Empowering Net-Zero Cities: Unleashing the Full Potential of Smart Data-Enabled Networks and Scalability from energy communities – A Comparative Study of Urban Living Labs (ULLs) in Hong Kong, Seoul, and Bristol

The urgency of tackling global climate impacts has intensified the need for cities to achieve ambitious net-zero emission goals by 2050. While a shift toward decarbonisation and digitalisation is essential, government initiatives and market solutions have significant limitations. Engaging households with smart energy technologies (e.g., smart metering) is crucial, yet household engagement has had limited effects, and effective scaling of this engagement remains largely overlooked.

This 30-month transdisciplinary action research aims to explore how smart urban living labs (ULLs) can enhance household engagement at home and in communities, ultimately contributing to a city's net-zero goals by utilising smart energy data to fully foster innovation in social networking. The research will establish three community-based ULLs in Hong Kong, Seoul, and Bristol, testing an integrative model of data-empowered network innovation.

The project will develop an 18-month ULL Prototyping and Engagement program, involving 90 local residents (30 from each community). The program will consist of three workshops: VR-enabled Envisioning Workshops, Carbon-coin Co-learning Workshops, and Prototyping Workshops, all supported by seven experimentation initiatives (EIs) such as VR-based energy scenario games and AI-moderated dialogue platforms. These EIs will use a combination of smart energy technologies (e.g. smart metering), immersive technologies (e.g. virtual reality (VR)), and AI technologies (e.g. chatbot) to facilitate networking. Participants will co-create and test nine prototypes aiming at developing new products, services, as well as policy frameworks.

The global perspective of this comparative study involving Asian and European cities will achieve important theoretical and empirical advancements. By examining how traditional social structures are reshaped and new consumer-utility relations emerge in post-pandemic cities, we will elucidate the determinants, mechanisms, and effectiveness of social networking as an up-scaling mechanism.

The interdisciplinary project will be delivered by a 28-member international research consortium, including 14 researchers from two local universities, six leading overseas universities (including Stanford and Seoul National University), alongside 13 organisational partners from business, education, and civil society sectors in the three cities. Our team will develop a systemic perspective by integrating expertise in big data analytics, immersive technologies, energy scenario developments, social innovation, energy governance, and public engagement.

We will employ a mixed-method approach to collect real-time electricity consumption data, quantitative survey data, and qualitative insights from focus groups, interviews, and workshops to analyse how networking functions. Our robust dissemination and impact plans will ensure the timely release of journal articles, policy reports, an e-energy portal, promoting societal impacts and evidence-based policymaking.