Beyond scalable impacts: Roles of mobility experiments in local transition governance

The impact of short-term, localized real-world experiments on sustainable change is debated. Our analysis of three mobility experiments shows that even in the absence of quantifiable results, these experiments are still perceived as successful. By highlighting the underlying collective discursive strategies, we emphasize the different roles of experimentation in local mobility transitions and the importance of social learning and collective understanding in urban experimentation.In this article, we explore the role of real-world experiments in local transition governance, focusing on the negotiation between measurable impacts and the evaluation of localized, tangible outcomes. In our qualitative comparative analysis, we examine three distinct mobility experiments aimed at advancing sustainable transformation in mobility and urban planning, namely the co-creative research project City2Share in Munich, the political program of the Superblocks in Barcelona, and the real-world test bed for automated shuttles Digibus Austria in Koppl near Salzburg. Despite the structural limitations of the temporal, spatial, and legal framework and the uncertainties in measuring the impact, all experiments were presented as successful. This success was negotiated and re-framed via five discursive strategies: mobilizing citizen engagement, highlighting small achievements, manifesting institutional embedding, generating political momentum, and delegating responsibility. As we argue, success and scaling are not just the result of scientific proof, but also a matter of negotiating the political issues raised by the experiment.