Cities worldwide are increasingly turning to experimentation as they confront the twin challenges of climate change and sustainability.
From mobility trials and renewable energy pilots to circular economy initiatives and expanded green spaces, local governments are running hundreds of innovative programs.
Yet, according to new research from Monash Business School, many of these efforts “stay small, stay siloed, or fade when funding ends.”
Published in Nature Cities, the study examined almost 2,000 urban experiments across the globe, identifying ten key lessons to help cities design, govern, and sustain these initiatives.
The research suggests that while local experimentation is now a hallmark of urban responses to climate challenges, cities often fail to translate short-term pilots into lasting, system-wide transformation.
Professor Rob Raven, from the Monash Business School and first author of the study, said the findings call for a rethink of how experimentation is viewed in urban governance.
“Our findings challenge the idea that urban experiments are simply small, temporary pilots that should either ‘scale up’ or be abandoned,” Professor Raven said.
“Instead, we show that experimentation should be treated as an ongoing governance practice, embedded in how cities plan, make decisions, and learn over time.
“This shifts attention away from quick wins and one-off projects, towards building the institutional capacity, partnerships, and learning systems cities need to navigate uncertainty, tensions, and competing priorities.”
The Monash team’s framework emphasises three central themes: how experiments are designed and evaluated; how power and decision-making shape outcomes; and how efforts can lead to enduring change.
The ten lessons identified include integrating social, technical and ecological dimensions; fostering cross-sector learning; acknowledging the politics of experimentation; and recognising experimentation as a permanent governance practice, rather than a temporary project.
For the public, this research highlights the deep connection between experimental city projects and daily urban life. Initiatives in transport, energy, housing, food systems, and climate resilience all influence how people live, commute, and consume resources.
The study found that when well designed and governed, experiments can create more inclusive, liveable and sustainable cities.
Conversely, without strong governance and learning mechanisms, they risk reinforcing inequality, wasting public funds, or producing only superficial change.
Co-author Professor Megan Farrelly, from Monash’s School of Social Sciences within the Faculty of Arts, said the findings provide an opportunity for reflection and reform.
“Cities and local partners can use these findings to pause and reflect on how they run urban experiments, and whether those efforts are really delivering long-term change,” Professor Farrelly said.
“This was an exciting collaboration, bringing together leading international scholars who have long been invested in advancing urban responses to climate change.
“This has led to an outcome that sets up an approach for current and future government decision-makers to get the most out of their innovative (experimental) efforts.”
The ten lessons form a diagnostic framework designed to help policymakers identify strengths, gaps, and missed opportunities across their sustainability initiatives.
Beyond the city level, the study urges state and federal governments to play a stronger coordinating role in facilitating collaboration, helping lessons travel between cities, and reducing the constant “reinvention of the wheel.”
