This investigation is carried out within MUV (Mobility Urban Values), an EU research and innovation project, which aims to trigger more sustainable urban mobility in six pilot cities. This article describes the critical method of validation, an impact assessment of the MUV experimental gamification in the pilot cities, in order to represent a proof for future urban strategies. This methodological approach is based on an evaluation structured on indicators of both impact and process suitable for urban contexts. As based on six pilot cities, with possibilities for transferability to other contexts and scalability to other cities, the method represents a reference work for the evaluation of similar experimental applications.

This paper aims to contribute to current research on learning through designing for urban innovation. It provides a framework methodology for a multidisciplinary ecosystem as a participatory method developed in the context of Mobility Urban Values (MUV), an EU Horizon 2020 project (2017–2020), that addresses the issue of behavioral change towards (more) sustainable mobility lifestyle in EU cities. The paper frames the MUV method through the combination of theories on collaborative urban planning and participatory design with a background rooted on governance of public participation, as the interplay between co-creation (thick participation) and co-design (thin participation). MUV participatory method is envisioned as a learning infrastructure that engages at different levels communities, citizens, and stakeholders. This paper addresses the question on how enabling urban innovation through sensitive phases of sociological and technical components to produce learning. The conceptual background of the MUV method and the first application phase of co-creation/co-design for the old city center neighborhood in Palermo, Italy, provide lessons on the results of this approach for a future research agenda and the loop learning. While the method is adopted specifically in relation to mobility urban values, MUV method can inspire a variety of other cases questioning urban innovation through socio-technical learning.

This working paper investigates the question of changing people mobility towards more sustainable habits involving them in an engaging gameplay. The work is performed within MUV H2020 research and innovation action. The game design, definition and features have been co-created through the involvement of different citizens and stakeholders in six European neighbourhoods. The paper discusses the game design as resulting from co-creation and co-design experiences with each neighbourhood communities involved in initial phases. The paper argues that the local co-design activities have influenced the game definition, together with the community engagement approach. The MUV gameplay approach results thus a demand-side measure able to encouraging people to sustainable mobility modes in the awareness of their potential role as agents of urban livability. The data collected by the players will be used to support a citizen-centric approach to facilitate equity and mobility justice in urban policies.

Cities are currently engaged through their urban policies in pushing people towards less environmentally impacting mobility modalities: therefore, cycling and walking are strongly promoted, especially by means of new and wider limited traffic and no-cars zones. In this paper, the effectiveness of the new smartphones and apps-based technologies in modifying the mobility behaviors of citizens towards more sustainable choices has been investigated. Specifically, the potential of a smartphone app, directly involving citizens by means of a game rewarding the most sustainable trips, has been tested on a university commuters' group. These latter, starting from their current mobility situation, were challenged by an enhanced scenario characterized by more restrictive and sustainable targets. Promising results have been obtained suggesting that game–based tools could be effectively used as urban policy interventions intended to obtain a more sustainable mobility., Sweet mobility; Commuters; Smartphone; Game-based app; Air quality; Climate change; Climate policy; Environmental analysis; Environmental pollution; Urban energy consumption; Environmental science; Information science